In 2007 I experimented with dyeing wool with copper USA pennies. First they had to be pre-1981 coins because that was when they had more copper in them. I put them in a large jar and added ammonia to it. DO NOT DO THIS STEP INSIDE!!! Then I let it set for a long while - actually I forgot about it, so it was a couple of months later. The liquid had turned a rich blue color. I used the liquid to dye wool mordanted with alum and got a beautiful green with it. It’s funny because I used pennies and the color I got was close to dollar bills. 😂
pre-1981 euro coins simply do not exist, and we had to give all our pre-euro coins to the banks. unless someone is a collector, it's highly unlikely to find pre-1981 coins here
Maybe sand the surface of the wire? Whenever we worked with any sort of metal wire in chem class, we sanded the surface to remove any protective oxidation coating or junk. My apologies to your hands for the metal smell, but it could work. I should try this though, I have so many canadian pennies that are now useless copper
If you can, um, handle, it, wearing disposable gloves might be the best way to go when handling the copper wire. I've been using them any time I want to polish metal, saves my skin all sorts of grief and I can get rid of the nasty smell more easily. EDIT: See, however, Bradley Elders's comment, sanding off any oxidised copper may be the opposite of what you need to do to achieve the results you want.
If you pick up some citric acid powder (usually sold with homemade wine making supplies), you can make a stronger acid solution as a mordant or way to draw off the copper etc.
Made my 9 year old son get out of bed to listen to you talk about the smell of metal on your hands (bleugh!) So now he knows I'm not the only freak - thank you!!
You're definitely not a freak in regard to that, I can even smell some knitting needles. (It may come under the umbrella of "sensory issues", which I do have.)
oh its so beautiful . i keep my pennies and moss and whatever inside as i heat it all up. i let it sit for days on end. oh how beautiful all your newly dyed wool is..its Beautiful.
I've had success mixing a copper mordant/modifier solution by soaking copper wire in a mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. On its own, the vinegar can only react with the copper that is already oxidized, which means it only dissolves the outer layer of copper. That's where the hydrogen peroxide comes in, it will donate spare oxygen to the reaction and oxidize the copper so it can form copper acetate (there are more specific processes to follow on the internet of course, I'm not a chemist). You can of course speed the process up by heating it, but as always follow good safety procedures, eg. make sure your pot/vessel is big enough to allow for expansion and do this all outside to avoid fumes.
I have some solid copper fittings sitting in a solution of about 2/3 vinegar and 1/3 water for 3 months and it is just barely tinted blue. You can only tell if you hold it up to something white.
The "Ey!" noise you made at the wire cutter starting to wander to the edge of the table is such a mood. 10/10 chaos goblin vibes as usual If it's any consolation about the Copper Disappointment, the oranges you got were gorgeous! I'm very excited to see where the floofs progress next in the upcoming video
(Please excuse any misspellings) I'm pretty sure you need more oxygen? The stuff that actually gets disolved in the vinegar is oxidized copper, the blue stuff. Try leaving the wire with some vinegar, but not fully cover it. The moisture and acid should expidite the oxidation. Mix and flip it around a bunch, if you can (every few days) to get a more even exposure to the acid and vinegar. Once the copper is sufficiantly blue, cover it with vinegar, and let the oxidized stuff disolve. Think of how you need rusted iron for an iron sulotion. It's kind of the same. If you want to cut some corners, you can fill a jar about half way with vinegar, then stick unbent wire up so only about half of it is submerged. Flip every once in a while. That way you get to oxidize and disolve at the same time. Good luck! I really hope you don't give up on this.
Might there be some kind of weird finish on the wire? You could take a piece of sand paper to the wire wad and sand it a little and try again. Later of course but definantly worth another shot.
I'm not fully through the video yet but I just want to explain why the copper extraction is likely so light in colour. Household vinegar is usually 7% so there isn't as much acid actually in the solution to react with the copper.
@MijnWolden Unless she had a more concentrated vinegar to start with? I'm a chemist but dye is not my expertise and I haven't seen the blog post from wild color. But if you need help with chemistry in the future I'm always happy to help.
