Halos

[Whit]

I have noticed with the secondary colors that I mix myself certain mixtures have what I have recently learned are called "halos".  With some final products I do not appreciate this effect, however with some things I LOVE IT!!!
Mixing a purple with turquoise makes a great blue halo and adding brown to my green makes a nice one as well.
Does anyone ever intentionally use these and what are some of your favorites? 

[2D4]

Dharma's Blue Violet's turquoise halo has a nice glowing effect....

Jo

[deb]

I dyed a hoodie for my daughter using a slightly-orange-y pink, adding a bit of yellow to the pink for the part surrounding the design. Inside was a purple heart, with a good bit of space between. The color bleed of the yellow from the outside and the blue from the inside made a really pretty green where they mixed in the middle of the "empty space," along with the individual color halos where they hadn't met, creating a really pretty rainbow effect I don't think I could have gotten using the individual colors to intentionally create it.

[Releaf]

I often enjoy the turquoise bleed from Dharma's Raspberry.  I also sometimes like the way the Chocolate Brown bleeds red.  I've had a customer fall in love with that effect and ask me to repeat it.  Can't guarantee it on demand, though.  Anybody know how to up the odds?

[pburch]

You can increase the odds of haloing by mixing two or more Procion dyes that have very different reaction rates, and by using a cooler temperature (around 70°F instead of hotter), and by omitting any thickener.

Here's a link to a chart comparing the reaction rates of a number of Procion MX type dyes:
reactivity of Procion MX type dyes
Choosing one dye from the bottom of the chart, and one from the top, dramatically increases the amount of haloing that will occur.

This all relies on having soda ash already there in the reaction, as when you do the usual soda ash pre-soak. If you apply the dyes, let them soak in, and only then add soda ash or another dye activator, you'll see completely different results. In that case, the smaller molecules will travel farther, and the larger ones less far; turquoise MX-G is the largest of the Procion MX dyes, so it would stay put more, while the other dyes might creep a little farther on the fabric.

-Paula

[Releaf]

Thank you, Paula!