LOL! :D those make me click a lot! In all seriousness, I am trying to work a bit more on thumbnails to make it a bit more obvious what is happening in the video in one glance. I leave click baiting for April Fool's Day. ;)
I've tried this, and not really. The yarn ended up almost unusable and for the first time I've really had to throw some yarn away. Here's a recap of the livestream that I did: ua-cam.com/video/FTdtJ5CXgoM/v-deo.html
I think a 100% acyrlic blank is a great idea. I doubt I could find one premade, but the worsted weight yarn would work well with one of the kid crank machines I have on hand.
Beautiful work, as always. Maybe try hemp, flax or even banana or rose silk. These yarns are awesome and may be a good alternative for those not wanting to use wool.
I've dyed rose fiber once. Maybe it was a rose/wool blend.... but it was fun and silly. (Since I used skittles.) I would definitely like to do more with other plant based fibers!
@@ChemKnitsTutorials I absolutely look forward to seeing you use more plant based yarn! When I dye hemp and cotton, I use Dharma procion dyes. I recently found out that I can use procion dyes like acid dyes with the use of vinegar, however, the colors may skew a bit. I just handpainted 100% alpaca wool and I really didn't see any color shifts...maybe try it out?
I definitely want to try it, I need to find some more 100% polyester yarn to do along side the acrylic. When I realized it was a polyester recommendation I decided to save it for a non viewer sponsored video.
This was interesting! What I am now curious about are yarns that have some wool mixed with acrylic like in a 70/30 blend of acrylic/ wool. Could one dye work with both fibers?
I think this dye would work well on wool/acyrlic blends. I think I dyed back in the first time I played with this dye (although I used WAY WAY too much dye then.) This also dyed 100% wool a deep purple.
I have several skeins of Lion Brand Feels Like Butta yar (100% polyester with a chenille feel) which i am obsessed with its softness and chainette spin. They are the huge bonus balls (590yds) in pastel colors which I would really love to change to a more adult color. Variegated, tonal, saturated, anything but the solid baby pastels i have now. I think i know what colors to overdye what i have but i don't think I've found the answer to the method that had the result I'm hoping for. I did watch all of your videos regarding polyester and acrylic and I kept coming up with more ideas or questions and I'm hoping i didn't miss the final recipe for the best method and dye combo for getting wool-like results. I know heat is a must. I know not to go hotter than boiling and i know steam does make for nice pastels. I do want to ask you if vinegar or salt would prevent or reduce massive bleeding while allowing for more dye and darker or separate colors. Is acrylic and polyester unaffected by those ingredients? If so, why? I tried to find the answers on my own but I realized if the answer is known, Rebecca @ Chemknits has it. Any help or advise is most appreciated Rebecca!
Hi Carolina, I have no answer as to the vinegar or salt when it comes to the DyeMore Synthetic dyes from Rit. I followed (loosely) the manufacturer's instructions which didn't call for either. I think there is a lot of bleeding with dyes for synthetic yarn and cottons because you need to have excess dye to get the colors you want. That extra dye that spread out wasn't binding to the yarn anymore - maybe it reacted with water, I'm not 100% sure.
Hey Rebecca, I just have a quick question for you; dyed some yarn, and I think perhaps I burnt it (due to the smell that's lingering). Just curious if you know how to get rid of the smell (or if it's garbage at this point), and possibly what I can do to avoid this happening in the future?
I am fortunate that I've never burnt yarn before, so I'm not entirely sure how to remove the smell. What was the fiber content? I think the best way to avoid burning is to make sure that the yarn doesn't dry out. If the water level gets too low (on the stove top) or the yarn dries out (in microwave) that could be an issue. I'm sorry I can't help more. :( If the burn is in a small area, can you cut it out of the skein?
@@ChemKnitsTutorials The skein's tag says 100% merino and I used at least 8-10 cups of water, and pre-soaked it before dip dyeing, which is why I'm kind of confused about how/why it came out smelling like a mass of burnt hair. I think I'll try the baking soda soak (plus a teaspoon of detergent) method and see how it goes (google suggested). But ty for trying to help and answering my question!