Thank you for letting us tag along on your fiber adventures. I for one need inspiration to try things I have never done before and not worry so much about making mistakes, we learn from those experiences too. It is a journey.
okay but the best part of your experiment here is that if you'd used onion juice to extract the copper, it might have been more successful. because the best acid for extracting copper is sulfuric acid.
I tried with coins and diluted vinegar and the solution took nearly 6 weeks to turn blue. Haven't used it yet as I have gone off the boil, but I might have a go now.
Even though things didn't go as expected, your wool is beautiful. I've only just dabbled in natural dyes, and I'm frequently surprised, lol. I think this is one of these things that's as much art as science. Love your experiments.
Fascinating stuff! I particularly liked the bright colour that the onion dye followed by some copper solution produced. On the plus side, brown onions create a lovely yellow dye but on the negative side, some dyers will avoid onion altogether because it is a fugitive colour (i.e. washes out/fades easily). So I wonder if the copper and/or iron mordanting will change that.
It is rather fugitive, but I find that it takes a while of direct sunlight, so I'm ok with it. My yellow sweater has dulled again, after having overdyed it approx a year ago. but then again, it is one of my most worn sweaters. It gets a lot of exposure to sunlight.
You truly make me smile! I have some clue when the coins turned the floof brownish because I’d seen two different people use nails and the other steel wool to dye wool…and both had the same reaction as yours…but the rest? I was eager to see what transpired! I remember one person in quest of green saved and used avocado peel…it didn’t go well😂 Love your videos!
Avocado peel for green? That is. Interesting. But to be fair my quest for pink with avocado peels also didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it. (It was orange)
I now feel vindicated.. the smell of metal is real! 🥴 I am now teetering so much more dangerously above the natural dye rabbit hole than ever before. I love seeing the experimental process and the failures, which arent failures because we learn from them.... Im not sure what we've learned yet but i hecka feel more knowledgeable than before I watched your dyeing shenanigans 😂 Cant wait for part 2!!
I am no science brain at all, I'm just fascinated by this whole vlog though... Could it be to do with the strength or acidity of the vinegar, or even the type? I've wanted to play with dyeing as parr for the course of being a yarn addict but now I gotta play with the variables on this! I mean, I won't be able to until next spring because I won't have the time or space. but until then I will have to live vicariously through you...
I do think it‘s very interesting! even if you didn’t archieve what you seeked out. and all the different colors you got have a common base and pair very well together. Seeing them all together at the end I was like uuuuhhhh this looks like it could (/should? 👀) be spun together into such an interesting yarn. Maybe a gradient, maybe twisted? I don’t know but please do show me! 🧶💖 also totally on board if you want to make this a new life mission 😂 (aka regular series) we will not be defeated by the copper!
Cool experiment. You did get a variety of different colors, so something was happening with the metals. I echo the idea to use citric acid. It's much stronger than vinegar. I would recommend buying a small bag of copper and one of iron from a dyer supplier to compare the wool dyed with these with the wool dyed with your own methods. That way, it may be easier to compare and see what you are extracting., If you want to use the coins and wire still. The fiber came out nice colors though. Would be interested to see if you are going to spin with them.
Hi, Very cool video, like it so much. I ve another idea. Perhaps you dye with another material than onions. I know onions as a dying material which do nt need a mortand (same as dying with walnut) I ve also have some useless coins...and love to do some experiments.. Perhaps i find another dying material in my stuff to make an Experiment... Nevertheless your onion dyed wool has brilliant famous colors. I m lookkng forward to see what they will change in after spinning and knitting..
the colors all go great together. Doesn't all that vinegar attack the fibers? I achieved the most beautiful and strong green with the deep-rooted reed flowers. I'm waiting impatiently for them to bloom again
I never got it to turn with vinegar. I do have a lovely blue from ammonia but as ammonia destroys wool I only use a tablespoon as an after dip but do not use heat
I wonder if the wire you have has a layer on the outside to stop the copper discoloring? This is quite common - as most people using copper wire want it to remain looking bright not oxidized. You could check by sanding some (or polishing some with brass polish, I suppose) and see if that helps. I am suspicious of any copper that does not tarnish, as copper in its natural state goes green and icky looking on the outside super fast.
