![Wool comes in glorious colors, and some not so glorious colors! Don’t ever pass up a good piece of wool just because you don’t like the color. Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 2 Glorious Wool Colors ,[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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How to Overdye Wool for Hooked Rugs
- 1. 1 Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved Overdyeing Wool A primer to preparing and overdyeing wool for rug hooking presented by LINKSappear in slide text – click on them to get more information online. Note: clouds will provide added explanations along the way.
- 3. Remove zippers, belts, buttons and other decoration.
- 4. Take down or cut off hems, cut off waistbands, and remove linings before washing.I always wash reclaimed wool that I am going to overdye, others don’t; washing and drying wool before overdyeing are up to you. Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 3
- 5. Why wash wool? Washing does the necessary ‘fulling’ of wool. But if you are working with recycled wool garments, it also washes out body oils, soil, dry cleaning fluid residues, or dirt that can attract moths and their wool-eating larvae into your wool stash. Wash in washing machine with normal agitation on hot/warm setting and use wool-safe detergent (no fabric softener and never any bleach!) If wool is already fairly thick, use a warm/cold washer setting. Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 4 Wash the Wool a small amount of shrinkage is desirable for rug hooking; it helps lock individual fibers to each other and makes wool less likely to fray during hooking
- 8. Why overdye? You have wool in your stash but not the right colors for your project. You have lots of the right color, but of varying shades that do not mix well. It’s just plain fun! Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 6 Why Dye Wool? Note: if you don’t want to use commercial dyes and dye formulas, skip to Slide 14 for a different way to change the colors of wool.
- 9. Gather the Supplies Kitchen Sink and Stove Dye Pot: enamel (without any chips inside) or stainless steel Acid-Reactive Dyes for Wool Overdye Formulas – many books are available Wool Blank Dye Journal for keeping notes Synthrapolor another wetting agent, such as Jet Dry for dishwashers Measuring Spoons: from 1/64 to 1 teaspoon Clean, Glass Jars Glass Measuring Cup Tongs for Lifting Wet Wool Plastic Fork or Small Whisk Heavy, Heat-resistant Rubber Gloves Uniodized Table Salt (optional) White Household Vinegar Protective Covering for Yourself & Your Work Surfaces Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 7
- 11. Have an idea of how that color will change the wool you want to overdye
- 12. Use a color wheelA formula is a recipe stating how much of each dye color to use to achieve the color Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved
- 15. Soak wool for 15 to 30 minutes (longer is better)Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved
- 19. For most formulas, you'll add measured dyes to one cup of boiling water (1 CBW.) To prevent dyes from intermixing, stir measuring spoon in dry salt between colors.
- 20. Use a small whisk or plastic fork to thoroughly mix the dye in the water until it is completelydissolved.
- 21. When the dye bath is at a simmer, add the dye mixture to the pot and stir gently.Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved
- 23. For mottled color, only stir the wool when it first goes into the pot. For more even color, stir when you add the wool, and several times during the dye process. Cover the pot and let it simmer about 30 minutes.
- 24. Check wool for color intensity. When color is right, add 1/3 cup of white vinegar and stir.
- 25. Cover the pot and allow the vinegar to set dye into wool.Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved
- 27. Slowly cool the wool by running first warm, then tepid, then cool water into the pot. You can also just turn off the fire under the pot and allow the wool to cool in the dye pot overnight.
- 28. Remove each piece of cooled wool from dye pot and lightly wring out excess water.
- 29. Use a cold rinse cycle in your washing machine to just rinse & spin the wool.
- 31. Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 15 Marrying Wool Marrying wool means to combine the colors that are released by several shades of wool, and then add that married color back into all the wool to bring them closer in shade and intensity. Marrying allows you to use more of your wool together in the same project – especially if you have recycled wool with colors that just do not work together. This method is also called Stewing when you use several wools of different colors, like red and green, instead of wool of similar colors, like several reds.
- 33. Place pieces of wool into the pot and push wool down until it is soaked through. Cover the pot and leave it to simmer for 15-30 minutes.
- 34. When you see a nice amount of color in the water, add about 1/3 of a cup of white vinegar to the pot and stir thoroughly. Cover the pot again and allow the vinegar to set the married color back for 15-30 more minutes or until the water in the pot is clear again.Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 16
- 36. Slowly cool the wool by running first warm, then tepid, then cool water into the pot. You can also just turn off the fire under the pot and allow the wool to cool in the dye pot overnight.
