Dyeing Roving in the Slow Cooker
The first thing many people ask me is “Why bother?” and of
course they are right. There are many online stores selling dyed roving in a
rainbow of colours.
I lead a busy life. Felt making has to be sandwiched in between
full time work, family responsibilities and community interests. When I find a
few hours free to felt I need to be able to start work immediately. Of course
if I was very well organised I would have ordered my wool, in exactly the right
colour for my latest project weeks ago. But…. I’m not! And I hate waiting for
the postman to arrive to start work on a project.
Of course it does take time and preparation to dye your own
wool but I find it much easier to dye the roving I need, in the colour and weight
I need than to try to order well beforehand.
Today I keep a stash of natural wool in three micron weights
so that I always have the wool I need, when I am ready to start felting.
Equipment you will need:
A good sized slow cooker. Don’t, I repeat, Don’t use
the slow cooker you use for making your family stew. Dyes are poisonous and you
should keep separate utensils for dyeing. Having said that, second hand shops
are a good source of slow cookers and any other utensils you will need for
dyeing.
Protein dyes. I use Landscape as they are readily
available, are consistent in quality and have a great range of colours.
I started with just some basic colours: black, red, yellow, blue
which allowed me to blend them to get a variety of shades. Landscape produce a colour card which is very
helpful when deciding which dyes to use.
A large tub or bowl for soaking wool. You can just
soak the wool in your laundry trough, but we recently had a plumber in to
unblock a drain which was full of wool fibres! Since then, I have used a large
tub.
A Wooden spoon (only used for dyeing).
Set of scales.
Jug for mixing dye (again only used for dyeing)
Small spoon for scooping out the dye
Plastic colander
White Vinegar
Old towels, plastic sheeting for covering benches
Step 1
Weigh your wool on the scales (I use the plastic colander on
the scales to make this easier). It is important to get the weight of your wool
so you can calculate how much dye to use. My slow cooker will take 200gms of
wool at a time.
I will gently press the wool into the water three or four
times. But a word of warning; once the wool is wet you should handle it as
little as possible.
Step 2.
Gently coax the wet wool into the colander using the end of
the wooden spoon. It is important that you touch the wool as little as
possible. Allow it to drain while you prepare the dye.
Step 3
Follow the quantity instructions on the dye container. For
200gms of wool I use 20gms of Landscape dye. Weigh the dye powder into your
glass jug and add about a cup of near boiling water. Stir to dissolve with your
wooden spoon. Add approximately half a cup of white vinegar to the dissolved
dye. *
Step 4
Half fill the slow cooker with warm water and switch on to
low setting. Add the dye/vinegar mix and stir thoroughly with the wooden spoon.
Slowly ease the wet roving into the dye bath, using the wooden spoon to lift
the roving and slide it slowly into the dye. This allows the dye to “take”. If
you plop it all in at once you will end up with white spots. Gently poke it
with the wooden spoon to ensure it is all submerged.
Step 4.
Wait. Lighter colours will take less time to be absorbed
than dark colours. Yellow, light blue and green will take 2-3 hours. Dark
colours, red and black, can take up to 6 hours. You will know the process is
complete when the water is perfectly clear without any trace of colour.
·
The amount of vinegar required seems to vary
with the darkness or depth of colour. If the process seems to be taking longer
than you’d expect add another 1/3 of a cup of vinegar and stir very gently.
Step 5
When the water is perfectly clear, turn off the slow cooker,
remove the lid and allow the water to cool.
When the water is at room temperature, fill your tub or
large bowl with cold tap water. Gently coax the roving into the colander and
allow to drain, then slide it into the tub of fresh water to rinse. The rinse
water should be clear, but repeat this process two or three times, leaving the
wool in the rinse water for at least ten minute intervals. Resist the
temptation to touch the wool. Use your wooden spoon and colander to drain the
wool between each rinse. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to the final rinse water
and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Drain again in your colander.
Once drained of all excess water, turn out gently to sit on
a folder bath towel for half an hour or so (The longer you leave it the faster
it will dry)
Step 6
Hang you roving on a coat hanger, preferably in a spot with
good air movement. Windy days produce lovely fluffy roving! When it is
completely dry store, ready for use.
The less you handle the roving once it is wet the fluffier
it will be.
All of the dye must be absorbed before the process is
complete. If the water is not clear your wool will bleed dye when it is being
felted.
Dense/dark colours take longer - don’t rush the process but add additional
vinegar if it seems to be taking a very long time.
Drying the wool in a spot with good breeze results in
fluffier roving. If the wind isn’t blowing a hair dryer on cool setting also
works.
Dyeing more than one colour at a time
I have found that I can dye small quantities of multiple
colours by using two or three thick yoghurt or ice cream containers side by
side in the slow cooker. You will need to experiment with the size of the
container. Using three rectangular yoghurt containers I can get 50gms of wool in each. Add water to
the slow cooker to form a water bath before adding the containers containing
the wool and dye.
Have a few questions? Send me a message or contact me through my FB page Shear_Indulgence Felt Art
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