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How to make sure your project lasts!
This is my heirloom project. I want it to LAST a good long time. How can I be sure of that?
For an heirloom project that you want to last, you have to choose heirloom quality materials that will last.
You have lightfast and colorfast ratings on your web site. Why do you do that?
I give those so that you can make an informed choice about the fibers you use. Do you want your stitching to last a long long time? Then it's important to use fibers and fabrics that are highly lightfast and colorfast.
How do I find out which companies use highly light fast and colorfast dyes?
Many companies, especially large commercial companies, list this information somewhere on their web site. If you can't find it, ask the company directly what they use to dye with.
Why should a company tell me what they use to dye with? Isn't this a trade secret?
No it's not a trade secret. There are only a very few ways to effectively dye a fiber or fabric so that the color doesn't wash off or fade out with exposure to light, especially in a non-industrial setting.
For cotton or linen (cellulose fibers) there are only direct dyes or fiber reactive dyes. All purpose dyes are a mixture of an acid dye (to be used on silks or wool and does not adhere to cellulose fibers) and a direct dye so if a company says they are using an all purpose dye on a cellulose fiber, they're really using just direct dye part of this combination.
Here's a great write-up about the various types of dyes that can be used, along with their strengths and weaknesses.
Link to All About Hand Dyeing
Direct dyes are part of the dye in all purpose dyes, sold under the trade name of Rit or Tintex Hot Water Dye, or Dylon Multi-purpose Dye to name three examples. The washfastness of these dyes is extremely poor and when washed will shed dye molecules with every wash. While there are after-treatments that help keep the dye molecules "glued" to the fiber molecules, these decrease lightfastness. In addition, most of the direct dyes have a lower lightfast rating than almost every fiber reactive dye applied properly.
This is of course presupposing that these direct dyes are applied according to manufacturer directions, which includes a long slow simmer in very hot water with lots of salt! If fibers or fabric are just dipped into these dyes, the lightfastness and colorfastness are severely compromised.
Check this table, and scroll down to the lightfast and colorfast ratings for direct dyes:
Link to Various Dyes Lightfast and Colorfast Ratings
Fiber reactive dyes are the best way for a non-industrial dye house to color cellulose fibers or fabrics. The dye forms a bond with the material so that it doesn't wash off, and is extremely light fast. This type of dye must be used in conjunction with soda ash. Soda ash is not a mordant but instead changes the Ph so that the fiber molecule can chemically bond with the dye.
The correct answer then to "What do you use to dye your cellulose material (cotton and linen)?" would be fiber reactive dyes with soda ash.
Even at best fiber reactive dyes can have low lightfast and colorfast ratings. As you see from the chart below, while the yellows tend to have a very good rating in both areas, the oranges, reds and some of the blues start to dip toward lower levels.
Link to Various Dyes Lightfast and Colorfast Ratings
If they are dyeing silk or wool they would need to be using acid dyes and acid and not all purpose or direct dyes as noted above.
Same chart as above, you see that many of the acid dyes have totally unacceptable lightfast and colorfast ratings. I only use the pre-metalized dyes, also called Lanaset dyes because of their extremely high lightfast and colorfast ratings.
Lanaset dyes are so specialized that they have their own page here:
Link to Lanaset Dyes, Lightfast and Colorfast Ratings
Along with a number of the Lanaset dyes, I supplement my palette with select acid dyes that I've cleared with my dye house to have lightfast ratings of at least 6, and washfast ratings of at least 4.
Then if they're using fiber reactive dyes and soda ash, or acid dyes and acid I'm set then?
No. Actually any dye molecules that wash off or rinse off aren't affixed to the fiber or fabric molecules and will come off easily when exposed to light.
You can buy some time if you use archival quality presentation methods but baseline, dye molecules are excited by light and degrade with the absorbed energy.
Of course all dyes fade! But dyes that are free, and have not formed a bond with the fabric or fiber molecules take less energy to denigrate and fade away.
What can I do then?
Research, research, research!!! If the materials you have are unknown, or you can't find out any lightfast or washfast information. washing them in cool water till they run clear in water will ensure that only affixed dye molecules are left.
But the best way is to choose heirloom quality materials is to choose materials that you know are lightfast and colorfast to start with!
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