Ooh, That Waxy Buildup!

I'm still preparing for my class for middle school kids. I usually sign up to do these things if it's something that I'll learn from, as well as something my students will learn from. In this case, I've designed the class intentionally so that I'll teach the kids some things I've never done myself! It forces me to try new things and gives me inspiration. The discharge dyeing was one of those crafts I'd never done before, but I'm planning to teach it, so I had to try it out (I still have more experimenting with that to do, too!).

The next topic for the class is batik. That's on purpose. When I first got the dyeing bug five years ago, thanks to my daughter's 6th birthday party, I went a little crazy with exploring the color-on-fabric medium and Dharma's catalog full of textile arts goodies. Among other things, I got a pound of batik wax and some tjanting tools for applying the wax, planning to try out doing batik. Five years later, the stuff was still sitting unopened in a drawer, so drastic measures were required, such as teaching it to kids!

I found a lot of information on batik on the web. For example, Paula Burch has an excellent discussion on batik on her extensive hand dyeing website. I also have a book called "Tie Dye To Die For & Batik You Can't Resist!" with good information, among others.

Getting Started

I melted the batik wax in its foil tin inside an old (that is, sacrificed to the cause) frying pan that was full of boiling water. I kept the stove burner on a low setting, but I found that the water had to be at a bubbling boil for the wax to get hot enough. If the wax is too cool, it beads up on the surface of the fabric. It has to penetrate the fabric thoroughly to resist the dyes properly.

Using the tjanting really takes some practice. I was just making a sampler on a bandana, not a work of art, so it didn't matter much if I got drips all over, but if I were to get serious about batik I'd need to work on my tjanting skills--for about a year! The hard part is to tilt the tool up just enough to stop its dripping from the tip, but not so much that the wax dribbles out the filling hole on the top and runs down your arm. Yikes.

Here is my pan of boiling water. The batik wax is on the left with the tjanting in it. Notice the frothy, bubbly water in the frying pan--that's what it looks like with lots of wax dripped into it by a tjanting amateur. "Bubbling like a witch's brew in a cauldron" would be a good way to describe what I found to be the right temperature.


I taped my bandana taut to a jelly roll pan (that's a cookie sheet with 1-inch high sides) so my working area would not touch the metal (a handy version of a silk painter's frame). That was useful because I don't have many empty flat surfaces in my house, so I could just stack this on top of everything else to be near the stove (works better than just dumping everything else on the floor!). I did have to keep shifting and re-taping the bandana to get at all of the bandana's area, though.


Here is my bandana with the wax applied. In the lower right corner I tried using a metal cookie cutter to apply the wax. That's supposed to be a frog. Near that is a big dark area where I painted wax on with a paintbrush between lines I had already done with the tjanting. I wanted to have a big area to test out the crackle effect.


I wadded up the corner of the bandana to crack that big area of wax and the surrounding areas (though all of the wax got somewhat cracked due to my generally-rough handling).


Other Resists

Because getting rid of the wax is such a pain, many people have tried out using other resists instead of the wax. They have various limitations, though, such as not producing the characteristic cracked effect found in real batik. At some point, while I was making glycerin soaps with my kids, it occurred to me that the soap itself might make a good resist that could then just wash right out at the end. The melting temperature and viscosity is similar to that of wax.

I melted some of the glycerin soap in the same frying pan full of water with my batik wax. That's the small handled pot in the picture above. I applied the soap to the upper right corner of my bandana with a second tjanting.


The glycerin soap is shinier and less yellow than the wax.

Dyeing

I used direct application for the dyes--I'm a big fan of immediate gratification! I gently soaked the bandana in a small bucket of soda ash solution, separate from my usual soaking bucket, because I didn't want to contaminate all my mixed-up soda ash solution with the water-soluble soap. Then I painted or squirted on dyes that I had around from recent tie-dyeing (same Procion dyes anyhow). One advantage of batik direct application is that I used less dye than I would have to tie-dye the same bandana. I let it sit overnight.


Resisting Resists

Next came the not-so-fun part, removing the resists. The soap, as expected, came right out in the cold-water rinse I always do for tie-dyes (to remove the soda ash and the worst of the excess dye). Then I tried various things to get rid of the wax. I tried bending it to remove the big chunks and drips. That helped a little. Scraping with a dull table knife was hopeless.

Then I tried boiling in water. Unfortunately I didn't have a multi-gallon pot (as Paula suggests) that I was willing to sacrifice to the cause. The wax and the soap might be food-safe, but there is still a lot of excess dye in the bandana. The pot I used was small, and the water immediately became dark blue with excess dye (and the bandana stuck out of the water in places, too). So if I wanted to change the water multiple times rather than boil blue dye onto my nice white batik lines, I had to do something about the wax. It was a mess. I scraped some off with a cold spoon, which helped some but was ridiculously tedious. I tried a fine strainer, which simply clogged. I tried paper towels in a coarse strainer, and the water poured past the paper towel (not held in well enough). I hate to think how much wax is now clogging my kitchen pipes!

