Color Discharge Experiment
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Whenever I dye something, I always remind myself that you can always add more color but you can't take it away. This is generally true, but there is a way to take color away and it's called discharge. I've used bleach which is acid to take color away, and it works but it also is very destructive to the fibers. Bleach can literally shred fabric if it's left on it for too long, and it also continues to eat away at the fibers even after you take it out. I had a piece of sateen that I had dyed and it got very blue. It was beautiful but I wanted to try to see if I could get more contrast in the pattern. I had dyed the peice with pre-reduced indigo.
So I decided to try dharma's color remover and see what it was all about. It is also known as Thiourea dioxide (AKA Thiox, Spectralite). See the link below. The recipe I followed is
- 2 gallons water
- 1 Tablespoon Soda Ash (Fixer) - https://amzn.to/3vAxKqw
- 1/2 Teaspoon synthrapol - https://amzn.to/3cSPNls
- 1 Tablespoon color remover- aka Thiox- https://www.dharmatrading.com/chemicals/dharmas-dyehouse-color-remover.html
Other Supplies:
- 8 Quart Stock Pot- https://amzn.to/3d6w15J
-Drying Rack- https://amzn.to/3gHQLmU
-Gloves- https://amzn.to/2SaTBHo
-String- https://amzn.to/3qdSROu
Disclaimer: Please note that the links above are Amazon affiliate links- that means I get a commission when you buy these- at no extra cost to you. I use affiliate links on products that I have actually used. Thanks for your support.
I was pretty careful with the color remover, so I got pretty mild results. If I were to do it again, I would have used a different fold (probably a pipe or something with clamps for a super tight resist) and I would have added more color remover and kept it boiling for longer. Typically color remover is best for fiber reactive dyes ( indigo is a pigment dye).
Have you used color remover? Let me know how it turned out.
https://www.dharmatrading.com/chemicals/dharmas-dyehouse-color-remover.html
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