- 37. Remove each piece of cooled wool from dye pot and lightly wring out excess water.
- 38. Use a cold rinse cycle in your washing machine to just rinse & spin the wool.
- 39. Put the wool into your dryer with a bath towel and a fabric softener sheet until dry, then remove and fold the wool.Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 17
- 40. Presented by Sally Van Nuys at Folk ‘n’ Fiber Copyright © 2011, All rights reserved 18 Thanks for Listening Web Site Thanks for listening. I hope you’ve learned something and that I have inspired you to try this yourself! Watch for more episodes of The Complete Rug Hooker, coming soon! In the meantime, click to visit me at these places online. Blog Etsy Shop
Notas do Editor
- Welcome to this segment of the Complete Rug Hooker power point series. If you have followed the previous segments, or you just want to jump into overdyeing, then you are in the right place.Click your mouse button to move from one slide to the next. Then click the speaker icon to listen to the narrative the slide.Let’s get started . . .
- Goodwill and local thrift shops are a great source for gathering wool to recycle for rug hooking. Be sure to review segment 2 of The Complete Rug Hooker power point series, to be sure you know which wools work best for rug hooking, and which ones to avoid! You want to constantly be building your stash of wool of all colors! When you begin color planning a new project, you can select and overdye wool from your stash to achieve the colors you need.You can also buy wool yardage, off-the-bolt, and prepare it in the same way I will describe next.
- This is most important: NEVER bring these garments inside your house until you are ready to take them straight to the washer! Critters, moth larvae etc can lurk inside—you do not want to expose your carpet or other hooking wool to these garments until you clean them. Keep them in the plastic bags in your car trunk or garage until you are ready to wash them. This is the order in which I prepare recycled wool — others do it differently for various reasons. I like to minimize my own exposure to the stuff that falls out of a used garment — although I do make a habit of checking pockets for junk that I don’t want in my machine and on the wool, like tissue, matches, or whatever. So do empty pockets before you wash. You will find the way you like the best.First, since I do not like to open the garments and rip them apart while they are dirty, I cut off the waist bands and hems with scissors, then I remove the linings. Next, remove zippers, buttons, and any other decorations, then I wash the garment with the other seams intact.
- If you buy wool off the bolt (called ‘as-is) or recycled wool garments, you’ll need to wash the wool. If the wool is new off the bolt, this will wash out any sizing put in the wool during processing and will also shrink the fibers to thicken it for hooking and to prevent the edges of your cut strips from raveling as you hook with them. If the wool is recycled, washing does the necessaryfulling of the wool, but it also washes out any body soil, oils, dry cleaning fluid residues, or dirt that would attract moths and their wool-eating larvae into your stash (not a good thing!) So why does wool shrink and why do we want it fulled? When wool fabric is subjected to mechanical action in the presence of moisture, like during washing and tumble drying, the individual wool fibers start to move, but because of wool’s unique surface profile (a scale structure like tiles on the roof of a house) the fibers can only move in one direction and can’t move back to their original position. Eventually, with prolonged mechanical action, the fibers become entangled and locked together, causing the fabric to shrink. Rug hookers want and need this to happen – it’s called fulling. Don’t confuse this process with ‘felting’, which is the extreme process of making the wool surface harder and thicker, like the wool you use in making penny rugs or other appliqué work.
- The factors that cause sufficiently fulled woolens are: 1) the water temperature change from hot or warm to cold, and 2) agitation. Agitation is the key factor, so if you have a wool that is a bit thick to start with or seems just right before washing, wash that one using cold water with regular agitation. Spinning at the end of the cycle will not hurt your wool. After washing your wool, tumble drying effectively completes the fulling process. Remove the wool as soon as the wash cycle completes. Now you can take the garment seams apart if you are recycling wool, and put the wool in the dryer on regular heat with a fluffy terrycloth bath towel and a fabric softenersheet. The towel will help the wool to get fluffy and dry faster;the fabric softenersheet will prevent the wool from getting wrinkled and stuck to itself from static electricity. Remove your wool promptly from the dryer, and either fold or roll the wool and add it to your stash. Store your stash in a place that has stable, dry air – avoid plastic bags and tubs where moisture can accumulate.Here’s a side note worth remembering . . . Ifa particular wool is a bit thick to start with, one that you washed incold water, then put it into the dryer for just a little while to fluff it, and then hang it to dry the rest of the way.
