As we were all complaining about the oppressive heat this weekend, a friend mentioned solar dyeing some fiber. DUH! Why didn’t I think of that??
Alpaca fiber soaking up the sun.
Make sure to close the bags
So, I grabbed some alpaca fiber that was already washed, popped it in some gallon zip bags with hot water and vinegar. I let the fiber soak for about an hour to make sure it was thoroughly wet and then I poured in pre-dissolved dye. (You don’t need to pre-dissolve it but mine was left over from previous batches). Close up the bags.
This was late in the afternoon, so I’m leaving it through today…. soaking up the sun. It’s close to 100 degrees here today and looks like the fiber is cooking quite nicely, although the dye has not completely exhausted yet. I will post after pictures as soon as the fiber is rinsed and dried. By the way, I am using Jacquard Acid Dyes. Lovely, bright colors!
Stay cool my friends!
Annette
UPDATE!
All finished dyeing:
agujasblog says
Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
June Griest says
Annette, be sure to show some photos. I did a little solar dyeing with Kool Aid and they turned out great and smelled great until washed. With this heat continuing think I’ll try some regular dyes next. Free power is great.