Continued experimenting, figuring things out.
The problem with getting dye to penetrate has nothing to do with acid.
I know the pH range I need--3.5 to 4--and I know how much citric acid to
get to the range. The fiber soaks in water at that pH, and the dyes are
mixed with ditto. More acid will just waste money.
I was attempting to dye pastels, and I think the main problem was that,
no matter whether I used 40, 50, 100, 200, or even 300 ml of water, just
poured or poured and squirted, the dye wasn't getting through--I think
because the dye was taking up into the first wool it hit. Did get a lot
of pretty pastel rainbow tops that I've been spinning, though the colors
aren't as bright when spun, of course. If I ever have any grandkids,
I'll have the yarn for a blanket, leggings, sweater, booties, bonnet,
mittens--you name it! <g>
I've since done a colorway with more dye--5 colors ranging from 2% down
to .5% DOS, and that went through better--almost too well, as I wanted
to keep a white stripe down the middle but the dyes are moving into my
stripe :)
BTW, although I'm not willing to move the wool while it's wet and
hot--merino top is notoriously easy to felt just enough to make it a
real pain to spin--it's not necessary to let it cool before dumping it
into cold rinse water. Movement while hot is the problem for felting
wool, not taking it from hot to cold. I take it straight from the
microwave and zapping 18 minutes and dump it right into cold well water
at 40F in the washing machine. I then let it sit 30 minutes and spin it
out. NO FELTING OCCURS! Another myth busted :)
Holly
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