I finally had done enough rinsing and wax removal that I wasn't concerned with dye redepositing. I went out to the garden, got a few rocks, and plopped them in to boil with my bandana and hold it down under the surface. I then let the water cool, and I scraped enough wax off the surface to get my bandana out.

I hand-washed the bandana with Synthrapol, let it dry, and here it is.


Since I was just making a sampler, I didn't worry about the age of the mixed dyes, so they look a bit more faded than an experienced Procion dyer would expect. The purple especially didn't hold its color--it was the oldest mixed dye. I've found that greens particularly, then purples and blues, lose their color strength the fastest (the New Emerald Green here was fresh). I've learned to make up fresh batches of dyes when I'm doing something where the color and brightness is important.

Here's the corner where I used the soap as the resist. Soap didn't get the really sharp, crisp edges wax gets, but it does get some cracking. I think it would have been helpful to have the soap a little hotter than the wax, though, so it could have penetrated a little better.


For my class, given that we won't have much time and there is very little budget, I'll show my students the difference between the wax and the soap, and then we'll use the soap. The soap has the advantage that it's easy to get in any craft store, and they can melt it using a microwave (repeatedly, but it does work). Then they can take their work home to wash it, and I won't have to worry about their parents calling me to complain about clogged drains!

And in my case, I still have a lot of wax to clean off the stove, the oven below it, the floor, the sink, the pans... I'd hate to lose my crafts-in-the-kitchen privileges. I'm getting close to that, though, since I still have my sewing machine on the kitchen table while I work sporadically on that jeans circle quilt. Eeek!

Dang Dog!

My little publicity hound somehow sensed I was going to take blog pictures tonight. I had just laid the white sheet and the bandana down on the floor and had gone into the other room to get my camera. In that short time, she went and found a squeaky toy and started cavorting with it in the middle of my photo setup!


My daughter tried to help distract Lacey while I set up again (but Lacey had no intention of letting go of the toy).


She only gets away with it because she's cute...


I'm thinking next time maybe I should batik the dog. But I'll have to use the soap instead of the wax. Wouldn't want any waxy buildup on that fluffy white fur!

Did Galileo Do Tie-Dye?

I spent the whole day today doing one of the things I enjoy most: teaching tie-dye to lots of kids.

I was at my daughter's summer camp, Galileo Summer Quest, which is a new program here for middle school kids. It's not "school", but it's a seriously educational program. Kids spend time doing things like learning how to make digital movies (from storyboards to shooting to editing on the computer) and learning leadership and collaboration skills. They also spend a period of each day doing more recreational activities like playing extreme hopscotch and foursquare--that's where the tie-dye comes in (besides, it is camp!).

Galileo Summer Quest is a great camp for nerd kids--or kids whose parents want them to be nerd kids! Or both, in my daughter's case--(wipes away tear)--I'm SO proud! I'm a nerd too, of course. But the question arises: is there anything educational and intellectual about tie-dye?

Absolutely! In my pre-dye lectures to the middle schoolers, I manage to sneak in just a little brain work. There's a little botany/biology: the Procion dyes bond to the cellulose in the cotton shirts, and where can you find cellulose? Cell walls in plants. There is a little chemistry in the reaction of the dyes with the soda ash (a basic solution) and the cellulose. And there is math: we spend time talking about how folds relate to the lines of symmetry, and how the stripes of colors relate to the folding, in the final design. We did X, V, stripe, and diamond designs. The kids (and counselors) really have to apply their spatial skills to wrap their heads around how the diamond and the X patterns come from almost the same folds.

Who knew tie-dye was so intellectual? Galileo would be proud.

Rhapsody in Many Colors

Today I had my now-annual tie-dyeing day with the current crop of first graders at my local school. I do this project in four sessions:

1. Measurement day: the kids measure each others' seated height (seat to shoulder) and waist size. We also look at the t-shirt sizes the kids are currently wearing. This gives me the data I need to order the shirts from Dharma. More importantly, it also gives the kids a little experience with measurement. First grade is is when most of them are just learning what a inch is. I can now pretty much tell a kid's t-shirt size by eye anyhow, and most of them are size 10-12s so they can still wear the shirts next year. I ordered 84 size 10-12s, about a dozen each of 6-8's and 14-16's, and 6 adult M. I often have one or two kids who take an adult L, partly because they like their shirts big.
2. Tying day: about two weeks later I have all the shirts and have prewashed them. I go in and teach the kids the fold for stripes, X's, and diamonds (see this picture in my previous post). With the help of teachers and some parent volunteers, the kids all fold their shirts and tie them with 4-7 rubber bands. I leave the shirts in the classroom for the week.
3. Dyeing day: this is the most work but also the most fun. I explain to the kids how to mix colors together on the shirts (I give them six colors to choose from), how to hold the squeeze bottles, how to check that they got dye on the inside of the folded shirt, behavior rules, and so on. Then an army of parents and other volunteers suit the kids up in gloves, goggles, and a garbage-bag smock, guides them to their soda-ash-soaked shirts, and supervises the dyeing process. The kids love this part!




