The focus of July's Fiber Junkie's meeting was discharge dyeing. Which basically means, removing the dye color from fabric using bleach or other chemicals. As you might imagine.....beautiful patterns can result.
Conclusion....I'm not sure I'd bother doing this again. Why?? Mainly due to the wide variables of mostly disappointing results. (I know, I know....this process can be fun and rewarding so this report is just my take on MY results today.)
The cost of supplies such as, Decolourant are fairly expensive and at least for where I live....not easily accessible. Other less costly supplies (such as common household bleach or Soft Scrub with bleach) may work fine, but it's a good idea to use respirators when using these chemicals. Working in a well ventilated room is a must.
For the first time in years, we had a wash out on our Fiber Junkies meeting day. Yes of course, we get rain here, but mostly it rains, clears up and even rains again....all day rains are not common. Fortunately, we were able to work in Val's garage, but dry times were definitely affected.
As mentioned.....when working with some of these chemicals, it's a good idea to wear a respirator. Denny models hers......
I'm trying to be more purposeful about all these experiments we do. So this time I worked with all black fabric in the hopes of achieving results that better coordinate with each other instead of creating random pieces that are great to look at, but difficult to use.
Here I pleated a hunk of fabric and coated the folds with Soft Scrub with bleach. I waited, and I waited...
......and when nothing seemed to happen after about 20 mins. (when it should take about 5-10) I washed it out. I ended up with 2 small steaks of very light grey and the rest was still black. This photo is over exposed....making the black look grey and the grey look whiter than what it was. Believe me...it DID NOT WORK. We determined that perhaps the Soft Scrub I used was old.....apparently, the bleach in it becomes less effective as it ages....despite the fact that it really still smelled like bleach.
However, others had better results..... Here Denny tried 3 different products and the looks varied. From left to right.....Discharge dye solution, DeColoruant, and Soft Scrub. She pressed each solution through a shibori pattern thermofax screen that she made.
Next I tried discharging using one of Judy's small thermofax designs. She's SUPER organized and has been doing image transfer before most of us knew what it meant. Each one is labeled and has it's own printed paper cover paper clipped to it to make it easy identify in the large stack she's created.
Decoloruant was pressed through the small screen and dried with a heat gun. Then it was pressed using steam which released the dye, allowing the design to appear.
When the dye is fully released.....the fabric looked like this.....One of my better results..... More to come......
5 comments:
Interesting- I'd seen the Soft Scrub method before, and tried it once with fuzzy, vague, not very satisfying results like the ones you got on the black piece. I purchased some Decolourant but have yet to use it. I like what it did on your piece.
Very interesting. Thanks for the report. I always prefer that someone else does the dirty work.
Hugs
I had the same experience my first time trying discharge with bleach. I used diluted bleach - very old - spraying it through a freezer paper stencil, then watched for the magic to occur. And watched. And watched. All the directions said the reaction would happen fast so be ready to quickly dunk the fabric to stop the bleaching at the point you liked. After 20 minutes still not much had happened & it was like watching paint dry so I left it on its own & did something else. I think it took well over an hour for it to bleach out but it was worth the wait. Later I read about bleach losing its effectiveness over time so bought new & had quicker results the next time. It really does give effects you can't get other ways and results not easy to control. I rather like the surprise factor...as long as I don't have to wait forever!
Your 2nd one did turn out nicely! I can see beads on it!!!
seems a lot of time is taken for maybe not very good results. I have only used ordinary bleach on velvet and that worked quite well I seem to remember, but there was something about neutralising it with vinegar so the fabric did not rot but it was in the 90`s and I have slept since then!!! think the experimental fabric was thrown out on one of my sort outs.
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