Elevator Papa, Switchboard Mama ([info]bikergypsy) wrote in [info]knitting,
2004-11-13 22:44:00
  • Mood: curious
  • Music: Yann Tierson - Sur le fils

dying nylon..

After reading a lot about people recycling yarn, I went to the thrift store around here and found a really soft, really light-coloured 100% nylon sweater. I took it apart and it gave me four really large-sized skeins(not bad for $1.25). I could use this as-is for projects, but I was wondering if the kool-aid method for dying wool can be applied to this nylon? I really like the texture of it for myself but I don't see myself wearing this colour.. but if I could dye it, that'd be awesome. Anything I've seen on-line seems to show only 100% wool being sucessfully dyed with kool-aid, which I assume would be the easiest 'dye' I can get. Has anyone here dyed nylon? What did you use that worked best?

Thanks for any help (:

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  • 14 comments

[info]chaosdancer

November 13 2004, 20:17:40 UTC 7 years ago

I don't know for sure about dyes like Rit, but I do know Kool-aid only works on protein fibers like silk and wool. I'd suggest looking at a site like Dharma trading and see what they have to say about nylon. Good luck!

[info]kathrynt

November 13 2004, 21:51:04 UTC 7 years ago

Nylon will dye with acid dyes for protein, and amazingly brilliantly too. It's a trick of science.

[info]chaosdancer

November 13 2004, 21:54:06 UTC 7 years ago

So if we do a blend, it'll dye both??? Coolio!!

What about tencel?

[info]kathrynt

November 13 2004, 21:58:15 UTC 7 years ago

Tencel will dye amazingly with CELLULOSE dyes, and stain (sorta) with acid dyes. If you dye a wool/tencel blend, the tencel can stay white and give the finished yarn a frosty look.

[info]stimps

November 13 2004, 20:43:20 UTC 7 years ago

Check http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/nylon.shtml out. I'm not sure if it'll answer all your questions, but it can't hurt. =)

[info]bikergypsy

November 14 2004, 07:26:08 UTC 7 years ago

ooh thanks - that was awesomely helpful :D

[info]_coelacanth_

November 13 2004, 21:23:10 UTC 7 years ago

i am not postive, but my guess is that nylon doesn't take yarn well...

[info]_coelacanth_

November 13 2004, 22:28:44 UTC 7 years ago

erm never mind guess I was wrong!

[info]kathrynt

November 13 2004, 21:51:44 UTC 7 years ago

Nylon will dye brilliantly with Kool-Aid, Jacquard Acid Dyes, Country Classics, or any other acid dyes for silk and wool. Despite being completely synthetic and not a protein fiber at all.

[info]kathy823

November 14 2004, 06:03:19 UTC 7 years ago

Actually, nylon and proteins are both amides. The main difference is that the basic unit, the amino acid, in proteins has the amine and carboxyl groups on either end. Nylon uses two different molecules, one with an amine group on each end and another with a carboxyl group on each end. So there is a strong similarity in properties.

[info]kathrynt

November 14 2004, 11:20:44 UTC 7 years ago

woohoo science! Thanks!

[info]rennieknits

November 13 2004, 21:51:48 UTC 7 years ago

Actually nylon can take dye very well. It all depends on how it's been pretreated (kind of the same way wool is to dye). Kool-aid should work, but with nylon the more acidic your dye the better it will take.

[info]rennieknits

November 13 2004, 21:52:41 UTC 7 years ago

Doh, kathrynt beat me to it....in the same second, no less! :)

[info]bikergypsy

November 14 2004, 07:24:00 UTC 7 years ago

Thanks for all the help, I'll post the pictures after I get it done (:
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