10-09-2005, 07:35 AM
I tried to dye one veg-tanned sheepskin (near white) red with madder root. Here's my interim report.
Dye bath: dried madder root in equal weight to the material boiled is soaked overnight in enough cold water to cover it. It is then heated to about 60°C to extract more dyestuff and strained. The dye bath is filled up with enough water to fully immerse the material you want to dye.
Mordanting: an alum solution, 300g alum to 3 liters of water. This is totally based on guesswork.
The skin is stretched out and has hot mordant brushed over it liberally. It is then immersed in the lukewarm dye bath which is slowly heated to around 60°C and held there for about an hour. The contents need to be stirred around regularly. Then the heat is removed and the material left to cool in the dye bath (weighted down to avoid spots where bits stick through the surface).
I left the skin in the dyebath overnight - about 12 hours - and took it out this morning and it has aquired a nice orange-red tint, but is very close to the colour of kidskin and does not look visibly 'dyed'. The woolen test strips I did along with it are orange-red. I will try a repeat application of dye to the skin and next time use more madder. I was also advised to add wheat bran to the dyebath, but haven't tried that yet.
Sorry, no photos yet.
Dye bath: dried madder root in equal weight to the material boiled is soaked overnight in enough cold water to cover it. It is then heated to about 60°C to extract more dyestuff and strained. The dye bath is filled up with enough water to fully immerse the material you want to dye.
Mordanting: an alum solution, 300g alum to 3 liters of water. This is totally based on guesswork.
The skin is stretched out and has hot mordant brushed over it liberally. It is then immersed in the lukewarm dye bath which is slowly heated to around 60°C and held there for about an hour. The contents need to be stirred around regularly. Then the heat is removed and the material left to cool in the dye bath (weighted down to avoid spots where bits stick through the surface).
I left the skin in the dyebath overnight - about 12 hours - and took it out this morning and it has aquired a nice orange-red tint, but is very close to the colour of kidskin and does not look visibly 'dyed'. The woolen test strips I did along with it are orange-red. I will try a repeat application of dye to the skin and next time use more madder. I was also advised to add wheat bran to the dyebath, but haven't tried that yet.
Sorry, no photos yet.
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!
Volker Bach
Volker Bach
