Natural Dye, UK White Workman's, and a Mad Scientist...

[Riverkilt]

Been thinking about ordering a White UK Workman's to dye. Waited on my black workman's to arrive to be sure I liked the style...and of course I love it.

Was gonna choose a Rit Dye color, then realized that the countryside around me is thick with sagebrush. The Navajos used to boil up a sage tea to dye their wool with. Comes out sort of yellow-gold. Hoping the cotton would be similar.

Think it would be a beautiful color that was complementary to the canyonlands.

Just don't have any experience on making up a natural dye, dipping an expensive kilt into it, and figuring out a way to fix the dye.

Off to scour the Internet and the library for such information. Would appreciate feedback from anyone that's already taken such a risk...

Thanks,
Ron

[Atticus]

I hope you practice a bit on something less valuable. I'd make sure a few beefy White Tee Shirts come out perfect before dunking that UK.

[Freelander Sporrano]

Couldn't ask one of the Natives how they did/do it Ron.

[Mychael Sporrano]

At one time I thought that I would experiment with applying a natural dye to my off-white PK. What I was considering using for the dunk was a solution made from walnut husks. I also considered saffron.

I made up the walnut solution and tried it with some scraps Jeff gave me. As dark as the dye looked, the best it could produce was a light brown. I even tried multiple dunks.

I tried a saffron solution and the color was a vibrant yellow/orange. I was hoping for a result comprised with a little more of an orange, but what I saw was nice. Saffron also costs a bit more though there are some grades available that would make this ok in the cost effective department.

Here is the thing that my research taught me about applying dye to material. First, most effective methods require that the material be boiled with the dye. I was not comfortable with this so I used a lengthy cold soak. Secondly, most effective methods require the use of a mordant to set the color. Otherwise, out it comes in the washing machine. The material can either be returned to the dye bath from time to time with the intention of restoring its vibrancy, or one can allow it to fade.

Ultimately, I decided to leave my PK as is, but I really like this idea about using sage and am be interested to hear the results of experiments in this regard.

For further info try this link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye

Mychael

[Andrew Breecher]

Now that you have your black UK you could go to a fabric store and pick up some cotton material of the same weight, and experiment. That way you can try different methods cheaply.

Andrew.

[Mike n NC]

Ron, I don't own a Workman's and am not really familliar with UK so I have to ask. Do they treat the material? Some such treatments will repel dye the same way it repels stains.

Can you get a swatch from UK? Seems to me that would be the way to go. Test it first.

Mychael mentioned a couple of points, getting the color intensity you desire and using a mordant to set the color. His point of using boiling water shouldn't be an issue using preshrunk cotton.

To extract sage you will need experiment but if it is like walnut husks you'll need to boil about as much sage as you use water, if not more. Depends on how dark you want it to come out.

Being a little older, I remember when dyes were not colorfast, neither was a lot of the clothing being sold at the time. I remember my Mom using salt to set the color. She would add a cup of salt to cold water on the first wash, never seemed to be any problem after that.

Don't know if any of this will be of any help to you, just a few things I've picked up along the way. Give it a try and good luck, I will be interested to hear what comes of it.

Mike

[Riverkilt]

Thanks for the suggestions and the link guys, all good ones.

Sage grows everywhere here so there's plenty for me so pack into whatever "dye tea" I can brew up.

The UK white workmans has been died many times and isn't treated that I know of...seen a few dyed ones on the board.

I have an old hippie friend down the road that does tie dye tshirts still, was gonna have him do a rainbow tie dye until my brain hooked on sage.

I've also seen a local book on how to dye the Navajo way...right down to some dyes ya gotta pee in so the ammonia does something... a bit extreme. But the Navajo book is about dying wool yarn before they weave it into beautiful rugs...guessing it would still work for already woven heavy cotton.

Main thing I'm after is "local color." A kilt that matches the colors of the canyonlands. Other idea was doing "dirt dye" but I don't really like the color the dirt dye t shirts they sell tourists are.

Guess I could start, as someone suggested, and dye an old tshirt in sage tea and be sure I like the color...

Guess I'm most concerned about trashing an expensive kilt not knowing what I'm doing...

Thanks for the ideas and support.

Ron

[Andrew Breecher]

I really like your idea of dying it to match the surrounding country. Kind of like a house that's built with local materials to fit in the location.

Many artists have used urine throughout the centuries to get the medium they need, including Rembrandt, and leather workers. You'd be in good company if you tried it, but remember the consistancy might change depending on what you eat beforehand. Try eating "natural" for a few days before you try it!

Andrew.