Disperse dyes
Marilyn
Dye supplier PRO Chemical & Dye
July 2015
http://www.prochemicalanddye.com/home.php
Dye types
There are 2 types of transfer dyes for man-made fabric.
We used PROsperse disperse dye as it had the best range of colours and the
greater range of fabrics that could be used for dyeing.
The results were OK but yellow seemed to be the predominant colour
And the colours changed thru the day becoming less of their original colour
and more of a yellow shade showing thru.
The base solution also seemed to need stirring throughout the day.
NOTE: I am buying the Transperse dyes now and we’ll try those in the future and
post results below
PROsperse Disperse Dyes
http://www.prochemical.com/directions/Disperse%20PDF/Transfer%20Printing.pdf
(for polyester, nylon, acrylic, acetate rayon and ingeo.)
These dyes are designed to permanently dye synthetic fibers.
NOTE: Many polyester/cotton fabrics have a permanent press finish. This
must be removed before successful dyeing can be achieved. Acrylic fibers do
not dye dark, so expect to only achieve a pastel depth of shade.
PRO TRANSPERSE TRANSFER PRINTING DYES
http://www.prochemical.com/directions/Disperse%20PDF/Transperse%20Transfer%20Printing.pdf
(for polyester and other synthetics)
These dyes are the perfect choice when you want to do transfer printing on
polyester or a polyester blend containing at least 60% polyester.
The Transperse Dyes have a sublimination rate that will allow them to transfer
much quicker than the PROsperse Disperse dyes.
Dye notes
I made up ½ cup dark dye base as detailed below and we added ½ cup water
on the day. We didn’t make any lighter shades
We had 7 colours
D118 Bright Yellow
D125 Buttercup (orange)
D350 Flame Scarlet
D770 Meadow
D459 Bright Blue
D650 Cool Black
D885 Lilac
Link to the colours http://www.prochemicalanddye.com/home.php?cat=401
Fuller notes on dye preparation and use are in the dye links above.
Below is a summary.
Preparation – making a dye base
1. Dissolve the dye. Choose a Pale, Medium, Dark shade and measure the
dye powder from the chart below.
Dissolve the dye powder with 1/2 cup (125 ml) of boiling water and stir until
thoroughly mixed.
Let mixture cool to room temperature and stir well again.
Dye Powder
Pale
Medium
1/2 tsp (1.3 gm) 2 tsp (5 gm)
Dark
4 tsp (10 gm)
2. Make the Dye Paint. If you are watercolor painting, add the dissolved dye and
water as listed in the chart below.
Dissolved dye
Water
Watercolor painting
1/2 cup (125 ml)
1/2 cup (125 ml)
If you are screen printing, add the dissolved dye with Thin or Thick Stock
Thickener Paste. The dye paint thickness described below is a guideline.
Experiment until you get the thickness that works well for you.
Dissolved dye
Stock Thickener
Paste
Hand painting
1/2 cup (125 ml)
1/2 cup (125 ml)
Thin Paste
Screen printing
1/2 cup (125 ml)
1/2 cup (125 ml)
Thick Paste
To mix dye for a variety of shades:
Mix a DARK base
10gm dye powder
½ cup boiling water
THEN mix to a dye paint
Take the ½ cup dark base and mix into ½ cup water
= 1 cup DARK
= ready to use or dilute to other shades
For a MED shade
Take the ½ cup DARK dye paint and mix into ½ cup water
= 1 cup MED
For a PALE shade
Take the ¼ cup MED dye paint and mix into ¼ cup water
= ½ cup PALE
Keep adding ¼ cups water for PALER colours
Tips for transfer dyeing
A google search will give plenty of results for ideas and tips.
http://pintangle.com/2007/05/11/how-to-use-transfer-dyes-to-print-on-synthetic-fabric/
http://juliet-rainbowsend.blogspot.co.nz/p/tutorials.html and other nylon dyeing eg buttons
Basic guidelines
Paint your design on computer paper (or similar type if you want
bigger sheets)
The colours are very subdued and dark on the paper but come alive
on the fabric
Paint with splotches or washes of colour or with a technique
listed below
Dry the dyed sheet with a hair dryer or leave to dry naturally
Lay baking paper on your ironing board
then your fabric
then the dye sheet, face down,
then another baking paper sheet.