i tried this, and it was clearly more efficient leaving the closed jar in the sun in summer… for a few weeks… (it fell and i never got to use it, alas -_- ) also: very little vinegar, BIG chunks of copper. i won't suggest that you actually 'cook' vinegar+commer inside (sounds like a bad idea!) but… you'll need waaayyyy more time, and some warmth could also help- maybe near a heater, or another source of regular warmth in your home? i remember being disappointed by the results 'sans' heat, just like you, and not wanting to use a stronger acid (way too much for squirmish me) i adjusted the thing with the proportions and putting it in the sun, but now after a quick search i can't find a source suggesting to do this :/
Heat should speed up the chemical reactions, it makes a lot of sense. The sun does sounds ideal, alas, it is winter. Hopefully she sees this comment, I think it could help a lot.
@@Pine-m6h yup. like i said, hopefully keeping it in a more consistently warmer part of the home would help… fingers crossed for the next step of the experiment!
oh no hahaha xD at least there was some color change xD in Wild Colors it says copper turns yellow to green and ochre to brown, maybe something in the onion makes it change to brown? even tho the page on onion mentions green haha xD I also heard the red onion skins turn green... she also uses copper pipes, you might get better results? can't wait to see the second part of this :P
if you want green dye your floof yellow and then overdye it with blue. if can get it copper pipe is good as you can use it to shibori material. no it shouldnt be green, it should be a yellow as both iron and copper are more modifiers than mordent though you can use them as such, they are not dyes so unless you have odd plant material (a plant called tansey in english) it should only be the colour you dye. the olive green is yellow "saddened" by iron, copper brightens things or makes them "happier"
My A-level chemistry brain is telling me that the bright blue solutions were always copper sulphate, which is made by dissolving copper in sulphuric acid. Vinegar is acetic acid so it's making a different solution. I tried to see if there was any easy acid solvents for sulphuric acid but it seemed to be all batteries and super corrosive. Interestingly, the reason that onions make you cry is because the sulphur compounds in them create sulphuric acid in your eye, so i don't know if a little slice of onion in your solution would give you enough to get a stronger blue colour (very rough guess, the acetic acid may be way stronger and it would do nothing) but that might be why you're not getting the stronger blue shade?
maybe if you use stronger vinegar, and cut the copper into smaller pieces so ther will be more surface area? You could also try leaving it for like 4-6 months or something
Hmmm, yeah, no. This is a topic that comes up from time to time in Australia. We probably use less cash and more of the plastic fantastic than just about anywhere on the planet. (I tried giving myself a cash-only challenge (not counting bills where I would have used a cheque in the old days and which I now pay using internet banking) about 8 years ago and I failed miserably.) The smallest coin in circulation in Australia is the 5c coin (which is worth about 3c US as the Australian dollar is in the doldrums at the moment) and the smallest note is the $5 note (we have $1 and $2 coins). There are some older people who do still use cash almost exclusively (and buggered if I know how they do it, see above) and there are also people like children and prisoners who may not have internet banking access and who therefore still need cash. Cash is also needed for church cake stalls and the like (although you can get fairly cheap machines that let you do EFTPOS). Cash is also useful in the event of a power outage or a cyclone or similar. (Note from experience: If you want actual cash for use in a disaster, you want quite a lot of coins and small notes and you don't necessarily need a large total sum. Following a category 5 cyclone I used a little cash to buy some real milk and some ice to keep it fresh. That set me back the princely sum of about $10 Australian.) So there is quite a lot of opposition to the idea of getting rid of cash (including notes) even if we don't use them a lot. (The central bank also whinges that there are a lot of notes out there that live under mattresses or in safes or whatever that don't actually get circulated.) The government would like to get rid of cash because it costs money to make it and it is the preferred means of payment in the black and grey markets.
