Tuesday, April 08, 2014

turmeric

Adele is a very active girl,
and this comes with the usual load of washing to do.
Sometimes a woollen pullover can get stained. So what do you do?
Dye it with turmeric of course!

I know turmeric is not as colourfast as I'd like but it's not going to be a problem,
she will grow out of it before it can fade significantly (I used no mordant)
-- but it was the only thing I had ready at hand! --
the result is a really intense colour, I am very happy with it.

This is more or less the procedure:
- dissolve the turmeric powder in lukewarm water
- bring to the boil for at least 30' then leave to cool
- when the dyebath is at room temperature add the object you want to dye
(this is very important especially when dyeing with wool:
it doesn't like sudden changes in temperature - it might felt)
- let it rest (I usually leave it to soak overnight)
- bring to the boil and let it simmer gently for 40'
- leave to cool
- rinse gently (for my last rinse I added a splash of vinegar)

yellow

yellow

yellow

3 comments:

Meg said...

Lucky wee girl. Does the garment smell like turmeric afterwards? I might gibe it a go if it keeps the smell as well!

Donatella said...

Hi Meg!
there was a fantastic smell in the house while it was cooking, but there is only the faintest scent on the garment..:-(

Meg said...

That's good to know, Doni. I wonder if the vinegar wiped it out. Thank you for letting me know.