> When I wrote about the effect of dyes on thread fibers, I expected to start > a discussion, and have been successful. I know you both (and many > others) have much experience, with threads and dyes.
Hi Everybody: I haven't noticed this in embroidery cottons, but I can speak about wool. I have used Appleton's crewel wool a lot in embroidery, and the sea-greens especially are substantially thinner than most other colours. At the time I noticed this, I talked to others at my embroidery guild, and also to a couple of professional dyers I know, and the consensus was: Mordants are the chemicals that are used to make the dye bond to the fibre. The word 'mordant' comes from the French word for 'bite' and it gives you an idea of what the mordants do - they change the surface of the fibre, and they very often weaken it slightly. Different colours use different mordants, and some colours are achieved by dying the fibre and then overdying it with another colour. Depending on the colour you want to get, by the time you're finished dyeing the poor little bit of fibre might be coloured more than once, and have been bitten by several different chemicals as well. The fibre goes through a lot, and it wears down as it goes through the process. If you dye the fibre after it is spun (which makers of embroidery fibres do) your length of fibre is therefore thinner when it comes out of the dyebath than it was when it went in. Dyeing other colours might just be a quick one-step process, and so skeins of fibre in those colours will by comparison be thicker. Of course, if the fibre is spun *after* it is dyed, there won't be a difference because the wear happens before spinning. I wouldn't be at surprised if cotton suffers from the same problem. I do know from experience that some cottons go through several dyebaths to get the exact colour - I once used a small amount of bleach on a kitchen towel, and while some colours stayed the same, the grey colour in the towel turned to flesh pink! My professional dyer friends said that the grey had been achieved by overdying the pink, so my bleach had stripped off the top layer of dye and revealed the pink. Hope this helps. Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