But like, they also made legislation that shops are allowed to refuse the 1 and 2 cent coins... so we're still stuck with those! But also, yes. When traveling through Spain we noticed how much more cash was used in that economy, and frankly we were not used to having to have cash for simple things like taking a bus. The busdriver needing to get a box with cash for us to be able to buy a ticket from him was wild. In Belgium no busdriver has any money on them for at least the last 10 or so years.
Did you try copper wire for electrical purposes, or copper for plumbing? If the copper wire is the stuff from craft stores, maybe it is much less copper. Just a thought!
"What you can't buy with money, you can dye with money." Goblin's proverb
Love this. Need this on a plaque above my studio door. (Next to "I'd rather be spinning")
Oh the bright side, those orangey yellows? Gorgeous.
That was a *very* potent onion soup
Yeah they are. I love orange and yellow, so I'm not mad about the outcome
In 2007 I experimented with dyeing wool with copper USA pennies. First they had to be pre-1981 coins because that was when they had more copper in them. I put them in a large jar and added ammonia to it. DO NOT DO THIS STEP INSIDE!!! Then I let it set for a long while - actually I forgot about it, so it was a couple of months later. The liquid had turned a rich blue color. I used the liquid to dye wool mordanted with alum and got a beautiful green with it. It’s funny because I used pennies and the color I got was close to dollar bills. 😂
pre-1981 euro coins simply do not exist, and we had to give all our pre-euro coins to the banks. unless someone is a collector, it's highly unlikely to find pre-1981 coins here
Maybe sand the surface of the wire? Whenever we worked with any sort of metal wire in chem class, we sanded the surface to remove any protective oxidation coating or junk. My apologies to your hands for the metal smell, but it could work. I should try this though, I have so many canadian pennies that are now useless copper
If you can, um, handle, it, wearing disposable gloves might be the best way to go when handling the copper wire. I've been using them any time I want to polish metal, saves my skin all sorts of grief and I can get rid of the nasty smell more easily.
EDIT: See, however, Bradley Elders's comment, sanding off any oxidised copper may be the opposite of what you need to do to achieve the results you want.
If you pick up some citric acid powder (usually sold with homemade wine making supplies), you can make a stronger acid solution as a mordant or way to draw off the copper etc.
Oho, thanks for pointing me into a direction of where to find it
I commend your dedication! Those yellows and oranges are so stunning even though it wasn’t what you were going for.
Love your experiments. I always learn from you.
Made my 9 year old son get out of bed to listen to you talk about the smell of metal on your hands (bleugh!) So now he knows I'm not the only freak - thank you!!
You're definitely not a freak in regard to that, I can even smell some knitting needles. (It may come under the umbrella of "sensory issues", which I do have.)
Same!!! I was gifted a new pair of needles and the smell was an instant hit in the face
Hahaha, poor son though :D
oh its so beautiful . i keep my pennies and moss and whatever inside as i heat it all up. i let it sit for days on end. oh how beautiful all your newly dyed wool is..its Beautiful.
I've had success mixing a copper mordant/modifier solution by soaking copper wire in a mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. On its own, the vinegar can only react with the copper that is already oxidized, which means it only dissolves the outer layer of copper. That's where the hydrogen peroxide comes in, it will donate spare oxygen to the reaction and oxidize the copper so it can form copper acetate (there are more specific processes to follow on the internet of course, I'm not a chemist). You can of course speed the process up by heating it, but as always follow good safety procedures, eg. make sure your pot/vessel is big enough to allow for expansion and do this all outside to avoid fumes.
Thanks for this!
I have some solid copper fittings sitting in a solution of about 2/3 vinegar and 1/3 water for 3 months and it is just barely tinted blue. You can only tell if you hold it up to something white.
