Wow! Halloween witch craft. Red, yellow and green nice fall colors.....You turned it into baby blue, white and light beige. Simply marvelous! Lol Love your test runs.
Margret I did this project also. I reacted exactly the same way you did after it dried. I was not happy about the stiffness. But I turned lemons into lemonade and made a market bag with it. Lion Brand and Red Heart have lots of free patterns. The stiffness actually helps the bag work better when putting food in it. I used a pattern that came with the yarn. Hope that helps you. Love your videos and thank you for the hard work.
Wow! I think the hat came out gorgeous! I'm not one for pastels but honestly, I like how it turned out in the end! Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
As always, love your experiments. It does seem to make sense that you could dye acrylic yarn with acrylic paint and it did sort of work, as long as you don't want strong colours!
Belinda Ortega There is a new synthetic dye made by Rit that's on the market now if you're interested. I found I just didn't get a big kick out of the whole messy dyeing process myself so I haven't bothered to try it.
Oh, goodness... this is an old video! I found I didn't enjoy the process of yarn dying but if I did, I would use the new dyes made for man-made fibers that weren't on the market back then! So much easier!!
When we paint fabric with acrylic paint, we add textile medium to keep it soft, and heat set the color, let cure a week before washing. Might try that with yarn. Also, we use vinegar soak to get dried paint out of paintbrushes, so perhaps your vinegar soak loosened the paint, rather than setting it, as you intended.
@@sheepishlysharing have you experienced with the synthetic dyes much? Is thee one in particular you prefer Margaret? Have you tried the RIT synthetic? I was a couple skeins short for a cardigan. When I got the extras skeins they seemed to be pretty close to what I had, til I worked it into the cardigan and there's obvious parts that is a different shade. Would synthetic dye correct this issue? It's red heart soft in teal. Several people think it's kinda ombre... I don't ;p
Mixing the Acrylic paint with 91% Alcohol will keep the colors true to the tone you mix. In other words, less fading. Plus the alcohol will make the dye more permanent. Also, hitting the yarn with a blow dryer, when damp, will help soften the stiffness. Great video. You are a very accessible and charming tutor.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiment! The first thing I thought is that there are uses for a stiff yarn. I am thinking summer hats with a brim. These are also rarely washed if they don't cling to you head. Another thought, wall hangings, since a little stiffness might be desirable for holding shape.Anyway, as usual, I really enjoyed this great idea! Robin
I know this is 8 years old, but I'm curious about dyeing yarn (can't find anything I like if I do it's sold out). I use acrylic paint on shirts, but it's basically PVA glue with mineral pigments. I'd be curious if a heat set would do any better. I'm going to try the RIT Synthetic Dye. Found your channel yesterday I've been loving it.
Hi Margaret :) Thank you for sharing a fun and exciting journey of experimenting. That was really interesting :-) It is amazing how the colour changed after you washed it. Amy
I think, if I were to do it again, I would use Rit's dye for synthetic fibers. It wasn't out at the time of this video but I hear really good things about it.
I'm sorry to say I don't have time to read all the comments but some thoughts on Acrylic paint. I have painted sweatshirts and to get the paint to stick you mixed in fabric medium and when dry, set it with a pressing cloth and iron. That is all cotton. The other is I have recently watched videos about dying fabric with acrylic paint. They talked about mixing alcohol in with the paint before putting it on the cloth. I've not tried it but it's a thought.
You might want to try Rit's new synthetic dye series. Our local Hobby Lobby just started carrying it in the yarn accessory aisle. It dyes acrylic, polyester, and nylon. A bottle runs about $5. I bought a few bottles and am getting ready to try it out.
chrisbilderback Thanks... somebody else recommended the same thing and I'd never heard of it. However, I didn't get a kick out of the yarn dying process at all! I think I'll leave that to the experts!
i did this last week! i watched the frugal crafter and attempted it since andrew and his brother are both painters we have an absurd amount of acrylic paint and i have a ton of yarn...i went for a slow color change and well, it came out pretty but it wasnt the colors i had thought it would be. going to experiment some more :)
Thanks, Wanda, but if I were to ever try this again, I'd try the Rit dye for synthetics that they make these days. (Not available at the time I made this video!)
what a beautiful hat!!!!! seems like a real chore to get to that point, but the hat was beautiful when you were soaking it ( with the more saturated colors ) and beautiful in it's final pale colors!
Thanks for all of your hard work and info I have several skeins of off white acrylic yarn someone gave me and was going to try this but all that work just doesn't seem worth the out come, I guess I'll just make something that the off white will make a good accent with.
This is an old video and since then Rit has come out with a special dye for synthetics! I would certainly try that over this method. I haven't tried it but from what I hear you can get great results!
Haha i watched the exact same video not that long ago but never even done the experiment myself, I forgot all about it. Well it's good to see that it can still be wearable. It's a bit like that temporary hair dye - the stuff that lasts for 3 washes.
Barry Gibson Now that's a thought... I wonder how many washings the color would endure?! Is it stained permanently or will it eventually fade to white? Hmmm.....
I love the frugal crafter! And I'm sorry the yarn didn't come out how you wanted. It's always fun to try even though it may not work out how you planned!
Way to go Margaret, you r motivating me! I want to try something similar! QuestioN: When the yarn turned a pastel color, was it supple enough to run through the Addi? I planned to do something like this for Halloween, but I didn't get the chance.I bought the Glow-in-the-Dark acrylic paint to make a very small amigurumi (not to cuddle) for my granddaughter. It wouldn't need to be laundered regularly, & if the glow faded, I could re-apply the paint. I give her tea lights & glow-in-the-bracelets to help her fall asleep, but I want a solar-powered option!
huh, mine worked very well, I let it dry out by my wood stove, I wonder if it heat set it for me. I did not wash it right away. Maybe pop it in the dryer on high before you wash it to heat set it. Mine is nice and bright but I let it dry for days, then knit it up later and it was fine. I am so sorry it did not work well. I wonder if the brand of paint was different (different quality of binders...) I am sorry it did not work well for you, the color were really different when you were done, I did not have that shift. Maybe the paint takes longer to cure than the time you allotted, as I said, mine had dried for some time before I would it and more time before knitting and washing it. Hmmmm
thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich That very well could have been the problem. Regardless, thanks for your idea! It gave me a taste of yarn dying and quenched my curiosity!
i'm going to share my experience. I did the whole process, letting it dry completely, and then i washed the yarn. color DID come out but not all of it. it went from bright blues to a pretty marbling of pastel blues with hints of white. I did find that light colors are light for a reason, being that while it still showed, not a lot of it was easily discernible.
