things i've learned:
keep a hawk's eye for temperature increases
dye the skein for 10-15 minutes then take it out add lime water stir and put it back
lime water is essential ph should be around 8-9
Liles says all one needs to know about madder dyeing.(or any other natural dye to that effect)
i'm getting red finally! a dull red but nonetheless better than coral red
neki desu
I too have trouble getting true red from madder! I'm usually too cheap on the dyestuff proportions (especially if it came out of my garden!) and our water is both acidic and lacking in minerals. I've been adding unflavoured Tums tablets for calcium and sometimes mix in some cochineal to bring it more towards red. You got a lovely deep colour anyway! Love it.
ReplyDeleteI usually add some cochineal to get better red, haven't tried with higher pH but that's something I should experiment though it is not so good for wool.
ReplyDeletei left a comment, but it looks like it disappeared, if it didn't good, if it did, i was mostly wondering about liles' book.
ReplyDeleteI got a beautiful blood red by puting the chopped madder root in a glass pot, adding hot water, putting the screw top on and leaving it to soak
ReplyDeletefor two days. I then diluted the dye with water and used it to dye silk. Maybe I just got lucky, though ;-)