The "Ey!" noise you made at the wire cutter starting to wander to the edge of the table is such a mood. 10/10 chaos goblin vibes as usual
If it's any consolation about the Copper Disappointment, the oranges you got were gorgeous! I'm very excited to see where the floofs progress next in the upcoming video
(Please excuse any misspellings) I'm pretty sure you need more oxygen? The stuff that actually gets disolved in the vinegar is oxidized copper, the blue stuff. Try leaving the wire with some vinegar, but not fully cover it. The moisture and acid should expidite the oxidation. Mix and flip it around a bunch, if you can (every few days) to get a more even exposure to the acid and vinegar. Once the copper is sufficiantly blue, cover it with vinegar, and let the oxidized stuff disolve.
Think of how you need rusted iron for an iron sulotion. It's kind of the same.
If you want to cut some corners, you can fill a jar about half way with vinegar, then stick unbent wire up so only about half of it is submerged. Flip every once in a while. That way you get to oxidize and disolve at the same time.
Good luck! I really hope you don't give up on this.
Ooooh, interesting!
Might there be some kind of weird finish on the wire? You could take a piece of sand paper to the wire wad and sand it a little and try again. Later of course but definantly worth another shot.
I might just do that yes
I came to comments to find chemistry nerds and was not disappointed
Chemistry nerds assemble!
I'm not fully through the video yet but I just want to explain why the copper extraction is likely so light in colour. Household vinegar is usually 7% so there isn't as much acid actually in the solution to react with the copper.
It's true, however in Wild Color Jenny Dean makes a mixture of vinegar and water, so that would dilute it even more, right?
@MijnWolden Unless she had a more concentrated vinegar to start with? I'm a chemist but dye is not my expertise and I haven't seen the blog post from wild color. But if you need help with chemistry in the future I'm always happy to help.
Thank you for letting us tag along on your fiber adventures. I for one need inspiration to try things I have never done before and not worry so much about making mistakes, we learn from those experiences too. It is a journey.
Accepting mistakes is a good way of learning (and I too have some perfectionism I need to let go of, always a good exercise)
okay but the best part of your experiment here is that if you'd used onion juice to extract the copper, it might have been more successful. because the best acid for extracting copper is sulfuric acid.
This is so ironic it hurts
I tried with coins and diluted vinegar and the solution took nearly 6 weeks to turn blue. Haven't used it yet as I have gone off the boil, but I might have a go now.
Patience is probably key
Even though things didn't go as expected, your wool is beautiful. I've only just dabbled in natural dyes, and I'm frequently surprised, lol. I think this is one of these things that's as much art as science. Love your experiments.
both art and science, spot on!
Fascinating stuff! I particularly liked the bright colour that the onion dye followed by some copper solution produced.
On the plus side, brown onions create a lovely yellow dye but on the negative side, some dyers will avoid onion altogether because it is a fugitive colour (i.e. washes out/fades easily). So I wonder if the copper and/or iron mordanting will change that.
It is rather fugitive, but I find that it takes a while of direct sunlight, so I'm ok with it. My yellow sweater has dulled again, after having overdyed it approx a year ago. but then again, it is one of my most worn sweaters. It gets a lot of exposure to sunlight.
You truly make me smile! I have some clue when the coins turned the floof brownish because I’d seen two different people use nails and the other steel wool to dye wool…and both had the same reaction as yours…but the rest? I was eager to see what transpired!
I remember one person in quest of green saved and used avocado peel…it didn’t go well😂
Love your videos!
Avocado peel for green? That is. Interesting. But to be fair my quest for pink with avocado peels also didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it. (It was orange)
@@MijnWolden lol, hers was a brownish orange..
I now feel vindicated.. the smell of metal is real! 🥴 I am now teetering so much more dangerously above the natural dye rabbit hole than ever before. I love seeing the experimental process and the failures, which arent failures because we learn from them.... Im not sure what we've learned yet but i hecka feel more knowledgeable than before I watched your dyeing shenanigans 😂 Cant wait for part 2!!
The smell of metal is so real. I won't hold my keys for longer than it takes to open or close a door...
I am no science brain at all, I'm just fascinated by this whole vlog though... Could it be to do with the strength or acidity of the vinegar, or even the type? I've wanted to play with dyeing as parr for the course of being a yarn addict but now I gotta play with the variables on this! I mean, I won't be able to until next spring because I won't have the time or space. but until then I will have to live vicariously through you...
