Last week we looked at how long you need to let tie die sit before washing and there were a couple colors that required some follow-up testing.
First let’s take another look at Turquoise. It had still gotten darker between 12 and 24 hours and I couldn’t definitively say that it was done curing. I let a couple swatches sit for 36 and 48 hours and since there was no visual difference between those and the 24 hour swatch I can now officially say that Turquoise should sit for a full 24 hours before rinsing.
Remember how Cerulean Blue’s results were wonky? I retested and this time it turned out fine. It also needs to sit for 24 hours to reach its full color.
As for why it was weird – I had used aluminum foil to cover the swatches and keep them wet during the exposure and I suspected that it had an effect on the dye. A quick test verified my suspicions. Using one control swatch and two in foil (one sandwiched between the shiny side of the foil and one between the matte side) I let them cure for 24 hours. As you can see it didn’t matter which side was touching the fabric, the foil inhibits the dye’s ability to bond with the fabric.
So we learned something new today! Stick to plastic for wrapping your dye to keep it wet during the curing time.
What about green colors?
That’s a good question! There’s actually no pure pigment green procion dye. All the green tie dye you can buy are premade mixes. You’d want to make sure you’re following the cure time for the slowest dye in your mix – in this case blue – to ensure that all the dye has time to fully react.
48 hrs @60F 24 hrs @70F 12 hrs @80F 3 hrs @100F 1.5 hrs @ 110F 1.25 hrs @ 120F 37 min @130F 20 min @140F 10 min @150F 5 min @160F Almost all colors stop reacting @176F degrees. Turquoise is needs higher temperature than most other Procion MX shades, is the nature of it. The reaction is a combination of things: Shade, moisture, chemistry and temperature. Some shades take quickly and far better than others. A general rule is warmer shades are faster, better, cooler ones the other way. Reaction ceases when pieces start drying. Zip top bags are… Read more »
Thank you for your experimentation! I see many ppl on YouTube using foil to wrap their ice dyes. I’ve wondered if that could interfere with bonding. You proved it can. I’ll skip the foil and stick with cardboard or plastic for my ice barrier.