Dye wool and silk with Kool-Aid and your microwave
- by Anna Sattler (RSS feed) on Apr 18th 2008 6:00PM
- Filed under in the kitchen, crafts, knitting and crochet
If you have a project coming up that requires a particular color of dyed wool or silk, look no further than your kitchen. If you have a microwave and a package of unsweetened Kool-Aid, you can dye wool and silk in just a few minutes.Myrrhmaid takes us through the process of dyeing light colored protein fiber with Kool-Aid. To do this simple project, you'll need microwave safe bowls, such as Pyrex, a colander or salad spinner, a wooden skewer or spoon to stir the wool, a mesh laundry bag to put the dyed wool in when you spin it dry in the wash machine, your favorite color Kool-Aid, and of course, a microwave.
According to Myrrhmaid, the dye is colorfast and will not fade or bleed, even after repeated washings. She says you can also use the Kool-Aid dye technique to dye wool skeins, wool socks, knit or crocheted wool items and even silk. How much more simple could it be?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-20-2008 @ 7:30PM
M.E. Williams said...
Hehe -- I see, now that you've pointed it out to me -- that this tute is really for loose roving that you may want to felt later anyway. Since you said "fiber," I assumed that yarn was in play. You can definitely do this kind of dyeing to yarn that's already been spun... it's been around for years. Lime and grape colors turn out esp nice.
But if people use yarn instead, they shouldn't try the "spinning the water out" thing with yarn that isn't labeled "superwash" -- it'll probably stick to itself or felt into a clump. It's easiest to just lay the wet yarn over a clothes hanger and let it drip dry.
If you do want the loose roving to felt, the balls in the last page make nice cat toys (with a bell in the middle) or beads (on a string). Works better if it's 100% wool, but won't be as bright and shiny.
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