Might I suggest acrylic ink? That's what I use to dye synthetic wigs. It's much thinner, and mixing it with (40%?) alcohol helps it go on easier. It's never clumpy or dusty afterwords.
Acrylic ink? Something I need to learn about and now you have me curious about wig dying! Is this your business? I bet it's huge for cosplay. But back to yarn dyeing, this video is a couple years old and Rit now makes a dye especially for synthetics. However, this experience taught me that I don't have a natural talent for dyeing things.... I lack an artist's eye, I think!
Thank you for going through this from dyeing the acrylic yarn to washing it. I have a almost bedspread size cream colored afghan that I wan to dye this weekend, so I feel better knowing what to expect.
There’s an easier way these days! Rit makes a special dye for just for synthetics these days. (This is an old video.) Much better than trying to use paint especially for a big project like a bedspread!
Lindsay, the Frugal Crafter, had better luck that I did so don't go by me! However, there IS a new-ish dye for man-made fibers on the market that's supposed to work really well. Rit "Dye More" for Synthetics
No... it's just an acrylic based paint on top of acrylic aka plastic on plastic. This was 2014 before we have special dyes for synthetic fibers! Try Rit DyeMore instead!
Strange that in my younger years I spilled acrylic paint on my jeans and it never washed out! After that I painted pictures on my jeans. They didn't last as long as the spill did though.
I enjoyed this video it was very interesting to see what would happen. I also loved when you sped up the video that was so cute and funny! Overall I learned and laughed :) Love your videos!
rubiegarnetrose It was fun doing something different! I'm not sure I want to seriously pursue yarn dyeing but this was a great one time activity for me!
Heat and time are your best friends when trying to color any fabric or fiber with acrylic pigments. Allow at least a 7-10 days for the pigments to bind then expose the stained fiber to some nice dry heat (use a hair dryer or tie up your hanks and put them in an old pillowcase and put them thru a HOT dryer cycle for 30+ minutes). After the "heat setting" you want to avoid ANY kind of detergent for at least a few weeks. Plain, cool water rinsing is fine but for significantly added softness, follow up with a soak in a fabric softener and warm water bath; rinse again and hang or blow dry. Vinegar can break down the acrylic bond as can detergent laundering for the first few months. Pigment "dyed" fibers will continue to fade little by little with each laundering but following the Heat + Time curing method will yield much longer lasting and brighter colors as well as a softer result.
Well that's good to know! Thank you, Ivy! About a year after this video was made, Rit came out with a dye for synthetics. I've never tried it but I hear it yields good results.
@@sheepishlysharing Yes it does - as does iDye POLY but for acrylic yarn, your best bet is Jacquard Basic Dye - tho they are all suuuuper smelly haha! I should have mentioned yesterday in my comment how much I enjoyed the video. It was so nicely presented, clear and easy to follow. I love folks that are willing to experiment (put in the work!) so other folks don't have to or will know what to expect when they do their own experiments. I'll be watching the rest and subscribing. Hope you and yours have a happy safe & creative New Year!!
Thank you for sharing this, I was so curious to see how this would have turned out I almost did it. I decided to bite the bullet and used the creativebug tutorial with wool, acid dye, vinegar, etc.
I have never tried dyeing any kind of yarn. I have machine dyed fabric but mine always seem to come out a bit patchy. The colour was lovely ( if unwearable) before you washed it.
Jan Carruthers I've had great luck machine dyeing fabric but only in my top loader (and I only did it once)! I'm not inclined to try it in this front loader I currently have 1) because it doesn't use much water and 2) there are so many places for the dye to get caught so cleaning the machine would be a beast!
That's an excellent question and I DO remember because I don't buy detergent with bleach in it! (I've always kept chlorine bleach AND color-safe bleach on hand BUT separate from my detergent.) BTW, now you can buy a Rit dye for synthetics that should work well!
sweetpo11 But don't you see? You don't have to! I've done it for you! It was fun trying it out and the goal was merely to see what would happen! Success!
I agree. Although it's completely different than the original colors, it's still very pretty. I love pastels. Maybe you could try REALLY dark blues and see what happens ;-)
Gladys Hall I do wonder if it would work to make it darker. Since the color didn't really absorb, I'm thinking it wouldn't work. I think you just sort of get a "stain" and that's the best you could hope for.
+bucklebunie You're right. At the time The Frugal Crafter make her tutorial, I'm not sure if that special dye was readily available. (Was it? I'm thinking it's relatively new.) Regardless, she says it worked for her. I have to confess that I didn't enjoy the actually process of dying yarn as I thought I might so I don't have any desire to try it again with the "right stuff." Have you given it a go?
