Comments on: Experiments with Colorhue Dyes

By: Juliann

Juliann — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 02:57:37 +0000

Greetings, Diana! I am so honored that you have stopped by my little blog. I haven’t been writing much this past year, so other than the three posts on Colorhue I haven’t written much (the tutorial you saw, the tutorial on mixing the dye and the experiments photos) but I have continued to use and refine my techniques with this product. The most important things are to always handwash after dyeing as machine washing (even with something gentle) will deplete the colors and that Colorhue, despite what the package says, only works on silk. The latter is obviously not a problem for your pocket handkerchiefs I still have not perfected mixing red, unfortunately, but I know that the secret is to start with the yellow and add a tiny amount of rose at a time. I always seem to overdo it and get orange Also be careful if you want very crisp color definition and want to use the goldenrod; I find the gold blurs things quite a bit, I don’t know why. You still get splotches of color but not the finely detailed swirls and marbled looks you can get without it. I’m wondering if the answer to that is to dye the item with all other colors first, rinse out and then add the gold last. That’s on my to-experiment list. Finally, I have been having trouble with the orange/pumpkin lately. It worked for me for a while but now it washes out almost every time. I wonder (since it is the same small bottle I have had for over a year) if that dye just doesn’t go off faster than other colors and thus needs to be used when freshly bought.

Finally, for the most dramatic impact, I find coloring the item first, wringing it all out (pour out the water if using a bag or other container) and then adding a dark color for the very last step gives stunning results. I had been using the darkest color last but with the other discharged water still there and that was blurring the effect.

If you have any other questions, please just ask! I am playing around more on Thursday with them for some gifts (for Friday, this is great for those last minute items ) so I’d be happy to try something out for you so you don’t need to waste any pocket silks.

Thanks for coming by!

–Juliann

By: Diana Trout

Diana Trout — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:25:43 +0000

OMG, thank you! I’ve got the silk pocket squares and colorhue dyes from Dharma for my daughter’s fiance and bridegrooms for their wedding and have been searching for how to use them – without wasting a ton of time. I really appreciate your tutorial. Have had a little experience with dyeing and this will really make my process much easier. Will do a tute on my blog and link to yours for the complete information. I’ll search for more posts here on your blog. Have I thanked you enough times?

By: Arianna

Arianna — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:45:30 +0000

Continue the good work and people will continue to come to your blog! I have been updating my blogs, as well.

By: Juliann

Juliann — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 07:15:03 +0000

Hi, thanks for your comment! I have been working with more fabrics with the Colorhue and to be very honest they haven’t be taking on most other fabrics, not even they ones they claim to work well on like rayon and wool so I’d be extremely leery about the cotton part of the blend. I’d actually try a Dylon cold water dye if you can get it, that works really well on cotton, not so sure about the silk part, but you could dye it in Dylon first and overdye in in Colorhue. That would potentially change the shade a little bit but it would still have an even color across the dress. If you want more information on how you’d do this let me know

(I’m emailing this so you as I can’t remember if WordPress automatically emails you a copy of this or not.)

By: Jesse

Jesse — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 06:37:44 +0000

Hi! Love your scarves! I even like the pastel shades that you weren’t so happy with. I found your blog while searching for more info and reviews on these dyes. I wanted to dye a dress a solid color, it’s a silk/ cotton blend, and I wanted to avoid hot water for fear of shrinkage. Any thoughts on dying something larger than a scarf, or about the blend in fabric?