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Katy the Urban Eagle wrote:
>Well, I have to say that I have not had this problem. I've been
>dyeing with onion skins with alum mordant for 4 or 5 years now and
>the colors I get are rich and long lasting. In fact I just looked at
>a vest I did about 4 years ago and that I wear a lot and the onion
>skin dyed wool is as dark as ever. The logwood dyed yarn, however,
>has faded some (which I expected.) I use twice the weight of onion
>skins to yarn when I dye so maybe that is the difference.
>
>ALL dyes will fade some - all - even synthetic. Some just more than others.
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I have to say that I think this is sad but true. I have always used strong
acid dyes as I wanted them to last/not fade for as long as possible. As we
are at a high altitude, UV is a big factor for us. I talked to the dye
chemist at Keystone Aniline about this and she said, "well, no studies of
colour fastness at high altitude (more exposure to UV) had been done, but
that one would expect the dyes to fade more rapidly". This is exactly what
I have found.
So, I take care to hang my tapestries near windows, but not in direct
sunlight. I also store my dyed wools and yarns out of direct sunlight.
Here, for me, fading occurs in about 6 months to 1 year. Yet another
reason to raise black, grey, and brown sheep ... they don't fade nearly so
fast. (Not that these are the only colours one could want ... but it seems
the darker the dyed colour the quicker it fades.)
joanna (lambing out many blacks and greys ... maybe some browns)
Joanna Gleason email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.dimensional.com/~gfwsheep/
Gleason's Fine Woolies - Corriedales - Colorado
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