Margaret, hello from West Australia firstly...🇦🇺🙂 I was using tin blueberries the other day and noticed how gorgeous the juice colour was. I was wondering if you could try an experiment using the juices from tin blueberries for me. I suppose you could crush the berries also n use the whole contents, or use the berries for eating n only use the juice as dye. I think the colour would come out lovely, even if a lot came out in the after rinsing. I'm wondering also if the mixture was heated while the yarn soaked, would this help set the colour a bit more? And /or heated after the yarns dried? I dunno as I've never dyed anything apart from my hair..lol (I was considering simply soaking the whole ball as is, admittedly it may prob turn out uneven) but hey,,,,it's cool to be unique. I'm back knitting my scarves as it's winter here (that's about all I've knitted, and never attempted a pattern 😳 ) I usually knit them using different stitches, types, thicknesses and blends of wool plus add beads, jewellery or trinkets to make them really quirky. People seem to like them so I must be doing something right...lol. Being able to dye cheap white wool to get the in between colours I can't get in store would make them even more special. I am thinking of selling some scarfs on Gumtree an Aussie online site or a local community fb page. Love your cat casually walking about in the background of your vids....made me giggle, I'm a cat lover of two. Lisa
Hi, Lisa all the way over in West Australia! Bottom line in this video is that I was using ACRYLIC yarn. Since acrylic is a type of plastic, it simply can't absorb the color as natural fibers can. Since I made this video, Rit has come out with a special dye for synthetics! I haven't used it yet (because I found from this video that I don't really enjoy the messy process) but I've heard it works pretty well. I LOVE your idea of trying the blueberries and if soaking the whole ball makes it come out uneven, I'd consider that a bonus! I have no idea if the juice would be any better on acrylic but rather than going through the whole messy process, why don't you just soak a piece of scrap yarn the next time you open a tin?! If it works, THEN the big mess could be worth it! And I would LOVE to see your quirky scarves!! If you're on Facebook, join our group and post some of those pictures! This is an old video, and I'm not sure which cat was walking around in the background but I recently lost Smitty (my big orange/white kitty) so now you made me want to watch this ol' video to see if I can get a glimpse of him!
Margaret Olander... it wasn't actually this video...I think it was part one...was there a part one?...lol It tickled me coz there you were talking away and from out of left screens walks the cat..goes up to an outdoor cane? chair n starts scratching on it..he he. Was like a lil comedy sketch in my mind...😻 Il suss you out on fb. Haven't taken pics of my scarves before and have a feeling they won't look all that cool via camera shot.
Margaret Olander Margaret Olander ok ok...now I've watched this vid again...at approx .38 min ur pooch toddles over and walks down steps (as if saying in a doofusy old mans voice..."ah scuze me...just coming thru" then offscreen to hear rustling of leaves, then at roughly .58 min white n ginger kitty wanders by but we can still hear the rustling maybe of ur pooch offscreen...lol , then around 1.35 min kitty strolls in from left of screen behind you ( half expected kitty paws to raise up making the bunny ears peace sign behind your head as a joke) over to the cane chair, have a lil sharpen of the claws then off again...just one of those things that made me smile...😊
It WAS this video... in the intro... and I saw my sweet boy! I miss that guy. Actually, that's a fake cane chair... made of plastic and is a WONDERFUL scratching post since it doesn't do any damage! MANY of my videos have my cats and dog in them... especially the the older ones when I filmed outside a lot when we lived in Mississippi. This house doesn't face the right way for good outdoor lighting so I don't get to do it as often. Speaking of lighting, I have a couple of photo tip videos for photographing your yarn. They're meant to be for those who sell their work but we certainly don't care about the perfect shot in the facebook group!
I would try again but using a thinner mix - the more water you add to the paint the less stiff it should come out. maybe you need to NOT squeeze the water out and it does need to drip dry, it would dry slower but that may be what stops it getting stiff? I'd also try heat fixing the colours in the dryer before I washed it, just throw it in the dryer maybe couple of dryer balls. and I would have just shoved the yarn into those large jars to absorb the colour :)
dragonlord0666 Thanks for the info but as you can see, that was enough to squelch my desire for dyeing yarn! I've also heard that it would do better if you mixed it with a medium you can buy at craft stores that turns acrylic paint into fabric paint. Interesting...
I tried the same experiment after watching the same videos and had the same outcome as you except I haven't machine washed or dried it yet. Fun experiment though!
I talked about this & did a vinegar soak (about 12 min in) but not much luck. This is an old video and now Rit makes a special dye just for synthetics!
Cypris Adams Yes, I wash acrylic like normal clothes. Most of what I make is for charities and that's how they wash in the homeless shelters. If I'm washing only 1 or 2 items, I'll put them in a lingerie bag. Usually, I don't wash until I'm about to make a donation so then I'll just throw a washer full in together with no other clothes. (Buttons and zippers, etc. can snag the yarn.) Yes, I've washed a whole skein and it wasn't pretty. IF it stays together, the middle doesn't seem affected. I pulled it into parts and that's too complicated to explain in words but it wasn't worth the effort.
+Marlene Feder I hadn't heard of it at the time of this video but I have to tell you... this experience taught me that I'm probably not cut out for yarn dyeing!
That was an interesting experiment! The end colours were lovely but sadly not as you wanted which was a shame. Thank you for sharing your experience :)
camcab147 The point of the experiment was just to see what would happen! I really didn't care about the color so "no harm; no foul" as my husband likes to say! I DO wonder, however, if this color would actually stay or if it would eventually fade away with each washing. Hmmm.....
This is an old video, Dorothy, but these days Rit makes a dye for synthetics. I've never used it but but I've heard it works! Yarn manufacturers dye the acrylic BEFORE it's made into yarn. Think melted plastic.
I'm not sure the vinegar on plastic does anything to tie the colours in. Does anyone know what chemical reaction we are after here? I would have washed the yarn before knitting, all that paint medium and pigment just sitting on top of the yarn stiffening it up must be a pain to knit with. And it goes away first wash anyway
Try water based products to dye acrylic which make acrylic paint turn into fabric paint which and softer. The products are Golden paint company's 900 and liquitex fabric medium and Delta textile medium. I was using fabric paint to work on a quilt. I investigated and found these products which will turn your normal acrylic paint into fabric paint and soften the material. So I think it will work on yarn. This medium works only on water base not oil. Try it again!
Martha Nelson Thank you, Martha! I have to admit, I wasn't enthralled with the dyeing process but I was planning to buy some of this stuff anyway for a t-shirt project. Maybe I'll just have to give the yarn another go!
WittTiger09 And yet it wasn't white! It was pastel! However, I wonder how long the color would stay in the fibers... How many washings can it endure.... hmmmm..... Do I smell another experiment coming on?!
