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Posts: 8,574Help!. My adult son and his fiance belong to PETA and will not use or wear anything wool. (And they want to live in Canada ?!? ( I do keep my mouth shut-we are polar oposites on politics, but I love him.)
He want me to make a Teddie for her and he wants it in lilacs and purples. I have 3 synthetics and 1 rayon all white. Are there any tricks? I have a large supply of Cushing's dyes, and I also have an unbelievable stash of Koolade. (Don't laugh- its cheap, permenant, easy, and enviornmentally safe. Like for septic tanks and our water table is 35 feet. So I have to be careful.)
Anyone out there have any experience with dying synthetics? I think the rayon will be ok, as it plant based, but I'm not sure.
I'm not the crazy about the synthetics, but maybe I haven't been fair to them. I like the real stuff better.
I mean, which would you rather wear, Cashmere or acrylic? Cashmere any time, even over "virgin" acrylic.
One of you must know some tips and tricks
Patiently awaiting your insight
Dilu
I don't know anything about dyeing anything, but I'm surprised about the PETA opposition to wool. Is it because they don't think the sheep are treated well before shearing? It is a renewable resource. So leather I'd understand, but this one is a surprise.
Anxiously awaiting YOUR insight!
I haven't tried it... but there is supposed to be a dye made just for synthetics... here....
http://www.bearycheap.com/ezimerchant/category135_1.htm
Not sure about Cushings... but I know that Rit dye just falls off of synthetics...
Posts: 8,574Shelli
I couldn't agree with you more, it confuses me. They won't even use anything with lanolin in it.
I had to assure him the quilt I made for his birthday was 100% cotton.
Thanks Laura Lynn
I will try the web site now.
Dilu
For a dye to be permanent it must penetrate the fibers. Wool, Mohair etc are protein fibers. Rayon and cotton are cellulose fibers. Synthetics are in essence plastics. Each of these types needs a different dye base to penetrate the fiber.
Everything you ever wanted to know about what dye to use for which fiber can be found at:
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/aboutdyes.shtml
A quote from their page:
"Your choice of dye depends directly on what kind of fabric you are using. You'll get bad results if you use a wool dye on cotton, or a cotton dye on wool, or either on polyester"
Dale
Dale, you are our new hero. Thank you!!!
Not a new hero....just an old tired one (who stayed up way too late last night working on a computer for his son).
Posts: 8,574Hey Dale, Thanks whole bunches!
I went to the site and downloaded the info. I feel a little more confident now.
Dilu
Posts: 1,153Ranae...what in the world is tofu silk? I never heard of it and is there a supplier?
And thank you Dale for the info. I too, am going to use this information.
Nanc......
MerBear OriginalsDilu - Canada is not that cold a country for the most part. He'll manage quite well with synthetics and polar fleece :crackup:
I have to agree tho that not using wool is foolish. This is a re-newable resource and the sheep really do need to be sheared to stay comfortable in the summer. I can't understand PETA's objection to wool.
Ah, the young who only see black and white.
Marion
Posts: 8,574Well, i am happy to say the Peta Prince has moved to NYNY and is happily embracing Buddhism. It's a gentle philosophy, without the fanatasicm of PETA. Hopefully he is growing up a bit.
MerBear OriginalsI just googled PETA and wool and read why they are opposing the use of wool. Don't entirely agree with them but can see their point.
They are a radical organization for the most part and I certainly wouldn't want to give up my pets or farm animals, who are humanely treated. I also owe my life to medical research and would not be too keen on trusting a doctor who only practiced the procedure on a computer simulation.
Marion
Posts: 8,574Renae, your are a funny lady.
Now what's the beef with silk? it doesn't hurt the silk worm.....its the left over cacoon.....after the silk worm turns into a butterfly. I don't get them.
Sorry your rant got lost....you can Pm me anytime and rant....I'm a good listener and very easily entertained!
hugs
dilu
'Bear' Bottoms OriginalsOK, I think I have gotten my good laugh of the day reading this post. :crackup:
You all crack me up! Wool, murder silk, peace silk, tree huggers, sheep with heat stroke... it's all too much! ha! Now we need to make a good cartoon with sheep complaining of heatstroke in the middle of the summer, ready to wrap the PETA people in silk cocoons and submerge THEM in boiling water. i wonder if the grass would scream.
