Filtering Dyes

Wednesday is my normal dyeing day so it seems a good time to ask a question of those of you who are also dyers. Well, two questions actually.

Do you filter your dyes after you mix the powders into liquid?

If you do, what do you use for filter material?

I have tried coffee filters and pantyhose. The coffee filters are way to dense in my opinion although I know dyers who use them very successfully.

I have been using pantyhose but my supply is running out and I don't have access to more free ones. I think they make great filters but I needed to find something else.

One day I was looking around my dye studio and saw the supply of screen printing fabric. It makes a perfect filter! Because I only use the pure dye colors and black (11 colors), I could cut 11 filters, label them and reuse them without worrying about any cross contamination from different dyes. I have each one labeled with the color name and keep them hanging on a drying rack near by. When I need to filter the dye I fold it into a funnel and can easily pour my dye from the mixing container to the bottle.

How do you filter your dyes?

Comments

[Ruth Lane]

That's a good idea. I am not that disciplined (of course I don't sell dyed fabric either) so I don't filter my dyes. Old nylon curtains from the thrift store would work too.

[Deb Levy]

Good solution! I don't filter mine because I don't mind the texture from the blobs of undisolved dye.

[Kathy]

Thanks for sharing this tip Vicki, I have never thought about filtering my dyes. I don't like getting blobs of undissolved dyes on my fabrics so this will solve that problem. Thanks!!

[Summerset]

I *always* filter my dyes. The acid dyes, even though I mix with boiling water, are still prone to undissolved bits which can lead to strange dots on the fabrics. I use the coffee filters. Since we just bought a brand new coffee maker that uses a totally different type of filter than the old one, I've got tons to use. I also mix custom colors and have way too many colors to take advantage of a filter system like yours.

[Patty]

I have never filtered my dye. Once I was making some orange and all the red particles did not dissolve. I ended up with the coolest orange fabric with red speckles! Now since you repeat what you dye and need consistency from batch to batch I can see why filtering your dye would be important. Glad you found a solution!

[laceflower]

That's a very good solution Vicki. I haven't had success using pantyhose, it didn't want to flow thru.