Oh, goodness... I'm not the one to ask about that but... I'm almost positive you can't bleach acrylic. Try it on a sample/swatch and see what you get. Acrylic is basically a plastic so I'm not sure if it's possible!
Actually, we CAN! Look for a relatively new product: Rit Dye for Synthetics! People report good things with that stuff. (Though after this video, I've decided I'm not into yarn dyeing so I haven't bothered to try it.)
Did you know that there is a product that when added to acrylic paint that will turn it into a fabric paint and will make is soft. Look for it in art stores.
Yes, but I was trying this technique taught by Lindsey (link in the description box below). Better still is the new Rit Dye that was released after this video was made... it's designed especially for synthetic fibers! It's called Rit DyeMore. I still haven't tried it, though!
There is a better solution, use the new rite dyemore die which is for dying acrylic fibre and works on natural fibres as well you won't get that stiff result.
Hi Margaret, It makes no sense to dye acrylic yarn with acrylic paint, not surprised at all with your results. There are accessible, manageable dyes for acrylic and nylon fabrics and yarns, check Dharma Trading under 'dyes' and there are a number of options for polyester and nylon. Good luck!!! Thanks
I did rinse it! I think it's around 11 minutes in. Note that this is an old video before we had dyes for synthetic fiber. These days you can just use something like Rit Dyemore!
Susan Shriver Howell You're welcome but if you want to try this, I've had several people tell me to add a fabric medium (bought at craft stores) that make acrylic paint into fabric paint and apparently it makes all the difference!
Hahaha! I learned one major thing here... I really don't want to be a yarn dyer! Note that Rit now makes a dye for acrylics so it would probably work better with that!
ashleylovesme91 Yes! Deb Cannon just mentioned that but I have to say... I don't really care about dying acrylic yarn... I was just curious about THIS particular method! I'd much rather just buy pretty yarn from people who know what they're doing!
+Margaret Olander (Sheepishly Sharing) I have heard of the Riy dye aswell, but in Canada i haven't seen it anywhere for sale in stores. I am going to try my hand at dyeing some merino wool with food coloring
+Margaret Olander (Sheepishly Sharing) i found that dye yr talking about im gonna try that when i home to the springs but best place for that sye yr talking about is at hobby lobby
BJ7481 But don't you see? That was the point here... finding out 1) if it works and 2) what would happen if it was washed! It was fun trying it out and the goal was merely to see what would happen! Success!
Knowing the outcome from the start, this episode was pure comedic relief for me. After the washing hahaha. Too funny
Hahaha! Glad I could entertain you!
I LOVED the faded out colors! I don't think the colors you intended would have been as nice as the extremely faded ones at the end. FUN!!!
Wow! Halloween witch craft. Red, yellow and green nice fall colors.....You turned it into baby blue, white and light beige. Simply marvelous! Lol
Love your test runs.
Margret I did this project also. I reacted exactly the same way you did after it dried. I was not happy about the stiffness. But I turned lemons into lemonade and made a market bag with it. Lion Brand and Red Heart have lots of free patterns. The stiffness actually helps the bag work better when putting food in it. I used a pattern that came with the yarn. Hope that helps you. Love your videos and thank you for the hard work.
Great video Margaret! Thanks for sharing your experiment! I do like how the hat turned out even though the colors faded, it's still very pretty!
Diane Mason It was a rather interesting experience!
I love tagging along on your adventures! Thanks, Margaret.
Maribel A. You're most welcome, Maribel! I had fun with that one!
Nice work Margaret!!! I left mine "crunchy" and made a bowl! LOL!!!
Wow! I think the hat came out gorgeous! I'm not one for pastels but honestly, I like how it turned out in the end! Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
Now there's a dye just for acrylics (made by Rit) which should work much better!
This is something new. A different experience ms Margaret Olander
cedie aqui Yes! I like to be different every now and then!
As always, love your experiments. It does seem to make sense that you could dye acrylic yarn with acrylic paint and it did sort of work, as long as you don't want strong colours!
***** Yes... it's did "sort of work." It was fun trying!
wow I'm glad you showed how it dried up and what it looked like after washing. Thanks for sharing.
Belinda Ortega There is a new synthetic dye made by Rit that's on the market now if you're interested. I found I just didn't get a big kick out of the whole messy dyeing process myself so I haven't bothered to try it.
Thanks for the info.
Loved watching this, and loved the part that went faster. LOL gave me a chuckle. The hat turned out quite lovely.
Oh, goodness... this is an old video! I found I didn't enjoy the process of yarn dying but if I did, I would use the new dyes made for man-made fibers that weren't on the market back then! So much easier!!
When we paint fabric with acrylic paint, we add textile medium to keep it soft, and heat set the color, let cure a week before washing. Might try that with yarn.
Also, we use vinegar soak to get dried paint out of paintbrushes, so perhaps your vinegar soak loosened the paint, rather than setting it, as you intended.
Ahhh.... good information! This is an old video and now they make dye for synthetics. I think if I were to try it again, I'd go that route.
@@sheepishlysharing have you experienced with the synthetic dyes much? Is thee one in particular you prefer Margaret? Have you tried the RIT synthetic?
I was a couple skeins short for a cardigan. When I got the extras skeins they seemed to be pretty close to what I had, til I worked it into the cardigan and there's obvious parts that is a different shade. Would synthetic dye correct this issue? It's red heart soft in teal. Several people think it's kinda ombre... I don't ;p
Mixing the Acrylic paint with 91% Alcohol will keep the colors true to the tone you mix. In other words, less fading. Plus the alcohol will make the dye more permanent. Also, hitting the yarn with a blow dryer, when damp, will help soften the stiffness. Great video. You are a very accessible and charming tutor.