I'm all for being kind to animals, after all I have two dogs, fish out the yin yang, two kids and a husband.... but it's going a bit to the extreme when you start fighting for silly rights such as sheep's wool or captive bred birds. Ever hear that one? I wrote a college paper on that one....
Kimberly W.
Baird'sBears PETA? Don't get me started . . .
I once organized a 'Volunteer Opportunity Fair' at the kids' high school--this was before I understood what hardcore PETA actually DID.
They grabbed the first booth inside the door and mounted dozens of gruesome posters on the walls. Naturally, they got lots of attention from the kids, especially the younger boys, and you could hear their loud non-stop ranting all over the school. The other volunteer organizations were not pleased.
I'm a big animal-rights supporter, and an amateur dog/cat/rabbit/rat-whisperer, but this group behaved more like a cult. Creeeepy 
AND I've seen several sheep sheared. It looked quick and painless, and seemed to please the sheep, which was never left naked and/or bleeding, or with half it's face sheared off. Sheesh.
Eileen
Posts: 8,574PETA reads to me like a radical group, most of whose members don't REALLY know what it is they believe. My favorite is the desire to "set free" all domestic pets.
It doesn't make sense to me to kill the larve of the silk worm- because then it doesn't hatch out and reproduce-its sort of like a virus killing its host.....usually doesn't happen. Even the AIDs virus doesn't really kill the host its the secondary disease processes that occur from the weakend state.
The rational confuses me, as does so much in our world today.
Does anyone still teach LOGIC anymore? Do we not have logical thinking anymore?
sigh
Give me a golly. NOW there's a critter I can understand....One for all and all for one and lets have chocolate and[color=]
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dilu Queen of the Golly Dingbats hmmmmm...that would be all of them wouldn't it?
Posts: 8,574uh oh..... :crackup:
But I agree Miss Ranae, The radical faction of the group is scarry to me too, because they do not think through logically about the consequences.
sigh
Not all PETA devotees are like this, i know......but.......
I am gonna keep all my fur babies tucked up close to me and out of site of prying eyes.....besides they keep my feet warm and 'love' me if I feed them..... 
And my hubbies parrot? She has been our baby girl her whole life, and she is psychic and can smell the differance between frozen yogurt and REAL ice cream.....when offered 2 bowls she heads for the real stuff....
does it with chocolate chip cookies and puddings too
she doesn't even like my lean cuisine mac and cheese.....not enough fat
Gotta pay attention to the birdie food groups;
fat, sugar, salt and chocolate......that's my girl, chocolate being its own little food group.
Posts: 8,574A blue and Gold Macaw....and she is most definietly in charge! They are so smart, Parrots, and it is downright spooky. Even after 20 years she amazes us.
We can THINK chocolate and she starts dancing on her perch.
She spends 35-45 % of the daytime out on her stand or shoulders-when she wants something she she telephathically lets us know. When we ignore her, she lets us know that we are in big trouble.
sigh
'
Posts: 8,574Your story about your cat and your friends parrot makes perfect sense to me.....Our Kirah loves Kwatzu and they get up to stuff when we aren't home, but she can't stand the girl cat, its like the girl cat just isn't on the same wavelength or smart enough to bother with.....Suki, well, she really is a little on the brain dead side, for a Burmese, but I have a moral obligation to love her and protect her. She half blind and afraid of light noise and life. She does best when I have a migraine and the rooms are dark and I sit still trying not to move. sigh. poor baby suki.
dilu
Posts: 8,574What a lovely story.
Kirah bite...sort of.....when she doesn't get her own way she will nip just hard enough to get your attention but not enough to break the skin. She knows just how far to push the envelope. Bear in mind she cracks brazil nuts on a daily basis for dinner!
She potty trained herself.
She was on Ricks shoulder, and he wasn't wearing a shirt and she pooped. And he went, "EEEEUUUUUUU!!" and she was so embarrassed she never did it again. Once in a while she will do it on the floor, but she loves to watch us clean it up, she finds it fascinating, and I think she does it just to let us know that she knows she's special cuz she doesn't do it very often. It isn't a question of being obedient, she is doing us a favor! :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
di