I'm not a scientist, so I don't know what the explanation is, but I will keep trying
I do think it‘s very interesting! even if you didn’t archieve what you seeked out. and all the different colors you got have a common base and pair very well together. Seeing them all together at the end I was like uuuuhhhh this looks like it could (/should? 👀) be spun together into such an interesting yarn. Maybe a gradient, maybe twisted? I don’t know but please do show me! 🧶💖 also totally on board if you want to make this a new life mission 😂 (aka regular series) we will not be defeated by the copper!
Next week you'll see some of it spun together ;)
Cool experiment. You did get a variety of different colors, so something was happening with the metals.
I echo the idea to use citric acid. It's much stronger than vinegar.
I would recommend buying a small bag of copper and one of iron from a dyer supplier to compare the wool dyed with these with the wool dyed with your own methods. That way, it may be easier to compare and see what you are extracting., If you want to use the coins and wire still. The fiber came out nice colors though. Would be interested to see if you are going to spin with them.
I do have some iron solution ready anyway, what a good idea. I should have thought of making one with just the iron indeed!!
Hi,
Very cool video, like it so much.
I ve another idea. Perhaps you dye with another material than onions.
I know onions as a dying material which do nt need a mortand (same as dying with walnut)
I ve also have some useless coins...and love to do some experiments.. Perhaps i find another dying material in my stuff to make an Experiment...
Nevertheless your onion dyed wool has brilliant famous colors. I m lookkng forward to see what they will change in after spinning and knitting..
I'm sorry you didn't get the colors you wanted, but it still looks like you had fun, and the colors you got where still pretty cool!
And they still serve a useful purpose in next week's vlog, so I'm not mad about it at all :D
the colors all go great together. Doesn't all that vinegar attack the fibers? I achieved the most beautiful and strong green with the deep-rooted reed flowers. I'm waiting impatiently for them to bloom again
What are reed flowers
Same question as Elizabeth: I have never heard of reed flowers...
It's not what you expected but I like the results, all of those will do very well together I think
They will :)
I never got it to turn with vinegar. I do have a lovely blue from ammonia but as ammonia destroys wool I only use a tablespoon as an after dip but do not use heat
I wonder if the wire you have has a layer on the outside to stop the copper discoloring? This is quite common - as most people using copper wire want it to remain looking bright not oxidized. You could check by sanding some (or polishing some with brass polish, I suppose) and see if that helps. I am suspicious of any copper that does not tarnish, as copper in its natural state goes green and icky looking on the outside super fast.
Worth a try!
i tried this, and it was clearly more efficient leaving the closed jar in the sun in summer… for a few weeks… (it fell and i never got to use it, alas -_- ) also: very little vinegar, BIG chunks of copper.
i won't suggest that you actually 'cook' vinegar+commer inside (sounds like a bad idea!) but… you'll need waaayyyy more time, and some warmth could also help- maybe near a heater, or another source of regular warmth in your home?
i remember being disappointed by the results 'sans' heat, just like you, and not wanting to use a stronger acid (way too much for squirmish me) i adjusted the thing with the proportions and putting it in the sun, but now after a quick search i can't find a source suggesting to do this :/
Heat should speed up the chemical reactions, it makes a lot of sense. The sun does sounds ideal, alas, it is winter. Hopefully she sees this comment, I think it could help a lot.
@@Pine-m6h yup. like i said, hopefully keeping it in a more consistently warmer part of the home would help… fingers crossed for the next step of the experiment!
I have a south facing window near a heater... could be a good spot, even in winter...