Thanks, Jim! Since this video, I've learned that Rit makes a synthetic yarn dye now so that's another option.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiment! The first thing I thought is that there are uses for a stiff yarn. I am thinking summer hats with a brim. These are also rarely washed if they don't cling to you head. Another thought, wall hangings, since a little stiffness might be desirable for holding shape.Anyway, as usual, I really enjoyed this great idea!
Robin
In the rough state , looks like it would be good for making decorative bowls. Thanks for sharing.
I love your video's
I know this is 8 years old, but I'm curious about dyeing yarn (can't find anything I like if I do it's sold out). I use acrylic paint on shirts, but it's basically PVA glue with mineral pigments. I'd be curious if a heat set would do any better. I'm going to try the RIT Synthetic Dye. Found your channel yesterday I've been loving it.
Hi Margaret :)
Thank you for sharing a fun and exciting journey of experimenting. That was really interesting :-) It is amazing how the colour changed after you washed it. Amy
I gotta say, I love both the before and after colors.
I think, if I were to do it again, I would use Rit's dye for synthetic fibers. It wasn't out at the time of this video but I hear really good things about it.
So glad you tried this.
I wonder if things like tumeric would dye acrylic yarn.
Rit now makes a dye for man-made fibers.
Loved watching the "creative process"....I actually like the pastel color that was the end result! It looks like a lot of fun though!
Ruby Shelton It WAS fun but I don't think I loved the process enough to get into proper yarn dyeing. I think I'll leave that to the experts.
Interesting experiment & outcome. I don't think I would have attempted this but now I definitely won't!
Heather May Yes, but I had a fine time doing it! It was fun trying it out and the goal was merely to see what would happen! Success!
Thank you for your reply. Yes I do know about the new Rit Dye but it dose need to be cooked to set it.
Good question! I️ don’t know!
I'm sorry to say I don't have time to read all the comments but some thoughts on Acrylic paint. I have painted sweatshirts and to get the paint to stick you mixed in fabric medium and when dry, set it with a pressing cloth and iron. That is all cotton. The other is I have recently watched videos about dying fabric with acrylic paint. They talked about mixing alcohol in with the paint before putting it on the cloth. I've not tried it but it's a thought.
You might want to try Rit's new synthetic dye series. Our local Hobby Lobby just started carrying it in the yarn accessory aisle. It dyes acrylic, polyester, and nylon. A bottle runs about $5. I bought a few bottles and am getting ready to try it out.
chrisbilderback Thanks... somebody else recommended the same thing and I'd never heard of it. However, I didn't get a kick out of the yarn dying process at all! I think I'll leave that to the experts!
i did this last week! i watched the frugal crafter and attempted it since andrew and his brother are both painters we have an absurd amount of acrylic paint and i have a ton of yarn...i went for a slow color change and well, it came out pretty but it wasnt the colors i had thought it would be. going to experiment some more :)
Margaret! That was a lot of work! Better you than me. I think I would've given up. Thank you for sharing your experience. :)
Amy M No, no... You missed the point! It was fun trying it out and the goal was merely to see what would happen! Success!
Thanks for showing us this technique. I truly enjoyed watching.
Thanks, Wanda, but if I were to ever try this again, I'd try the Rit dye for synthetics that they make these days. (Not available at the time I made this video!)
what a beautiful hat!!!!! seems like a real chore to get to that point, but the hat was beautiful when you were soaking it ( with the more saturated colors ) and beautiful in it's final pale colors!
This is an old video and they have since developed a dye just for synthetic fibers! Rit makes it!
Thanks for all of your hard work and info I have several skeins of off white acrylic yarn someone gave me and was going to try this but all that work just doesn't seem worth the out come, I guess I'll just make something that the off white will make a good accent with.
This is an old video and since then Rit has come out with a special dye for synthetics! I would certainly try that over this method. I haven't tried it but from what I hear you can get great results!
Haha i watched the exact same video not that long ago but never even done the experiment myself, I forgot all about it. Well it's good to see that it can still be wearable. It's a bit like that temporary hair dye - the stuff that lasts for 3 washes.
Barry Gibson Now that's a thought... I wonder how many washings the color would endure?! Is it stained permanently or will it eventually fade to white? Hmmm.....
I love the frugal crafter! And I'm sorry the yarn didn't come out how you wanted. It's always fun to try even though it may not work out how you planned!
Nina Bernier No, no... not sorry at all! It was fun trying it out and the goal was merely to see what would happen! Success!
even so the color is beautiful.
Thank you, Dianna! Rit now makes a dye for man-made fibers seems to work well by all accounts!
Way to go Margaret, you r motivating me! I want to try something similar! QuestioN: When the yarn turned a pastel color, was it supple enough to run through the Addi?
I planned to do something like this for Halloween, but I didn't get the chance.I bought the Glow-in-the-Dark acrylic paint to make a very small amigurumi (not to cuddle) for my granddaughter. It wouldn't need to be laundered regularly, & if the glow faded, I could re-apply the paint. I give her tea lights & glow-in-the-bracelets to help her fall asleep, but I want a solar-powered option!
huh, mine worked very well, I let it dry out by my wood stove, I wonder if it heat set it for me. I did not wash it right away. Maybe pop it in the dryer on high before you wash it to heat set it. Mine is nice and bright but I let it dry for days, then knit it up later and it was fine. I am so sorry it did not work well. I wonder if the brand of paint was different (different quality of binders...) I am sorry it did not work well for you, the color were really different when you were done, I did not have that shift. Maybe the paint takes longer to cure than the time you allotted, as I said, mine had dried for some time before I would it and more time before knitting and washing it. Hmmmm
thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich That very well could have been the problem. Regardless, thanks for your idea! It gave me a taste of yarn dying and quenched my curiosity!
i'm going to share my experience. I did the whole process, letting it dry completely, and then i washed the yarn. color DID come out but not all of it. it went from bright blues to a pretty marbling of pastel blues with hints of white. I did find that light colors are light for a reason, being that while it still showed, not a lot of it was easily discernible.
Well, marbling sounds pretty! Sounds like a success!
