Dyeing with Colorhue

In my quest to find and try different supplies to experiment with, I ran across a video about Colorhue dyes. Before I get to the tutorial, here are a couple of my new dyed silk scarves.

According to the manufacturer’s directions, these dyes are instant-set and can be used on silk, linen, wool, and rayon. They do not work on cottons.

I was amazed at how easy it was to dye and how safe. I didn’t put my gloves on at all, although they recommend you put on gloves to mix the dyes. I forgot to do that and I didn’t have any problems. This is another great project that the kids would enjoy and pretty much instant gratification.

So let’s get started. I purchased the six color set from Dharma Trading. This set contains six .5 ounce bottles of the following colors: rose, yellow, blue, green, black and turquoise. These are small bottles but the dyes are so intense that you don’t use very much.

The dyes come with pipettes and directions. I purchased the bottles from The Sage since we were ordering soap supplies, but they can be found online at numerous places. You need the bottles to mix the dyes with water. Before you get started label all of the bottles.

Now to mix up colors so we can play. Add a little water to your bottle, then add the dyes using the pipettes. Standard ratio is 3 parts water to 1 part dye. The black needs to be mixed 1 part water to 1 part dye to get a true black. If you want another color such as orange, you can mix rose and yellow dyes. I also mixed up a brown using rose, green, and yellow hoping to get a rust color.

Now comes the fun part. Take a piece of silk material or scarf and put it into a baggie.

Then add just enough water to moisten it. That amount depends on the size of the material, but just enough that it makes it wet but not saturated.

Now holding the bag in one hand, use your other hand to scrunch the scarf making sure every part of it gets damp. This helps to remove the fold lines. I used my other hand to take the picture, but you need to hold onto the bag.

After your scarf is mostened – I even took it out and checked it on the first one I dyed – it’s time to add the dye. There is no formula for how much dye to use. It’s time to experiment.

You can add several colors if you’d like. Once you are happy with the amount of dye, it’s time to scrunch the fabric again to get the dye to completely cover the fabric.

What is amazing about this product is the dyeing is done whenthe water turns clear. That means that all of the dye has been absorbed into the fabric. Cool!

Take fabric out and hang or lay to dry. Once dry, hand rinse in cold water and press on low setting to remove any wrinkles.

A few more pictures of my projects.

This was so much fun and so easy. I’ll post later other techniques to use with these dyes. Now to order more silk to dye!