@@MijnWolden yesss!
oh no hahaha xD at least there was some color change xD in Wild Colors it says copper turns yellow to green and ochre to brown, maybe something in the onion makes it change to brown? even tho the page on onion mentions green haha xD I also heard the red onion skins turn green...
she also uses copper pipes, you might get better results? can't wait to see the second part of this :P
Yeah, I got the idea from Wild Color, where on the page about copper it explicitly says that you can get beautiful greens with onion peels...
if you want green dye your floof yellow and then overdye it with blue. if can get it copper pipe is good as you can use it to shibori material. no it shouldnt be green, it should be a yellow as both iron and copper are more modifiers than mordent though you can use them as such, they are not dyes so unless you have odd plant material (a plant called tansey in english) it should only be the colour you dye. the olive green is yellow "saddened" by iron, copper brightens things or makes them "happier"
But where is the fun in the easy route? Also, indigo/woad is not something I can easily source here.
My A-level chemistry brain is telling me that the bright blue solutions were always copper sulphate, which is made by dissolving copper in sulphuric acid. Vinegar is acetic acid so it's making a different solution. I tried to see if there was any easy acid solvents for sulphuric acid but it seemed to be all batteries and super corrosive. Interestingly, the reason that onions make you cry is because the sulphur compounds in them create sulphuric acid in your eye, so i don't know if a little slice of onion in your solution would give you enough to get a stronger blue colour (very rough guess, the acetic acid may be way stronger and it would do nothing) but that might be why you're not getting the stronger blue shade?
It doesn't hurt putting some onion juices in there, I guess? (Or would it?)
i assume this is an acid vs base thing. if you add baking soda or ammonia it will probably turn blue :)
maybe if you use stronger vinegar, and cut the copper into smaller pieces so ther will be more surface area? You could also try leaving it for like 4-6 months or something
Yes but... where do I source the patience for that? :D
side topic hot take - you should spend your coin for them to take it in and change the system into only electric card payment in the future. ;)
Hmmm, yeah, no. This is a topic that comes up from time to time in Australia. We probably use less cash and more of the plastic fantastic than just about anywhere on the planet. (I tried giving myself a cash-only challenge (not counting bills where I would have used a cheque in the old days and which I now pay using internet banking) about 8 years ago and I failed miserably.) The smallest coin in circulation in Australia is the 5c coin (which is worth about 3c US as the Australian dollar is in the doldrums at the moment) and the smallest note is the $5 note (we have $1 and $2 coins).
There are some older people who do still use cash almost exclusively (and buggered if I know how they do it, see above) and there are also people like children and prisoners who may not have internet banking access and who therefore still need cash. Cash is also needed for church cake stalls and the like (although you can get fairly cheap machines that let you do EFTPOS). Cash is also useful in the event of a power outage or a cyclone or similar. (Note from experience: If you want actual cash for use in a disaster, you want quite a lot of coins and small notes and you don't necessarily need a large total sum. Following a category 5 cyclone I used a little cash to buy some real milk and some ice to keep it fresh. That set me back the princely sum of about $10 Australian.)
So there is quite a lot of opposition to the idea of getting rid of cash (including notes) even if we don't use them a lot. (The central bank also whinges that there are a lot of notes out there that live under mattresses or in safes or whatever that don't actually get circulated.) The government would like to get rid of cash because it costs money to make it and it is the preferred means of payment in the black and grey markets.
But like, they also made legislation that shops are allowed to refuse the 1 and 2 cent coins... so we're still stuck with those!
But also, yes. When traveling through Spain we noticed how much more cash was used in that economy, and frankly we were not used to having to have cash for simple things like taking a bus. The busdriver needing to get a box with cash for us to be able to buy a ticket from him was wild. In Belgium no busdriver has any money on them for at least the last 10 or so years.
chaos science!!!! :D
always chaos :D
I kinda wonder how the wool will age
yep, me too
Did you try copper wire for electrical purposes, or copper for plumbing? If the copper wire is the stuff from craft stores, maybe it is much less copper. Just a thought!
The packet said 99.5% pure, which is not bad.
The wire was from a construction store, so I guess it might have had other purposes than crafting ;)
Just a thought, I have no knowledge about dyeing!. Buuuut maybe you need copper that has been in the elements and have the green stuff on it?? 🤷
possible! I don't know :)
I love the way that darker one came out. I can't wait to see what you're doing with it!
Thank God you only need to wait a week ;)