Buying colors

[KEV]

Hello everybody!    I was wondering if I should bother buying different colors other than the primary one`s.

It seems to me if you can mix any color with the primary colors, why buy any others?    If you buy other colors, they are combinations of colors mixed togeather correct? Thanks.     Kev

[tiedyejudy]

You can do a lot with primary colors, but over time (the past 10 years) I have experimented with other colors, just to see how they look.  I have quite a collection now, and enjoy not having to re-invent the wheel.  If you ever rinse out some of the mixed colors, you see a whole slew of different colors that go into making the shade you are using.  I feel like I save a lot of time and error by using pre-mixed dye powders when I am looking for a particular shade or intensity.  But for basics, like rainbow swirls, etc., the primaries can't be beat!

Happy dyeing,

Judy

[ktaltre]

If you are going to do your own mixing, you should probably invest in two sets of primarys - one cool and one warm plus a couple of blacks, also warm and cool.
I mix and, like Judy, have other colors I enjoy using.
k. taltre

[2D4]

I have lots of requests for pattern/design repeats in different sizes or garment styles.
So.....,considering I'm not to good at note taking, my memory could never remember
the proportions and dye mixing is my least favorite part of the dyeing process,
I pretty much buy premixed dyes. I like working with a large color pallet, (about 30 different colors)
with somewhat repeatable results. So, when I get really busy in the middle of my dyeing season, I just want to mix and go ASAP....
(I keep trying to bribe my husband to mix dyes for me....)
I do use some mixes I've developed because the exact shade
I wanted isn't available in premixed.

Jo

[deb]

Most non-primary colors are combinations of two or more primaries, but others are their own pure single colors. I think Jacquard's Brilliant Orange is one.

The trouble I have with using only the primaries is that they "spread" at different rates (different molecules for each dye), so if I have (or wanted to have LOL) white space between my colors, there is often a "halo" of another color that extends into that white area. I have the hardest time with reds, for example, or browns; most of the reds tend to have yellow halos the way I mix them, and the browns often have turquoise halos.

That's one reason I like to have some of the pure colors of non-primaries, or at least mixtures of other colors.

Paula has a chart but I'm too sleepy to dig for it ATM; I'll try to remember to go hunting for it tomorrow unless Paula beats me to it. It shows which colors are pure and which are combinations/mixtures of others.

[pburch]

Okay, Deb, here's the chart:
Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?

I've written extensively about my opinions on what dyes every serious MX dyer needs to buy. Here's something I wrote for the Tie-Dye Wiki: Color and MX Dyes. Also see: What colors should I buy to start out with? [from the FAQ on my site].

To mix a red without yellow halos, avoid yellow altogether: instead, combine orange MX-2R with either red MX-5B or red MX-8B. To get rich, deep greens or purples, you will need a navy blue, any one of the group including blue MX-2G, blue MX-4GD, or blue MX-3R. To mix black, it's best to start with the terracotta dye whose code is brown MX-GRN, and add one of the navy blues. To get purples that do not separate, you should buy violet MX-2R (grape), and consider also ordering ProChem's Boysenberry (which is probably magenta MX-B, but in any case is certainly unmixed). I also think that everyone needs to buy blue MX-G  and blue MX-R, in addition to the good old standard turquoise MX-G.

-Paula

[Hippy Dippy]

The trouble I have with using only the primaries is that they "spread" at different rates (different molecules for each dye), so if I have (or wanted to have LOL) white space between my colors, there is often a "halo" of another color that extends into that white area. I have the hardest time with reds, for example, or browns; most of the reds tend to have yellow halos the way I mix them, and the browns often have turquoise halos.

I mixed up some purple with fushia/yellow for red, plus turquoise, and wound up with green halos going into white undyed areas.