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gugu;s teddiesHelp friend sent koolaid bought white string to dye,dyed fabric with kool aid blackberry oh boy, fabric came out all colours of purple some pieces nearly black, backing did not dye,fabric was Lou Bears, i didnt use a aluminium pan which i was told not not to use,where did i go wrong Paula
PennsylvaniaWhen I was in the university I used to make a lot of tie dye shirts. My understanding of home dying fabric comes from that experience.
First, we need to know what the fabric is made from. Synthetics do not take dye the same as organics do. Some fabrics like silk or wool will color shift as the dye dries. This might be the reason why your fabric came out a different color than you expected. Some synthetics will not take dye at all. That's probably why your backing fabric did not change color.
Second, are you telling us you used food dye to color fabric? Yes, I'm sure that will work but not as well as you think because food dyes are made for their look in solution, not for absorption into fabric. The dye won't look the same on fabric as compared to the color of the drink mix. Neither am I convinced of its permanence. The color could run, fade or change shades at any time after dying.
I'm not saying you can't do it this way. I'm just saying that you shouldn't expect the same results as you get with purpose-made fabric dye.
Did you dye the whole lot of fabric? If it was me, I would have dyed a test piece before forging ahead with the whole lot.
If you dyed the whole lot, you might be stuck. You can try to wash out the dye. It might not all come out. You could try to bleach out the dye but you take a chance of damaging the fabric. Finally, you could dye over with a darker color but, again, you need to run tests to see what color comes out when the new color mixes with the existing.
If I was in this position, I'd try to wash out the existing color before it sets in. (You might already be past the point of no return.)
Then I'd re-dye using another, darker color.
But the number one thing I would do is cut off a small piece and use it as a test before dying everything else.
Could you use regular fabric dye or does your friend have a reason why she wants it done with Kool-Aid?
Past Time BearsPaula, in the library (right above your post) there is a section named "Dyes and Colorants". Click on that and you will see several threads about Kool-Aid
dyeing. Lisa even has a tutorial on it. There is also a thread on dyeing Lou Bears fur.
gugu;s teddiesThankyoum both ladies for your input US Bears it was SA Mohair i dyed yes its gone by its sell by date nothing i can do re dyeing
Sue Ann all info for dyinng with Koolaid i took from threads ,i suppose i must just keep trying ill make up my little bear even though its all the colours of blackberry HA one last question what sort of a pot or pan do all the ladies use for dyeing,ill let you know the minute it omes out okk
Thankyou all Regards Paula
desertmountainbearI use a big stainless steel pot I have dedicated for dying.
You may try mixing a little liquid bleach with some water to lighten that dye. I have done it it has worked. I have had no ill effects on the mohair or the backing. It is something to think about if you feel the mohair is not usable as it is.
Joanne
re: what did you do wrong? did you thoroughly wet the fabric with plain water before immersing it? was your dye bath completely mixed? was your pot large enough to stir the fabric around freely? all of these could lead to splotchy, tye-dyed looking fabic. . . however, if you're stuck with lemons, make lemonade - lots of people do tye-dyed bears and I see lots of splotchy, hand dyed furs for sale out there, it might just make up into a something great :dance:
PennsylvaniaThis is something I've been thinking about.
When tie dying, I WANTED the results to come out blotchy. That's the art. Right?
Well, in order to make the colors come out in the patterns you want, you make sure that you don't apply the dye evenly. This is diametrically opposed to the way you do traditional dying. There, you want the color to come out even.
Doesn't it follow that, if the colors didn't come out even, the dye wasn't applied to the fabric evenly? If the fabric was bunched up or if there wasn't enough dye to saturate the fabric all the way to the core then the colors might come out blotchy or uneven.
I might be tempted to try to dye the fabric again to see if it comes out more even but the risk is that the parts that are already dark might come out darker It's hard to know without testing first. You could try redying a cut piece of fabric as a test.
One thing we did when tie dying was to wash the shirt in vinegar water after we were done dying to set the color into the fabric.
Salt works on some fabrics best. Acid (vinegar) works on others. Still others prefer alkaline solutions (baking soda.) You could try some experimentation on these fronts.
I never would have thought to use Kool Aid to dye fabric. It sounds neat. I bet it smells like fruit punch when it's done! ;)
We used to use Crayola brand dye back in the 90's. I don't know if they still make it. Rit was also a brand that people used but Crayola made more saturated colors.
One final thought... Hang the fabric up to dry and look at it when it's all dry. Colors change slightly when they dry. You might end up liking it. Who knows? Maybe a Bear with differently colored fur would look cute? A happy accident! 
Fulrfun BearsI ahve successfully used KoolAid to dye with. I have used a plastic bowl to mix it in. Some LouBear mohair is mixed with viscose which maybe why the backing didn't take.
desertmountainbearI did some Kool Aid experiments of my own a few months ago. I used string mohair, some of it was LouBear. All of the samples took the color about the same, didn't matter the mohair mill. But what I noticed is that adding salt to the Kool-Aid helped the backing accept the dye. It was never the same color as the mohair, but without the salt the cotton did not dye as well.
If you want it to be even, back and fur I would use another type of dye. I use Rit, works well.
Joanne
gugu;s teddiesHi Ladies so happy with the replies and assistance im wondering if useing vinager was the problem as i didnt know you had to use salt Clarebear you mixed in plastic bowl did you not heat or boil the dye then oh gosh im now being a pest,just cant afford to mess up another batch mohair its to expensive
Im going to sew the little critter together though and name him varity Have a great weekend to all
Belper, DerbyshireI like the sound of splotchy blackberry colour - it should make an interesting bear!
Have you tried washing the fabric in your washing machine, it might even out the colour a bit, and fluff up the mohair.
Use a gentle wash - e.g. wool programme.
cheers,
G
desertmountainbearIn my experiments the vinegar made the fur dye more and the cotton dye less. I read somewhere that Kool Aid already is acidic, so vinegar is not necessary. When I used salt the color of the fur was not so intense, but the cotton backing dyed more.
I blogged about this here is the link. http://desertmountainbear.blogspot.com/ … abel/dying
When dyeing it is very important that the fabric is good and wet when you put it into the dye bath. It must have lots of room and not be folded or crinkled. and I will say that I have dyed a good bit of mohair and the color has never been completely even, it seems to make many shades of the same color.
Joanne thanks so much for explaining what the salt does!! I've always added salt because I was told to do that but didn't know why 
gugu;s teddiesso many good hints Gerayle i have washed and washed still same colour,Johanne that website great im going to try her ways with bits of string mohair just the pan does it have to b stainless steel can i not use aluminium Once again all thankyou for your valued imput
Good Bless
desertmountainbearso many good hints Gerayle i have washed and washed still same colour,Johanne that website great im going to try her ways with bits of string mohair just the pan does it have to b stainless steel can i not use aluminium Once again all thankyou for your valued imput
Good Bless
I only have stainless so I do not know. But since you are experimenting I guess you will soon find out.
