Easidye All-in-one Acid Dyes from Sara’s Texture Crafts – Microwave Method

Easidyes are a simple all-in-one Acid dye collection. They are simple and safe to use in the home environment and create a rainbow of colour options for those who wish to create their own hand dyed rovings and yarns.

A Note of Caution: This activity is for adults or older children (age 12 and up) only with strict adult guidance and supervision due to the nature of the dyes.  Do not allow your child to attempt this project alone!

Please note that in minimal amount these dyes are not harmful, however please avoid contact with eyes and skin (as may in extreme cases cause mild irritation) and do not ingest.

These dyes are safe to dispose of in home drainage.

Useful Conversion Quantities for Easidye:

Easidye powder	100g Undyed Wool
0.5g – 1g	Pale to Mid Colour
1.5g to 3g	Heavy Colour

(I have worked out that a flat ½ 5ml spoon measure holds approximately 2g of dye.)

Here are some simple instructions to follow for an easy space dye effect…

Needed, but not included:

• 100g Natural Merino (creamy colour) Roving
• 3 x 10g pots of Easidye colours.
• Microwave
• Kettle
• Small wash bowl
• Small plastic, or glass container for dye stuff
• Microwaveable container
• Cling film
• Soft flat paint brush (approx. size 12)
• Measuring jug
• Measuring spoon, or equivalent
• Gloves
• Refuse bags on a drying area.
• Washing detergent/washing up liquid (optional for yarn)

Gener­al Instructions: Please read carefully before you begin.

Firstly you will need to prepare your work area. Start by laying down a refuse bag onto your work surface. Then lay out a piece of cling film just over half the length of your wool roving.

 

Half fill your wash bowl with cold water and gently submerge your wool roving into the water, allowing all of the fibres to soak. To complete the soak, gently prod the fibres (do not rub; otherwise you may start felting by mistake!) Once soaked pull the wool out by the middle of the roving. This will keep the roving in its length form and make the wringing process much easier. Fold the roving over itself a few times and begin to very lightly wring out the over excess of water.  TIP: Don’t over wring your roving, you need it to retain an amount of water to help flood the fibres with the diluted dye later on.

Set your bowl with water to one side, as you will need this to wash your roving later.

Next lay out the roving onto your cling film. You ideally want to create two rows of roving, so that your roving fits snugly into the boundaries of the cling film. TIP: if you have a large work area, or are working on the floor then you can lay out your roving so that it is one long length. This will be advantageous for special space dye designs.

Now you need to create your dye solution. To do this measure out your required dye powder into a small plastic or glass container. If you are using all three colours on your 100g roving, then you will require approx. 1g per colour for a heavy shade. TIP: Don’t worry if you use a little less than this, but remember the final result will be lighter.

Let’s start with the Lemon Yellow shade. Add your 1g to your container and dilute this with 3-4ml of tepid/warm water from your kettle. Using your paint brush dilute the dye powder, being careful to mix in all of the granules (dye fix) and darker powder (dye).

Once diluted you can add 30ml of hot water from your kettle. You have now created your dye solution.

Using your brush in one direction at all times, so as not to disturb the fibres in the length of roving (go with the grain, not against it), gently coat the roving with your dye solution. Make sure to saturate the area you are painting, otherwise you will only paint one side of the roving. TIP: don’t worry too much about catching every fibre as the dye will spread across the wet roving. Do remember to use your entire dye colour though.

Once you have painted all of the areas of the roving you wish to with the Lemon, wash your brush and start to paint with your next colour. TIP: I always work colours from light to dark, as darker colours stain the brush more easily. So you may prefer to do the same by choosing red as your next shade.

REMEMBER: Your wet dye colour will always be darker than the colour you get once the roving has dried, but your dried roving will have a brighter effect.

With your next colour begin to paint the roving on an undyed section approximately 2-3cm (1 inch) away from you last colour. You will notice as you work that the dye spreads, this will create a rainbow of shades as you cook your fibres later.

Continue the same process with your final colour, which in this case is blue.

When you have finished cover your roving with a new piece of cling film, making sure not to seal the ends. Fold the cling film roving into a microwavable container, allowing the roving to breathe through the cling film, but also fitting nicely into your microwave. Place the lid of the container on at an angle to allow air to escape.

Set your microwave on the very lowest setting and start for a 10 minute cook. CAUTION: Please do not go away from the kitchen during the cooking process, always stand by. Wool is extremely flammable as a fibre and whilst you are not cooking with any real heat you must take care. Listen for popping noises… popping noises are a sign of the cling film being sealed and water and air struggling to escape. If this happens remove the container from your microwave and try to loosen the cling film. TIP: I always recommend that you stop the microwave every 2-3 minutes. This should avoid any burning accidents.

Once cooking time has finished remove the container from your microwave and set aside for about 5 minutes. This will help the roving to cool enough for you to work with. As you unwrap the roving notice how it will have changed slightly! Your separations of colour have seeped into each other creating your own very unique rainbow!

Now you will need your bowl of water again. Gently submerge your roving into the water and prod as you did before. You will notice that a lot of dye comes out… don’t worry this is quite usual and in no way reflects dye coverage of the Easidye all in one product.

Take your roving to the sink now (emptying the washing bowl at the same time) and rinse under the cold tape for about a minute. Quite quickly the water will run clear and you will be able to see the wet version of your finished dye shade.

Those of you who wish to spin with your fibre, or have a commercial end use may now wish to wash your roving. This will release any final remnants of dye stuff among the fibres. To do this you will need the coolest of water. If you are rinsing yarn you will need the very smallest of dots of washing detergent or washing up liquid (even liquid hand soap can be used) and cold water. Submerge and prod the fibres gently as you did before for approximately 1-2 minutes, rinsing in cold water.

Remember to wring the roving in the gentle way you did earlier.

Now set aside your roving on your refuse bag or a plastic bag so that it may dry flat. This process will usually take 2 days. TIP: Please avoid sunny windows, as wool naturally bleaches in bright light.

You are now ready to use your first hand dyes roving!

Ideas:

Why not try spinning a space dye yarn with your roving?

What about creating a unique piece of felt?

With several basic colours there is no limit to your colour palate!

You can find more kits like this and the dyes separately at www.SarasTextureCrafts.com

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