@@bundae718 Be careful with too much baking soda - basic conditions aren't good for wool. :( Maybe try airing it out for a while? I'm honestly perplexed.
Love that you are working with acrylic! Can’t wait to see where this leads! I would love to see if vibrant speckles are possible. Is there a mordant for acrylic?
I'm wondering why you treat acrylic as wool. On dyes for acrylic here in Europe it says never to go above 60C, which is logic, as acrylic yarn is superthin strands of plastic. It will melt when you boil the life out of it. One thing is that, as you say, it has gone a bit flat in some places, but it's definitely crinckly and the structure is destroyed. Steaming would do the same unless it high above the water. Thinking about it, maybe acrylic would be the perfect yarn for solar dyeing...? Maybe during spring, in a black bag, so it sucks the heat in... and maybe leave it for more than a day...?
Unfortunately, the Rit DyeMore synthetic indicates that you need a really hot temperature to set the color at 180 - 212 (which is boiling) degrees F. Ideally I would MUCH prefer to do it colder, but I can play around with that at a later date. I think it is intended for fabric more than yarn. Maybe I can do a side by side boiling vs keeping it cooler to see if we see much of a difference with the level of saturation. That would be a fun experiment! My suggestion for steam setting is more for keeping the colors where you want them versus the immersion technique. I've used steam blocking to "kill" acrylic yarn to keep the lace open so I know that it can melt the yarn as well. Solar dyeing with acrylic is very interesting, although maybe I'd need a different type of dye. This one still needs temperatures that we don't get close to.... BUT I'm always open to "break the rules" on dyeing instructions to see what we can create!
@@ChemKnitsTutorials Ah, that's why 😄 I was a bit surprised. You're probably right, that it's meant for cloth. That would make sense. Acrylic yarn is turning out to be quite an interesting challenge!
@@ChemKnitsTutorials the ability to withstand heat might also depend on how tight it's spun...? I have some that's very tight (almost too dense). More dense than cotton. It might hold better than very loose, wooly, yarn... I might make a test with the two, just to see...
It smelled a bit, but not too bad. I might be immune to some dye smells at this point, though. (I have a sensitive nose overall, so it isn't that my nose is damaged, but the smells didn't make an impression on my memory. )
mmm...The color is nice, but I disagree that the yarn held up well. it melted. it looks like yarn that has been used for awhile and then frogged...but being acrylic, it won't spring back to its original unmelted shape.
I should have clarified It is definitely a bit melted in some areas, but less melted than I had seen in the past. I had discussed with the sponsor that melting would happen when trying to dye acrylic before the video. Sometimes I want to try the dye at less than boiling temps (what is recommended by the dye) to see if we can get color to deposit without melting. I think it will be really hard, though. ☹️
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I love how the 100 % acrylic yarn in the thumbnail got me more excited than clickbait titles from tea channel.
LOL! :D those make me click a lot! In all seriousness, I am trying to work a bit more on thumbnails to make it a bit more obvious what is happening in the video in one glance. I leave click baiting for April Fool's Day. ;)
Tu canal me tiene enamorada! Inspirador. En mi país no es tan económico y fácil, pero hay opciones. Gracias por lo que compartes!!!!
Thank you for this for the RIT Dye!!! how exciting!
You are so welcome!
What a surprise washing! Thanks for doing more acrylic. I too am wondering how a stronger solution would work 🤔.
Me too!
I’m intrigued by the color removal powder by Rit and I think Dharma has some. Could you reverse speckle with it?
I've tried this, and not really. The yarn ended up almost unusable and for the first time I've really had to throw some yarn away. Here's a recap of the livestream that I did: ua-cam.com/video/FTdtJ5CXgoM/v-deo.html
ChemKnits Tutorials Thank you Rebecca! You saved me a lot of wear and tear. And good yarn.