The baking paper protects the iron and board from a smear of dye
colour.
Even tho the dye sheets are dry the iron will pick up a slight
colouring.
This can work to your advantage if you are ironing a design and
don’t want the starkness of the fabric showing around the edge as
the smear of colour softens the background.
IRON 1minute for light up to 5 mins for dark dye transfer
We had some light results on the day and after contact with PRO
Chemical I have added the below image and note.
Image of comparison ironing
Left – class dyeing
Right – strips of dye paper at top and under it is
Fabric ironed as below
Slightly move the iron so you don’t get an “iron” shape
but keep the iron in the same area so that dye heats up
and then it will become a gas and dye the fabric a
strong colour.
The dye sheets can be used multiple times before the colour
becomes too light to use.
Mixed dye and dyed sheets were still strong enough to use 2
months after the class.
Techniques we tried
Cut a paper design, lay on fabric and iron dye sheet over the top.
This gives a coloured background with the fabric colour showing
the design.
You can then flip the “coloured” paper design onto another piece
of fabric and iron for a negative of the first piece eg the fabric
colour is now the background and the colour is the design.
Use doilies or lace to:
Paint on and use as a pattern or paint thru for the
negative pattern
1st image shows a few of the results
2nd image shows the last ironing result and the dyed
doily
See how the different dye colours have come thru
with successive ironing and how dark the original
painted doily is.
Plant material can also be used for printing and a resist for a positive and negative
art.
Print solid dye paper on crinkled fabric.
The ironed sheet shows on left of image. I then
crinkled up the fabric and ironed the same sheet
over the crinkles for a shattered look
Previously used dye sheets were cut up and woven
together before ironing
Sally used black dye to paint the outline of a newspaper face.
Ironing only transferred the dye not the newspaper image.
Paint a background sheet and iron on fabric
Paint a picture and iron over background fabric
Image is by Sally - grass
We quickly tried a sponge soaked with dye in a shallow tray to use as a stamp pad.
It only gave light printings.
It may have been because the stamp lines were very fine or the dye was a bit weak
but the result was good enough to want to explore some more.
Iron on different textured fabrics
Images show different results of the
ironed dye over stripes and leaves.
Different fibres react differently to
the dye
Colour in clip art
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=colouring+books+for+adults+nz&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm
=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIyIGH9sTyxgIVJOimCh2JfgZy#tbm=isch&q=colouring+for+adults+printable&imgdii=1pM
RrfISJuISzM%3A%3B1pMRrfISJuISzM%3A%3B5vM9XaUN1AKroM%3A&imgrc=1pMRrfISJuISzM%3A
Use a photocopy, computer printout as a base. Colour it and
iron on fabric. The clip art lines act as a resist to the dye which
gives an outline.
Wonder if you could draw an image with a vivid for same
result?
Image is art by Sue of a branch photocopy.
Printing Text clip art
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFAVH3uu0Nw
Open a word document
Click on menu “insert” – top left of screen
Click on “wordart” – top right of screen
Choose any word (text) box as all can be formatted later
Type in your text – change any font size and type etc at the top of the box / OK
See the youtube video for extra formatting etc
Click in text box which opens the format menu (if it isn’t still open)
Click on rotate – top right of screen
Click on flip horizontal
Print and then paint with dye.
When the paper sheet is flipped over and ironed onto another surface the text is the
correct way round
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Below are some clip art images to get you started. Enlarge to the size you want eg
click on image and drag the corner point to required size to print out and use.