Instructions for acid dyes

General instructions

There are various techniques to dye wool with acid dyes, even wool roving. The instructions below are for the simplest one, immersion dyeing, which will give one color only.

1. Prepare the fiber

  • Tie the skein of yarn in figure eights
  • Pour enough water to cover the skein and add a small amount of orvus paste. Add your skein.
  • Let it soak for 30 minutes.
  • Let it drip dry or rinse quickly if orvus paste was used.

2. Prepare dyestock solution

  • Mix 1 teaspoon of dye powder to 500 ml of water. This is a 1% stock solution. Start by making a paste then add remaining hot water.
  • Choose a depth of shade (DOS):
    • 0.125% = very pale
    • 0.25% = pale
    • 0.5% = light
    • 1% = medium
    • 1.5% = medium dark
    • 2% = dark
    • 3% = deep
  • Your WOF is Weight of Fiber, in grams. Calculate amount of dye needed:
    • WOF x DOS = # of ml of 1% stock solution
    • i.e. you have 100 g of fiber and you want a dark shade: 100 x 2 DOS = 200 ml of 1% stock solution

3. Heat the water

  • Fill a pot half full with water.
  • Bring the water up to simmer or 205°F.

4. Add the dyestock

  • Stir the dyestock into the simmering water until is it well mixed.
  • Be conservative in the amount of dye you start off with: you can always add more color, but you cannot take it out.

5. Immerse the fiber and dye

  • Immerse the yarn in the pot and gently poke it under the dyebath.
  • When the water is again barely at a simmer, set a timer for about 20 minutes; keep the water just below simmering. Make certain the fiber does not rest on the bottom of the pot, which could results in dark spots or even burns. The trick is to move the fiber enough to allow all of the dye to come in contact with the fiber but not to agitate it so much that i begins to felt.
  • Add the solution of citric acid 4% WOF (of your yarn) to the dyepot at the beginning of the 20 minutes, when the temperature has been reached.
  • Occasionally poke the fiber to gently move it around in the pot. Do not stir, or you will end up with a large felted ball!
  • Test for dye absorption. Check to see if the dye has been absorbed by the fiber by carefully scooping up some of the dyebath in a clear glass container. Once the water is clear, turn off the burner and let the bath cool to room temperature.

6. Rinse

  • Rinse the yarn with tepid water.
  • You can use your washing machine spin cycle or a small salad spinner (or a towel).

Instructions from book: Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece, by Gail Callahan, and Dyeing to spin and knit, by Felicia Lo.