- The following slides give you an example of what's needed & how to do some simple dye-bath overdyeing. Keep in mind that this is the way I do it, but there are many other methods and ideas you can try. I encourage you to take the plunge if you've never tried dyeing wool before – it’s not difficult and doesn't have to be expensive. Once you try it, I am sure you'll want to experiment with other methods, for different results. These instructions will help you visualize the process and help you get you started -- after that you should feel comfortable and more at ease when trying other overdyeing methods.So just what is overdyeing? It’s simply the process of changing the color of a particular wool – say from tan to burgundy, or from a bright red to a duller red. Why would you want to overdye wool? Well, you might have a lot of great wool in your stash, but as you are color planning a project, you are not finding the colors you envision for your rug. What to do? Buy more wool? Nope – overdye it! Or, let’s say you need a variety of red wool for your project. You have many different red wools in your stash, but when you lay them next to one another, they just don’t mix well. How do you fix that? Yep, you overdye.Lastly, it is just plain fun to overdye and get great colors for your rugs. Every dye pot yields beautiful wool for your stash – even the accidents eventually get used somewhere. My friend Bonnie calls them ‘happy accidents.’ With the help of these instructions, you’ll have less accidents (happy or not) and more success as you begin your overdyeing.
- As you read through this list of tools and supplies, you will notice that many of them are readily available in your own kitchen. However, once you use them for overdyeing, only use them for overdyeing -- do not use them again for food preparation, with the exception of your sink and stove, of course.Take a minute to jot down this list – now is a good time to start a dyer’s journal. There will be many things you will want to make notes about as you overdye various wools and as you learn what works and what doesn’t in your overdyeing experiments. We will talk more about this later, but for now, make a note of the supplies you need before you go on.
- Obviously, you have a color in mind when you set out to overdye. How do you achieve that color in the dye pot? You can find many great books containing dye recipes or formulas. The authors have tested the formulas and most offer overdyed swatches that go along with each. They will also usually show you (or tell you) what that formula looks like over different wool colors, like neutral colors and other colors that work particularly well with that formula. The rest will be up to you.So you select the color that you want to use – for example, let’s say you select a formula for brick red. Unless you are beginning with white wool, the colors that are already in your wool are going to affect the color formula to some degree. A simple analogy is this: if you have a white piece of paper and you color on it with a red marker, the color you see is the exact red of the marker. If you color with the same marker over a blue piece of paper, what do you see? Ah-ha . . . now the color is a more purple red, right? This is where a little understanding of color theory can really help you get the results you are looking for when overdyeing wool. You actually learned a lot of these in grade school. A simple color wheel can help with that understanding – you can get one in most art supply stores, or find one on the internet. Get to know each color’s complementary color (these are in opposite positions on the color wheel.) These color combinations work very well together, but also, when used in varying amounts, can reduce the brightness of a complement. For example, if I have a really bright red wool and I want to tone it down, I put it in the dye pot with some green dye (it’s complement) and I end up with a duller, less bright red wool. Plus, I often use red and green together in the same rug because they complement one another.So, pick a dye formula and some wool to overdye. Overdyeing several different wools in the same dye pot, will result in those wools all working together in the same rug. For example, you can overdye checks, plaids, and solids together to get a great mix of wool to use in a background.The best advice about choosing colors is to read and understand a bit how colors affect each other. Since most commercial dyes are comprised of several colors to begin with, a simple understanding of these concepts is all you need to get started. It really sounds much harder than it is in practice – just get started and you’ll learn a lot as you go!
- You’ve chosen your dye color, so you are ready to begin overdyeing. Fill your sink or a plastic tub in your sink with hot water. Add some Synthropol or another surfactant like Jet Dry for automatic dishwashers. Use 1 to 3 Tblsp and gently swish the agent through the water – do not make a lot of suds. Surfactant agents help the water completely soak through your wool.Check the dye formula to see how much wool is recommended. Some formulas are intended to overdye ½ yard, while others might do more or less. Select the wools, and then completely submerge each wool in the tub of water. Squeeze the water though the wool for a few minutes, and then allow the wool to remain in the tub for a good soak while you prepare the dye pot.Here’s a tip! Fat quarters of wool are much easier to handle when overdyeing. I always rip my wool into fat quarters before soaking them.