4. Shirt return day: a few of the parents take the shirts home to wash over the weekend. We time the whole project so the kids get their shirts back right before the final school assembly of the school year. I just love watching the kids show each other their results: "I love my shirt! I love my shirt!" It's so cool to see the entire first grade in the front of the assembly in their shirts. It's an amazing swath of color.

Behind the scenes, it's an amazing amount of work. I mix about 9 gallons of dye (6 colors), 12 gallons of soda ash solution, make 80 or so trash bag smocks, collect table coverings, order and prewash shirts, and so on. And of course there is washing out afterwards and lots of cleanup. But that's all stuff I can do at my leisure, at my own pace.

It's all the volunteer help that really makes it work and makes it a really fun experience. First graders aren't terribly patient about waiting in line for getting suited up or doing their dyeing. So we have half a dozen people swarm the kids quickly, popping garbage bags over heads and slipping on gloves and goggles. Other volunteers are waiting at the dye tables. With this effort, it goes very quickly, and we got through four batches of 20+ kids today in three hours! Of course, the cleanup took another few hours...

What Do You Mean, "Soak It"?

One thing that often happens, especially in the uncontrollable chaos of group tie-dyeing at YMCA family camp, is that someone will carefully tie his or her piece and start dyeing it, then hear me telling someone else to go soak their tied piece in the bucket of soda ash solution.

"What do you mean, 'soak it'? I didn't do that..."

Thus begins a process I call a "rescue". The Procion fiber reactive dyes I use need the soda ash to make the color bond to the fibers in the fabric, making the colors permanent. What I usually do for these cases is place the dyed piece in an empty bucket and pour some of the soda ash solution over it (one year a camper dumped her blue piece in the main soda ash bucket on top of other pieces that were soaking. They all got dyed pale blue!) and let it soak. I then have the owner put more dye on to counteract the small amount of washing out that happens when we soak it.

The Experiment

This rescue process seems to work well enough, but I was curious as to how much of a difference it really made. So while I was there at camp, I tried an experiment. I tied three identical prewashed cotton bandanas the same way. I soaked one in soda ash, then I dyed all three the same way. The other two were dyed without soda ash. I took one of those two and did a "rescue", pouring soda ash over it and then adding more dye. I then let them sit overnight and washed as usual. So my three bandanas are the "control" (usual process), the "no soda ash", and the "rescue".

One initial observation: I generally dislike dyeing dry fabric, with or without soda ash (some people advocate soaking tied items in soda ash, drying them out and then dyeing). Even if the item is prewashed, the dye often beads up, runs off in unwanted directions, or pools up. Once it does soak in, it tends to spread unevenly. With the soda-ash-soaked bandana, the dye goes in smoothly and spreads more evenly, while I have to pretty much force the dye into the two dry bandanas.

The Results

There was a distinct difference among the three finished bandanas after I washed them out, though not quite as much difference as I expected. In the following picture, the "control" (usual soda ash soaking) sample is on the left, the "rescue" is on the right, and the one in the middle has no soda ash at all. The middle sample is definitely more dull and faded-looking than the other two, especially for the dark cobalt blue triangles on the sides. They are at least a shade lighter than their counterparts on the other bandanas. The "rescue" sample has more vibrant colors than the untreated sample, though it lacks the definition of the "control" sample.


I think part of the difference in pattern definition between the rescue and control samples may be due to dyeing on dry fabric--the dye absorption and spreading properties are different. Also, when the dyed "rescue" sample is soaked in soda ash after dyeing, the soda ash solution may be spreading the dye, blurring the whiter areas you see in the "control" sample. The re-dyeing after soaking may also aggravate the blurring.

Here is another picture where you can see the differences more directly (click on the picture to see a larger version).


Conclusions

It's clear that the best process for nice sharp tie-dye is to soak the item in soda ash before dyeing it. However, given that mistakes often happen, I think doing the "rescue" process is preferable over just going without the soda ash, so I'll continue to recommend that as necessary.

One further thing I want to do is to wash all three bandanas a couple more times. I know from experience that I won't see much change in the colors for the two that had soda ash, but I wonder if the untreated bandana will show visible washing out of the colors. I'll be doing a lot of
tie-dye washing in the next week or so, so I'll put an update out later.

Epi-dog (Gratuitous Dog Picture)

Once again, my dog Lacey, knowing how fabulous she looks on tie-dye, decided to help me out when she saw me getting ready to take tie-dye pictures! That's the "rescue" sample.


Aaaawwww...