Dyeing by Weight Vs. Volume 1: Using 4 Different Half Teaspoon Measures

My name is Diane Franklin. I am a fiber artist and dyer from Boston, Massachusetts. This week, I will be doing 3 guest posts on the subject of dyeing by weight vs. dyeing by volume. Some of the material for these posts comes from my e-book, Dyeing Alchemy: A Primer About Procion MX Dyeing. At the end of this week, I’ll be raffling off a free copy of this book and its companion workbook that does all the dyeing math for you. To be eligible for the raffle, please leave a comment below any of this week's posts.

When I first learned to dye fabric more than 20 years ago, I, like most people at the time, was taught to dye by volume. All the dyeing books available talked about using spoonfuls of dye powder and gave approximate amounts of dye to use depending on how dark you wanted your fabric and how much fabric you were dyeing.

Many years later, I was exposed to dyeing by weight, either by weighing dye powder that would be directly dissolved into a dye bath, or by creating 5% dye concentrates (using 5 grams of dye powder to 100 ml of urea water). These liquid dye concentrates could be used in varying amounts by measuring them to the nearest milliliter using cylinders or syringes. I also learned to create solutions of salt stock and soda ash stock and to use those instead of salt and soda ash in powder form.

As I continued to dye fabric for the art pieces I was making, I found myself using a number of different dyeing techniques depending on the outcome I wanted. At that point I realized that there is no single right way to dye fabric. Instead, every dyer should have a variety of techniques in his or her arsenal and know when it makes sense to use each technique.

For example, when I want to dye fabric a single color, using a fairly large quantity of water, I find it is easier to work with dye powder rather than dye concentrates. But since I usually have large quantities of salt stock and soda ash stock already mixed in my studio, I tend to use these solutions even if I am working with my dye in powder form.

If, on the other hand, I want to dye many smaller pieces of fabric, using a variety of colors, I usually mix up a series of dye concentrates, in several primary colors, and use these to create the additional colors that I want. In this instance, everything I use is in the form of solutions.

If I want to "underpaint" my fabric before dyeing it (a technique I learned from Jan Myers- Newbury), I mix about 1 teaspoon of dye into a cup of water and use those solutions for underpainting. Here, I am not worried about the accuracy of my colors or concerned with wasting dye, since I'm using so little of it. In this instance, measuring by volume makes sense. Below is a picture of fabric that has been underpainted.

When I want to create accurate color samples of mixed colors for reference purposes, I always start with dye concentrates and carefully mix the colors, keeping careful notes of the amounts of dye concentrates used for each mixed color. This technique is especially helpful for creating value gradations or hue gradations between two primary or mixed colors. Having a notebook of color samples is a big timesaver when I want to dye a piece of fabric a specific color. I can use these samples as references and get the color I want to match.

In my book, Dyeing Alchemy, I talk about some of the reasons for dyeing by weight. The most important is that it is very economical to dye by weight since you use only the exact amount of dye powder you need for the weight of your fabric and your desired darkness (depth of shade). The second main reason for dyeing by weight is the ability to reproduce the same color at different times. If you always use the same weight of dyes in your color mix, you will get the same mixed color each time, except for differences due to dye lots.

To illustrate some of the issues related to dyeing by volume, in today’s post, I am using 4 different half-teaspoon measures.  I want to see if the amount of dye I place in each spoon weighs the same. Below is a picture of the different spoons I'm using for the experiment. I am working with the same color of dye in each spoon.

I have filled each spoon with dye, leveling the dye powder in the same way for each spoon. I've tried to level the spoons so that they are the same, but this is not easy to do accurately.

Next, I will weigh the dye in each measuring spoon by pouring the dye powder into a dye boat. Before doing so, I’ll place the dye boat on the scale and tare the scale to zero. Then, when I add the dye powder to each dye boat, I will get only the weight of the dye itself. 

(Notice that I am working in my studio sink which is below the level of my face. I have put my scale on a wet paper towel and covered it with plastic so that it will not get dye on it. When I'm finished with this dyeing session, I will throw away the paper towel, rinse the plastic and wash out the sink. No dye powder flies around the room, and there is little mess. Even so, I'm wearing gloves and a mask.)

Next I will put the dye that I measured into each spoon into the dye boat and weigh the dye to see if all measures weigh the same. I have used a separate dye boat for each measuring spoon in order to make sure that there is no leftover dye in the dye boat from the previous spoonful. Below is a picture showing the weight of one of my spoonfuls of dye.

I'll do the same thing for each measuring spoon.

The following table shows the weight of each of my half teaspoon measures:

Half Teaspoon Number	Weight of Dye
1	1.9 grams
2	1.9 grams
3	1.7 grams
4	2.2 grams

  So, what does this experiment show? The main thing is that different measuring spoons do not give the same weight of dye. Not only do the measuring spoons differ in the quantity, and therefore the weight of the dye they hold, but it is also difficult to get exactly the same volume of dye into each measure. 

This means that if you dye two pieces of fabric of the same size by measuring your dye into two different measuring spoons of the same size, the colors of your resulting fabric will be different. If the amounts of dye are close, the differences may not be noticeable, but if they are off by a lot, you may see these differences. Also, if the dye powder you use is more than you actually need for the weight of your fabric, you'll be wasting dye and will have to use more water to rinse out the excess dye.

In my next post, I will use the same measuring spoon to weigh different colors of dye powder to see if they weigh the same.


Don't forget to make a comment if you'd like to be entered into the drawing for a free copy of Dyeing Alchemy.