Might I suggest acrylic ink? That's what I use to dye synthetic wigs. It's much thinner, and mixing it with (40%?) alcohol helps it go on easier. It's never clumpy or dusty afterwords.
Acrylic ink? Something I need to learn about and now you have me curious about wig dying! Is this your business? I bet it's huge for cosplay. But back to yarn dyeing, this video is a couple years old and Rit now makes a dye especially for synthetics. However, this experience taught me that I don't have a natural talent for dyeing things.... I lack an artist's eye, I think!
Thank you for going through this from dyeing the acrylic yarn to washing it. I have a almost bedspread size cream colored afghan that I wan to dye this weekend, so I feel better knowing what to expect.
There’s an easier way these days! Rit makes a special dye for just for synthetics these days. (This is an old video.) Much better than trying to use paint especially for a big project like a bedspread!
How did your blanket turn out?
Thank you have nice weekend from love to see more videos from jodie
Thank you! I was planning to dye some acrylic yarns with acrylic paint. =)
Lindsay, the Frugal Crafter, had better luck that I did so don't go by me! However, there IS a new-ish dye for man-made fibers on the market that's supposed to work really well. Rit "Dye More" for Synthetics
Would fabric softener help, I wonder? I love the colors.
No... it's just an acrylic based paint on top of acrylic aka plastic on plastic. This was 2014 before we have special dyes for synthetic fibers! Try Rit DyeMore instead!
@@sheepishlysharing Great, thank you!
Strange that in my younger years I spilled acrylic paint on my jeans and it never washed out! After that I painted pictures on my jeans. They didn't last as long as the spill did though.
I enjoyed this video it was very interesting to see what would happen. I also loved when you sped up the video that was so cute and funny! Overall I learned and laughed :) Love your videos!
rubiegarnetrose It was fun doing something different! I'm not sure I want to seriously pursue yarn dyeing but this was a great one time activity for me!
Heat and time are your best friends when trying to color any fabric or fiber with acrylic pigments. Allow at least a 7-10 days for the pigments to bind then expose the stained fiber to some nice dry heat (use a hair dryer or tie up your hanks and put them in an old pillowcase and put them thru a HOT dryer cycle for 30+ minutes).
After the "heat setting" you want to avoid ANY kind of detergent for at least a few weeks. Plain, cool water rinsing is fine but for significantly added softness, follow up with a soak in a fabric softener and warm water bath; rinse again and hang or blow dry. Vinegar can break down the acrylic bond as can detergent laundering for the first few months. Pigment "dyed" fibers will continue to fade little by little with each laundering but following the Heat + Time curing method will yield much longer lasting and brighter colors as well as a softer result.
Well that's good to know! Thank you, Ivy! About a year after this video was made, Rit came out with a dye for synthetics. I've never tried it but I hear it yields good results.
@@sheepishlysharing Yes it does - as does iDye POLY but for acrylic yarn, your best bet is Jacquard Basic Dye - tho they are all suuuuper smelly haha! I should have mentioned yesterday in my comment how much I enjoyed the video. It was so nicely presented, clear and easy to follow. I love folks that are willing to experiment (put in the work!) so other folks don't have to or will know what to expect when they do their own experiments. I'll be watching the rest and subscribing. Hope you and yours have a happy safe & creative New Year!!
I love the outcome!!!
Since this video was made, Rit has come out with a dye for synthetics that would probably work much better!
Thank you for sharing this, I was so curious to see how this would have turned out I almost did it. I decided to bite the bullet and used the creativebug tutorial with wool, acid dye, vinegar, etc.
This is an older video and these days Rit has developed a dye for synthetics!
That's what I used. :)
I have never tried dyeing any kind of yarn. I have machine dyed fabric but mine always seem to come out a bit patchy. The colour was lovely ( if unwearable) before you washed it.
Jan Carruthers I've had great luck machine dyeing fabric but only in my top loader (and I only did it once)! I'm not inclined to try it in this front loader I currently have 1) because it doesn't use much water and 2) there are so many places for the dye to get caught so cleaning the machine would be a beast!
Being 5 years ago, do you remember if your laundry detergent had any kind of bleaching agent in it? Thanks!
That's an excellent question and I DO remember because I don't buy detergent with bleach in it! (I've always kept chlorine bleach AND color-safe bleach on hand BUT separate from my detergent.) BTW, now you can buy a Rit dye for synthetics that should work well!
You are a braver person than I am! This was one experiment that I don't intend to try myself.
sweetpo11 But don't you see? You don't have to! I've done it for you! It was fun trying it out and the goal was merely to see what would happen! Success!
I agree. Although it's completely different than the original colors, it's still very pretty. I love pastels. Maybe you could try REALLY dark blues and see what happens ;-)
Gladys Hall I do wonder if it would work to make it darker. Since the color didn't really absorb, I'm thinking it wouldn't work. I think you just sort of get a "stain" and that's the best you could hope for.
I would use a acrylic additive for fabric it would help the holding of the color on the yarn/fabric. It says to heat set so it will be color fast
+bucklebunie You're right. At the time The Frugal Crafter make her tutorial, I'm not sure if that special dye was readily available. (Was it? I'm thinking it's relatively new.) Regardless, she says it worked for her. I have to confess that I didn't enjoy the actually process of dying yarn as I thought I might so I don't have any desire to try it again with the "right stuff." Have you given it a go?
amazing colours
I think the Rit dye for synthetics that's on the market these days would be a better choice! (Not an option when this video was made!)
Margaret, hello from West Australia firstly...🇦🇺🙂
I was using tin blueberries the other day and noticed how gorgeous the juice colour was.
I was wondering if you could try an experiment using the juices from tin blueberries for me. I suppose you could crush the berries also n use the whole contents, or use the berries for eating n only use the juice as dye.
I think the colour would come out lovely, even if a lot came out in the after rinsing.
I'm wondering also if the mixture was heated while the yarn soaked, would this help set the colour a bit more? And /or heated after the yarns dried? I dunno as I've never dyed anything apart from my hair..lol (I was considering simply soaking the whole ball as is, admittedly it may prob turn out uneven) but hey,,,,it's cool to be unique.