I think it would be a good idea if you made a sock blank out of acrylic yarn or get a premade one,and then dye it that way
I think a 100% acyrlic blank is a great idea. I doubt I could find one premade, but the worsted weight yarn would work well with one of the kid crank machines I have on hand.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials That sounds perfect either way lol
It would also be fun to see how linen and hemp also react with with home dying. Especially some of those amazing nature dyes you make.
I absolutely want to try other plant based fibers!
Beautiful colour. Love your work
Thank you, Sharon!
Beautiful work, as always. Maybe try hemp, flax or even banana or rose silk. These yarns are awesome and may be a good alternative for those not wanting to use wool.
I've dyed rose fiber once. Maybe it was a rose/wool blend.... but it was fun and silly. (Since I used skittles.) I would definitely like to do more with other plant based fibers!
@@ChemKnitsTutorials I absolutely look forward to seeing you use more plant based yarn! When I dye hemp and cotton, I use Dharma procion dyes. I recently found out that I can use procion dyes like acid dyes with the use of vinegar, however, the colors may skew a bit. I just handpainted 100% alpaca wool and I really didn't see any color shifts...maybe try it out?
Very cool.
And I'm surprised because I was always told you can't dye acrylic. 😊
Always open to learning something new!
You can't dye acrylic with food coloring or acid dyes. It is hard to dye synthetic fibers like this, but it is technically possible.
Love these videos.
Thank you, June!
idye poly works very well on polyester. I dyed a white tablecloth kelly green with it. It would be interesting to see how it behaves on acrylic.
I definitely want to try it, I need to find some more 100% polyester yarn to do along side the acrylic. When I realized it was a polyester recommendation I decided to save it for a non viewer sponsored video.
This was interesting! What I am now curious about are yarns that have some wool mixed with acrylic like in a 70/30 blend of acrylic/ wool. Could one dye work with both fibers?
I think this dye would work well on wool/acyrlic blends. I think I dyed back in the first time I played with this dye (although I used WAY WAY too much dye then.) This also dyed 100% wool a deep purple.
Have you knitted something out of this yarn. I would love to see how it knits up.🙂
I haven't, this yarn went to a viewer so I'm not sure if it has become anything yet.
I have several skeins of Lion Brand Feels Like Butta yar (100% polyester with a chenille feel) which i am obsessed with its softness and chainette spin. They are the huge bonus balls (590yds) in pastel colors which I would really love to change to a more adult color. Variegated, tonal, saturated, anything but the solid baby pastels i have now. I think i know what colors to overdye what i have but i don't think I've found the answer to the method that had the result I'm hoping for. I did watch all of your videos regarding polyester and acrylic and I kept coming up with more ideas or questions and I'm hoping i didn't miss the final recipe for the best method and dye combo for getting wool-like results. I know heat is a must. I know not to go hotter than boiling and i know steam does make for nice pastels. I do want to ask you if vinegar or salt would prevent or reduce massive bleeding while allowing for more dye and darker or separate colors. Is acrylic and polyester unaffected by those ingredients? If so, why? I tried to find the answers on my own but I realized if the answer is known, Rebecca @ Chemknits has it. Any help or advise is most appreciated Rebecca!
Hi Carolina, I have no answer as to the vinegar or salt when it comes to the DyeMore Synthetic dyes from Rit. I followed (loosely) the manufacturer's instructions which didn't call for either. I think there is a lot of bleeding with dyes for synthetic yarn and cottons because you need to have excess dye to get the colors you want. That extra dye that spread out wasn't binding to the yarn anymore - maybe it reacted with water, I'm not 100% sure.
Hey Rebecca, I just have a quick question for you; dyed some yarn, and I think perhaps I burnt it (due to the smell that's lingering). Just curious if you know how to get rid of the smell (or if it's garbage at this point), and possibly what I can do to avoid this happening in the future?
