FAQ NOTES EMAILED- $50.

excerpts from our FAQ notes...

From our troubleshooter FAQs:

What causes unevenness in the form of colouring and rough prints on the printed fabric? Answer: Usually, inadequate pre-treatment and unsuitable thickener, dyes and colour foams How to fix it- Give proper pre-treatment, wash the material properly, use defoamer and dissolve the dyes properly.

What causes unevenness in the form of colour - mine is darker/lighter towards one side? Answer: Usually, uneven pressure when applying colour and uneven steaming. How to fix it- Check printing paste application and steam circulation.

Shibori - an ancient Japanese technique for making one-of-a-kind dyed fabric. It's a complicated shape resist method. It includes a number of labour-intensive resist techniques including stitching elaborate patterns and tightly gathering the stitching before dyeing, forming intricate designs for kimonos.

Soda ash (sodium carbonate, or pH Up) is most easily dissolved in water which has been heated to 35.4 degrees Celsius). It is less soluble at higher OR lower temperatures. Dyeing with our Procolour dyes is best done somewhere between 35 and 45 degrees Celsius. Other "cold water" fiber reactive dyes such as Cibacron F and Drimarene K prefer temperatures that are only slightly warmer. At temperatures significantly above that range, the dye will react very quickly with the water, leaving no dye to react with your fiber. If you heat your soda ash to a higher temperature, is important to cool to this temperature range to prevent this hydrolysis, but there is no need to cool all the way down to room temperature. Just cool down to where it is comfortable to handle (below 40 degrees C). Temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius should be avoided, as they can slow reaction time of "cold water" dyes dramatically.