I'm back knitting my scarves as it's winter here (that's about all I've knitted, and never attempted a pattern 😳 ) I usually knit them using different stitches, types, thicknesses and blends of wool plus add beads, jewellery or trinkets to make them really quirky. People seem to like them so I must be doing something right...lol.
Being able to dye cheap white wool to get the in between colours I can't get in store would make them even more special.
I am thinking of selling some scarfs on Gumtree an Aussie online site or a local community fb page.
Love your cat casually walking about in the background of your vids....made me giggle, I'm a cat lover of two.
Lisa
Hi, Lisa all the way over in West Australia! Bottom line in this video is that I was using ACRYLIC yarn. Since acrylic is a type of plastic, it simply can't absorb the color as natural fibers can. Since I made this video, Rit has come out with a special dye for synthetics! I haven't used it yet (because I found from this video that I don't really enjoy the messy process) but I've heard it works pretty well. I LOVE your idea of trying the blueberries and if soaking the whole ball makes it come out uneven, I'd consider that a bonus! I have no idea if the juice would be any better on acrylic but rather than going through the whole messy process, why don't you just soak a piece of scrap yarn the next time you open a tin?! If it works, THEN the big mess could be worth it! And I would LOVE to see your quirky scarves!! If you're on Facebook, join our group and post some of those pictures! This is an old video, and I'm not sure which cat was walking around in the background but I recently lost Smitty (my big orange/white kitty) so now you made me want to watch this ol' video to see if I can get a glimpse of him!
Margaret Olander... it wasn't actually this video...I think it was part one...was there a part one?...lol
It tickled me coz there you were talking away and from out of left screens walks the cat..goes up to an outdoor cane? chair n starts scratching on it..he he. Was like a lil comedy sketch in my mind...😻
Il suss you out on fb. Haven't taken pics of my scarves before and have a feeling they won't look all that cool via camera shot.
Margaret Olander Margaret Olander ok ok...now I've watched this vid again...at approx .38 min ur pooch toddles over and walks down steps (as if saying in a doofusy old mans voice..."ah scuze me...just coming thru" then offscreen to hear rustling of leaves, then at roughly .58 min white n ginger kitty wanders by but we can still hear the rustling maybe of ur pooch offscreen...lol , then around 1.35 min kitty strolls in from left of screen behind you ( half expected kitty paws to raise up making the bunny ears peace sign behind your head as a joke) over to the cane chair, have a lil sharpen of the claws then off again...just one of those things that made me smile...😊
It WAS this video... in the intro... and I saw my sweet boy! I miss that guy. Actually, that's a fake cane chair... made of plastic and is a WONDERFUL scratching post since it doesn't do any damage! MANY of my videos have my cats and dog in them... especially the the older ones when I filmed outside a lot when we lived in Mississippi. This house doesn't face the right way for good outdoor lighting so I don't get to do it as often. Speaking of lighting, I have a couple of photo tip videos for photographing your yarn. They're meant to be for those who sell their work but we certainly don't care about the perfect shot in the facebook group!
I would try again but using a thinner mix - the more water you add to the paint the less stiff it should come out. maybe you need to NOT squeeze the water out and it does need to drip dry, it would dry slower but that may be what stops it getting stiff?
I'd also try heat fixing the colours in the dryer before I washed it, just throw it in the dryer maybe couple of dryer balls.
and I would have just shoved the yarn into those large jars to absorb the colour :)
dragonlord0666 Thanks for the info but as you can see, that was enough to squelch my desire for dyeing yarn! I've also heard that it would do better if you mixed it with a medium you can buy at craft stores that turns acrylic paint into fabric paint. Interesting...
Margaret Olander
wonder what would happen if you mixed the paint with the vinegar instead of water?
I tried the same experiment after watching the same videos and had the same outcome as you except I haven't machine washed or dried it yet. Fun experiment though!
Cassver Brown Well, now you know what happened with my machine washing/drying!
When you have finished dye the yarn Prince it out in vinaiger water to set the paint and to rince out the excesses paint
I talked about this & did a vinegar soak (about 12 min in) but not much luck. This is an old video and now Rit makes a special dye just for synthetics!
when you wash any thing you have made, not just this, do you wash it like you would normal clothes? and have you ever washed a whole skein?
Cypris Adams Yes, I wash acrylic like normal clothes. Most of what I make is for charities and that's how they wash in the homeless shelters. If I'm washing only 1 or 2 items, I'll put them in a lingerie bag. Usually, I don't wash until I'm about to make a donation so then I'll just throw a washer full in together with no other clothes. (Buttons and zippers, etc. can snag the yarn.) Yes, I've washed a whole skein and it wasn't pretty. IF it stays together, the middle doesn't seem affected. I pulled it into parts and that's too complicated to explain in words but it wasn't worth the effort.
Oh my, Lol! I've yet to try dying acrylic but if I ever do, I'll keep this in mind! Sorry for the not so great outcome.
MalonsShop No, no... not sorry at all! It was fun trying it out and the goal was merely to see what would happen! Success!
have you tried the rit dye made for acrylics?
+Marlene Feder I hadn't heard of it at the time of this video but I have to tell you... this experience taught me that I'm probably not cut out for yarn dyeing!
That was an interesting experiment! The end colours were lovely but sadly not as you wanted which was a shame. Thank you for sharing your experience :)
camcab147 The point of the experiment was just to see what would happen! I really didn't care about the color so "no harm; no foul" as my husband likes to say! I DO wonder, however, if this color would actually stay or if it would eventually fade away with each washing. Hmmm.....
not bad faded out.... i always wondered how do the yarn manufactures get color in their acrylic yarn, if they don't hold dye
This is an old video, Dorothy, but these days Rit makes a dye for synthetics. I've never used it but but I've heard it works! Yarn manufacturers dye the acrylic BEFORE it's made into yarn. Think melted plastic.