I am fortunate that I've never burnt yarn before, so I'm not entirely sure how to remove the smell. What was the fiber content? I think the best way to avoid burning is to make sure that the yarn doesn't dry out. If the water level gets too low (on the stove top) or the yarn dries out (in microwave) that could be an issue. I'm sorry I can't help more. :(
If the burn is in a small area, can you cut it out of the skein?
@@ChemKnitsTutorials The skein's tag says 100% merino and I used at least 8-10 cups of water, and pre-soaked it before dip dyeing, which is why I'm kind of confused about how/why it came out smelling like a mass of burnt hair. I think I'll try the baking soda soak (plus a teaspoon of detergent) method and see how it goes (google suggested). But ty for trying to help and answering my question!
@@bundae718 Be careful with too much baking soda - basic conditions aren't good for wool. :( Maybe try airing it out for a while? I'm honestly perplexed.
What about speckles on acrylic with the powder Rit.
The powdered rit dye is not for acrylic though but i bet if you made your own speckles, that’d work !
Love that you are working with acrylic! Can’t wait to see where this leads! I would love to see if vibrant speckles are possible. Is there a mordant for acrylic?
Dyeing synthetics is a whole new process for me. I'm honestly not sure what is in the bottle of dye.
I'm wondering why you treat acrylic as wool. On dyes for acrylic here in Europe it says never to go above 60C, which is logic, as acrylic yarn is superthin strands of plastic. It will melt when you boil the life out of it. One thing is that, as you say, it has gone a bit flat in some places, but it's definitely crinckly and the structure is destroyed. Steaming would do the same unless it high above the water. Thinking about it, maybe acrylic would be the perfect yarn for solar dyeing...? Maybe during spring, in a black bag, so it sucks the heat in... and maybe leave it for more than a day...?
Unfortunately, the Rit DyeMore synthetic indicates that you need a really hot temperature to set the color at 180 - 212 (which is boiling) degrees F. Ideally I would MUCH prefer to do it colder, but I can play around with that at a later date. I think it is intended for fabric more than yarn. Maybe I can do a side by side boiling vs keeping it cooler to see if we see much of a difference with the level of saturation. That would be a fun experiment!
My suggestion for steam setting is more for keeping the colors where you want them versus the immersion technique. I've used steam blocking to "kill" acrylic yarn to keep the lace open so I know that it can melt the yarn as well.
Solar dyeing with acrylic is very interesting, although maybe I'd need a different type of dye. This one still needs temperatures that we don't get close to.... BUT I'm always open to "break the rules" on dyeing instructions to see what we can create!
@@ChemKnitsTutorials Ah, that's why 😄 I was a bit surprised. You're probably right, that it's meant for cloth. That would make sense. Acrylic yarn is turning out to be quite an interesting challenge!
@@CinSpain Oh yes! I was a little nervous about it and chatted with the sponsor about melting risks before the sale.
@@ChemKnitsTutorials the ability to withstand heat might also depend on how tight it's spun...? I have some that's very tight (almost too dense). More dense than cotton. It might hold better than very loose, wooly, yarn... I might make a test with the two, just to see...
@@CinSpain I'd love to hear how that goes!
Does this smell strong? I dyed a dress and the kitchen smelled like a dry cleaner.
It smelled a bit, but not too bad. I might be immune to some dye smells at this point, though. (I have a sensitive nose overall, so it isn't that my nose is damaged, but the smells didn't make an impression on my memory. )
I like your due but I love your reaction more
Awe, thank you! This video had a lots of emotional ups and downs as I watched the colors spread.
mmm...The color is nice, but I disagree that the yarn held up well. it melted. it looks like yarn that has been used for awhile and then frogged...but being acrylic, it won't spring back to its original unmelted shape.
I should have clarified It is definitely a bit melted in some areas, but less melted than I had seen in the past. I had discussed with the sponsor that melting would happen when trying to dye acrylic before the video.
Sometimes I want to try the dye at less than boiling temps (what is recommended by the dye) to see if we can get color to deposit without melting. I think it will be really hard, though. ☹️