I tried snow dying last week. Since I was in a rush, I didn't wash my fabric in synthropal nor did I measure the soda ash so I'm not surprised the results were not that great. Not a waste, I can use but not as vibrant as they should be.
Here is my scrunched up fabric with snow and dye sprinkled on top. I used black on the left and blue on the right. Set on racks so the fabric won't sit in the dye.
As you can see, the blue didn't hold the dye hardly at all. I didn't let them sit overnight which probablly would have helped.
So I said the heck with it and put it the fabric into the leftover dye in the bottom of the bucket.
Threw on a little red dye, sprayed with a bit of water and for good measure threw on some rock salt.
Going outside to get my mail I see the rock salt bucket I use for my sidewalk to melt the ice. Why not throw some of that in the mix? What do I have to lose?
Much better results but still not vibrant. It is sort of faded. Kind of looks like the cheap batiks that they sell at Joanne's. Now these started out as pillowcases so I think it might be the fact that either the pillowcases might have a blend of poly or since they have been washed many times have detergent and fabric softener in the fabric thus screwing up the dye process.
Still it's usable, just not great.
Now the black came out better and the fabric used here was right from the bolt and either never washed or maybe once. Who knows since its been in my stash for awhile. It's cool how the colors in the black break down since we all know black is a mesh of all colors. If I had left this overnight it would have been better.
What did I learn?
Wash fabric first with synthropal.
Leave it alone for 24 hours.
Don't be afraid to just " go for it"
;-)
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