That is great I have to try it
I'm not sure the vinegar on plastic does anything to tie the colours in. Does anyone know what chemical reaction we are after here?
I would have washed the yarn before knitting, all that paint medium and pigment just sitting on top of the yarn stiffening it up must be a pain to knit with. And it goes away first wash anyway
This is an old video from 2014 but these days, you can just buy dyes made for synthetics that work rather well.
Try water based products to dye acrylic which make acrylic paint turn into fabric paint which and softer. The products are Golden paint company's 900 and liquitex fabric medium and Delta textile medium. I was using fabric paint to work on a quilt. I investigated and found these products which will turn your normal acrylic paint into fabric paint and soften the material. So I think it will work on yarn. This medium works only on water base not oil.
Try it again!
Martha Nelson Thank you, Martha! I have to admit, I wasn't enthralled with the dyeing process but I was planning to buy some of this stuff anyway for a t-shirt project. Maybe I'll just have to give the yarn another go!
Do you think this would work for polyester yarn as well?
Good news! These days Rit has made a dye especially for synthetics! (This is a very old video.) Look for that!
I love this video. Thank you.
You did?? But it had a sad ending!
Very helpful! Thank you.
Since I made this video, Rit has come out with a dye for synthetics! I've never tried it but it's good to know it's there!
Oh my word. I almost bust a gut when you put up the finished product and it was white. Live and I learn, I guess.
WittTiger09 And yet it wasn't white! It was pastel! However, I wonder how long the color would stay in the fibers... How many washings can it endure.... hmmmm..... Do I smell another experiment coming on?!
Thanks
Too funny.....I just watched her video and bought paint to try 😊😊😊
can you do tutorial for bleaching acrylic? I want to make it speckled.....if possible
Oh, goodness... I'm not the one to ask about that but... I'm almost positive you can't bleach acrylic. Try it on a sample/swatch and see what you get. Acrylic is basically a plastic so I'm not sure if it's possible!
Margaret Olander thank you for replying! Yes I guess, we can't do much with acrylic.
Actually, we CAN! Look for a relatively new product: Rit Dye for Synthetics! People report good things with that stuff. (Though after this video, I've decided I'm not into yarn dyeing so I haven't bothered to try it.)
How do you mix the dye?
You don't mix dye... it's acrylic paint. However, this is an old video (2014) and these days Rit makes a special dye for synthetic fibers!
@@sheepishlysharing oh i forgot that park of the video lol ya I got the dye more for my yarn and trying to see how to mix it
Did you know that there is a product that when added to acrylic paint that will turn it into a fabric paint and will make is soft. Look for it in art stores.
Yes, but I was trying this technique taught by Lindsey (link in the description box below). Better still is the new Rit Dye that was released after this video was made... it's designed especially for synthetic fibers! It's called Rit DyeMore. I still haven't tried it, though!
There is a better solution, use the new rite dyemore die which is for dying acrylic fibre and works on natural fibres as well you won't get that stiff result.
Yes! (This video is rather old and that hadn't been an option back then!)
Do big lots store carry yarn from jodie
Sometimes. I showed you some in this video I got from Big Lots. You have to check regularly.
Hi Margaret,
It makes no sense to dye acrylic yarn with acrylic paint, not surprised at all with your results. There are accessible, manageable dyes for acrylic and nylon fabrics and yarns, check Dharma Trading under 'dyes' and there are a number of options for polyester and nylon. Good luck!!! Thanks
But polyester and nylon are NOT acrylic. Different chemical formula completely!!
Aren’t you supposed to rinse it before you use it?
I did rinse it! I think it's around 11 minutes in. Note that this is an old video before we had dyes for synthetic fiber. These days you can just use something like Rit Dyemore!
@@sheepishlysharing really on acrylic yarn Rit dye would work ….I know it’s an old video…..the thing is not buying paint to dye yarn….lol
fascinating - great job. Colours are so muted after all that effort.
Thank you for sharing :)
Susan Shriver Howell You're welcome but if you want to try this, I've had several people tell me to add a fabric medium (bought at craft stores) that make acrylic paint into fabric paint and apparently it makes all the difference!
I loved watching this video! I laughed so hard. Sounds like how I'd be :)
Hahaha! I learned one major thing here... I really don't want to be a yarn dyer! Note that Rit now makes a dye for acrylics so it would probably work better with that!
Thanks for trying this so I don't have to
This is an old video, Dawn, and these days there's a dye for synthetics made by Rit that should offer better results!
Try acrylic ink some pepol use it to color synthetic hair ,look for a video.
ashleylovesme91 Yes! Deb Cannon just mentioned that but I have to say... I don't really care about dying acrylic yarn... I was just curious about THIS particular method! I'd much rather just buy pretty yarn from people who know what they're doing!
True :)
Am I the only one who saw and heard at different times? Or is it my iPad?
I'm really giggling here....it looks like you're adding mustard, katsup & relish to an unidentified food product haaa haha lol
Hahahaha! It DOES look like that!
oh no, that is so dissappointing, that faded so much. I was wondering if the dried paint made it sticky and stiff
+Raevyn20 You were right but they make a special Rit Dye for acrylics now if you're interested in trying it! (I haven't yet.)
+Margaret Olander (Sheepishly Sharing) I have heard of the Riy dye aswell, but in Canada i haven't seen it anywhere for sale in stores. I am going to try my hand at dyeing some merino wool with food coloring
+Margaret Olander (Sheepishly Sharing) i found that dye yr talking about im gonna try that when i home to the springs but best place for that sye yr talking about is at hobby lobby
Thank you, Danielle! Let me know how it works for you!
Oooo.... I bet marino + food coloring will turn out great! Did you have a chance to do it yet??
like Barry i 2 have tried it but not nearly as good as your lol, xx
Interesting. But too much work for the final result. You are adventurous. :)
BJ7481 But don't you see? That was the point here... finding out 1) if it works and 2) what would happen if it was washed! It was fun
trying it out and the goal was merely to see what would happen! Success!