- Let’s talk a minute about dye pots.I use an old enamelware spaghetti pot in which to soak my wool and I use both stainless steel and enamelware pots for overdyeing. My enamelware dye pot is an old slop pot I bought at an antique shop (don't pay over $20.00 for these – they are not worth more than that). I like it because it has a lid and a sturdy bail handle. My larger pot is stainless steel and I love it too because I can overdye a lot of wool in it at one time – it’s 20 quarts. Be sure yourenamel pots have no chips inside – the metal beneath the enamel can interfere with the dye process and create unwanted spots on the wool.So if you have an old enamelware or stainless pot around, start with that. The pot should be large enough that the wool can move around during dyeing. The more crowded the pot, the more mottled the color will be – but it’s best to achieve this by adjusting the amount of water in the pot, not by the size of the pot. Also keep in mind that you will be lifting this pot when it’s filled with very hot water and wet wool. It will be heavy – so don’t select a pot size that will be difficult for you to handle. Be safe!Fill the pot about 2/3 of the way full with warm tap water and put it on the stove. If you want a mottled result, start with a little less water so the wool is more crowded and don’t add salt to the dye pot. For a more even result, omit the salt and use more water. Don’t worry, using more or less water will not affect the color produced – color intensity comes from the ratio of wool to dye – the water is just the carrying agent for the dye – really, it’s true! More water will not dilute the color.Start with a high burner flame until the water begins to simmer. Turn the flame down to keep the water temperature at the simmer point. Do not boil the water – a boiling dye-bath will produce felted wool that will not be useful for rug hooking. Now you can prepare your dye.
- Use precautions when working with acid-reactive dyes. It is recommended that you wear a protective mask to prevent breathing in any air-born dye. Always keep dye away from food and drinks, and cover nearby surfaces to protect them from dry dye and spills. And unless you like technicolor hands, wear rubber gloves while preparing your dye formulas and during the dyeing process.Always follow the manufacturers directions when handling and preparing dye – there are several acid-reactive dyes available that can be used to dye wool: Cushing, Aljo, and ProChem are the most widely used.Prepare your dye according to the dye color formula you have chosen. Always use the same set of measuring spoons when overdyeing if you want to reproduce a color you have overdyed in the past. Measure the dyes precisely. Dye formulas can include three or sometimes even more dye colors. To prevent the dyes from intermixing as you dip into the dye packets, stir your measuring spoons in a container of dry salt to remove any left-over dye.First measure the dry dyes into a clean, glass jar. Then, place a glass measuring cup of water (filled to the 1 cup line) into your microwave oven for as long as it takes to come to a boil– microwave times will vary with the power of your microwave (or you can boil water in a kettle on top of the stove and then pour it into a measuring cup.) Carefully and slowly pour the cup of boiling water into the jar containing the dry dyes. Immediately stir the mixture with a plastic fork or a small wire whisk until the dye is completely dissolved. Now take the prepared dye to the dye pot and carefully add it to the simmering water. Use a large mixing spoon to slowly stir the dye into the water. I like to use a white enamel spoon for this step. The dye does not penetrate and stain the enamel and the white color comes in handy later in the process.Now you are ready to add wool to the dye pot.
- When the dye-pot is ready, carefully add the pre-soaked wool to the dye bath (do not wring the water from the pre-soaked wool). Lower one piece of wool at a time into the dye pot. Push the wool to the bottom of the pot, and then add the next piece. Try to prevent any wool from poking above the water line. If it is not under the water, it is not going to absorb the dye.For primitive, mottled color, stir the wool only when it first goes into the pot. If you want more even color, stir the wool around the pot when you add the wool, and again several times throughout the dye process.Now, cover the pot and leave it to simmer for 30 minutes. Then, check the wool to see if it ‘s the color intensity you want. Remember, the wool will be lighter when it’s dry. If the color seems too light, just cover the pot and let it simmer a little longer. When the color looks right, add about 1/3 of a cup of white vinegar to the pot and stir thoroughly. Cover the pot again and allow the vinegar to set the dye into the wool. The vinegar is a mordant, helping to move the dye from the water into the wool and setting in the color. Let the dye-pot simmer for 30 more minutes (some dyers only simmer with vinegar for 15 minutes, but to be sure your wool is color fast, you should leave it another 30 minutes.)After 30 minutes, use that white spoon to check how much dye remains in the water. Just take a spoonful of water up and see if the water has cleared. If the water is mostly clear, all the dye has set into the wool – that’s the goal. If you still see a fair amount of color in the water, give the pot another shot of vinegar, stir it, and let it simmer another 15 minutes. Continue to check like this until the water is clear. Some colors are slower to set into the wool than others – it has to do with the different temperatures at which the individual colors are absorbed. For example, red and yellow are slower to be absorbed than blue and green.When the water has cleared, you are ready to move on.
