What does it mean when dying directions say "exhausting the dye bath"?  Thanks.  Test dying fluorescent pink Antron.

Julie

I have never heard the phrase before but a google search found this on a site:

After about 10 minutes, you can see that the dye bath is becoming much more clear. This process is called exhausting. The dye leaves the water and goes into the silk.

http://www.wormspit.com/dyeing.htm

I also found this site that had some information. http://www.dyespigments.com/batch-dyeing-process.html

Thanks Shawn, That's what I thought it meant.  I guess I've never dyed enough fabric for the water to run out of dye.  I started on the process....it is going beautifully.  I have 5 shades of fluorescent pink so far...they are absolutely beautiful under the blacklight.  I have to wait for them to dry to see what they look like.  I'm very excited.  I been trying to get a few companies to dye it for me, but no takers, so I decided to try it myself.  I've been dying it in increasing 5 min. increments.  So far the only thing I have noticed it that it seems to need to be stirred very consistently.  I have ended up with a few lighter and darker lines through it when I just let it set and only stir occasionally.  So much fun....I'll post pictures when I'm finished.  I'll see if I can get a good blacklight photo.  I will be using it on custom orders.

Julie

Any chance you might sell it too?  Pink fleece that glows is hard to find!

Good luck w/it!

I'm giving it some thought.  I only dyed sm. 3 x 3 squares today to test the colors.  They came out beautiful.  I'd say there's really only three shades under the blacklight, but boy are they pretty!!!  So excited to finally have a pink that glows.  They are a slight bit blotchy under the blacklight but I was really busy doing several other things when I should have spent more time with the fabric while it was dying.  Just running a quick test to see if the dye actually glowed.  I was also able to make two shades of peach.  They glow great even though they are totally different than the orange blacklight I already carry.  The problem with selling it is I probably will only be able to dye in 1 yd increments at first and it would be Antron.  I tried dying other white fleece and it didn't take the dye at all.  So with the availability of Antron and the base price along with the cost and time to dye I'm not sure anyone would want to pay that much.  Who knows.  I need to perfect the skill more, so I can get a consistent color.  Time is an issue.  Thank the Lord, business is great, but it doesn't leave us much time for new projects.  We'll see.

Julie

Ok I'll ask the million dollar question.... Where did you find the florescent dye?  I am pretty sure that folks well want to know.

P.S.  You mentioned that under black light it is a bit splotchy. I wonder if you need to work in black light when mixing your dye batch.  Maybe the dye was not mixed well enough but you could not tell.  Just a thought, I could be way off on that one.

Ok I'll ask the million dollar question.... Where did you find the florescent dye?  I am pretty sure that folks well want to know.

Yes, that is the million dollar question, and I would like to know too!

I have bought some "blacklight" dye off of e-bay but it didn't work very well.  But I tried blue I haven't tried pink.  I used it as paint rather than fabric dye because it was a VERY small bottle and it was very thin.  I don't think it would have died very much fabric at all.

Sorry, I should have posted that.  I was so excited that it worked.  http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/9236231-AA.shtml?lnav=dyes.html  This is the dye that I used. 

I am also going to try this company also.  http://www.aljodye.com/colorchart_silk_frames.html 

Shawn, I think it has to do with the fact that I did not agitate the fabric enough during the process.  The 3" x 3" squares curled up in the water and depending on which way they floated, the middle bottom or curled edges took the dye a little better.  They look consistent in color in the regular light, but show a little darker or lighter under the blacklight.  I might do as you suggest....work under the blacklight, but it seemed to only show when the fabric had been rinsed.

It might not show enough to be a problem on a face etc, but I will need to try out a larger piece.  I'll try to post photos by Monday.

Julie

Oh, thanks so much for the links!