- When the color of your wool is just right, don your heavy rubber gloves and carefully move the dye pot to the sink. Always wear heavy, heat-resistant gloves to prevent being burned when handling the wool from the dye bath. Slowly run tap water into the dye pot – first warm, then tepid, then cool to prevent shocking and possibly felting the wool. You can also just turn off the flame under the dye pot and let it sit on the stovetop overnight to cool. I can never wait that long to see and feel my overdyed wool.When the wool is cool, gently wring some of the water out of it and take it to your washing machine. Use just the rinse cycle and cold water to rinse and spin the wool – this removes any dye that might wash out (not much will) and also eliminates the vinegar smell.Then you can tumble dry the wool in your dryer as explained in slide 5, using a bath towel and a fabric softener sheet to help fluff and dry the wool. I wish I could see the expression on your face when you open the dryer and pull out that beautiful, soft wool, that is now the just the color you needed!That’s it – you’re done! You will quickly become addicted to this fun process. Before you know it, you’ll have 2 and 3 pots going on the stove at once. And, upon entering the kitchen, your family will become accustomed to the smell and just know that dinner is going to be late and that there’s not chili in those pots!
- You say you need better wool colors for a project, but you really have no desire to get into overdyeing with commercial dyes and dye formulas? Okay – there are a couple of ways that you can change the colors of wool without commercial dyes. The results will be a bit less predictable, but well worth the effort – which really isn’t that much. One method is called Marrying, a cousin to Stewing, and the other is Marbling. Each method has a very different, but effective, result, which will give you some great wools that can be used together in a project.
- Marrying wool – simply put, that means to put a bunch of wools of similar colors into a pot, let the colors bleed out for a while, mingle around in the water, and then put the married color from the water back into the wool to produce several wools who’s colors are now closer to one another and can be used in the same project.You can use this method for properly prepared recycled wool or for as-is, off the bolt wool. Let’s say you have five pieces of red wool, but none of the reds blend very well. You have a project in which you would like to use several reds that so go well together. This is when you want to marry those red wools. You can also use this method with wools of different colors, like a bright red that you would like to tone down and a green that you can use with it. Put the red and green together in the pot, and let them marry. The result will be a red and a green that look good together.
- So here is how you go about marrying wool: Start with a large pot of water on the stove top, add about 3 Tblsp of powdered Tide or Washing Soda and stir until it is completely dissolved – allow the water to come to a simmer. Now place your pieces of wool into the pot and keep pushing the wool down into the water until it is soaked through.Cover the pot and leave it to simmer for 15-30 minutes – you can stir the wool around every 10 minutes or so and check to see that the wool is releasing color. When you see a nice amount of color in the water, add about 1/3 of a cup of white vinegar to the pot and stir thoroughly. Cover the pot again and allow the vinegar to set the married color back into the wool. Remember, the vinegar is a mordant, helping to move the dye from the water into the wool and setting in the color. Let the dye-pot simmer for 15-30 more minutes or until the water in the pot is clear again. If the water has not cleared within 30 minutes, you can give it another 1/3 cup of vinegar and let is marry for another 15 minutes.
- Now, you can carefully move the pot to the sink. Always wear heavy, heat-resistant gloves to prevent being burned when handling hot, wet wool. Slowly run tap water into the dye pot – first warm, then tepid, then cool to prevent shocking and possibly felting the wool. When the wool is cool, gently wring some of the water out of it and take it to your washing machine. Use just the rinse cycle and cold water to rinse and spin the wool – this removes any color that might wash out and also eliminates the vinegar smell.Tumble dry the wool in your dryer as explained in slide 5, using a bath towel and a fabric softener sheet to help fluff and dry the wool. I think you will be quite surprised when you see how much the wool has changed and how well they work together.