bandhini worked dupattas

namrathamorab · Feb 24, 2011

Dyeing clothing and other material is a fairly simple process. It doesn't take a lot of work and the amount of work it takes often depends on what type of fabric dye you purchase.
Step 1
Wash the material. The clothing item or cloth should be washed well and let dry. This will help to remove things in the fabric that aren't good for the fabric dyeing process.
Step 2
Simmer the material in a fixative. There are lots of fixative options. Add eight cups of water to a large pot and then your fixative. Choose 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup of salt, or 1 tablespoon of alum. Mix well. Add your material and simmer for an hour.
Step 3
You will want to wring the material out well and set aside as you get your dye bath ready. If you have made natural dye then it should be waiting. If you are mixing boxed dye you will need to follow the directions to mix the color you desire and the darkness you wish. Your dye bath will need to be in a pot donated to dyeing. You will want to put it on medium heat.
Step 4
Add your material and simmer. Add your material to the dye bath and simmer it for about an hour. After that check it every ten minutes. Keep in mind that the material is darker wet then dry, but you are looking to find a color pleasing to you. Once that color is achieved turn the dye bath off and let cool.
Step 5
Remove from dye and hang up to dry. Using rubber gloves carefully remove the material and hang it up to dry.

You may also check this link, I generally use this one :
Fabric Dyeing

I had long ago bought some dyes from a place called Varsha Chemicals in Cubbonpet, Bangalore, check if you need it.

gaia · Feb 28, 2011

Hi Namratha,

Sorry for responding so late but thanks once again for this info...

When you say fixative - do you mean the fixer CCL that we add to the binder and when making the color? And what quantity should we add? Typically for making 1 kg binder, we add 20cc fixer CCL.

I also had one more query - yesterday, I was doing a trial run of printing after some 4-5 years. I had bought a readymade binder to which I added the color, and little fixer CCL but the binder was very thick. So in this case what do you do? Can we add little water and make its consistency suitable for printing?

Because, I did try out printing on one piece with the thicker binder and while printing on the other piece, I added little water before printing. Just to check the fastness etc. I will tell you the result in few days, but your inputs on my above queries will be very helpful. I will also be checking the link that you shared...thanks once again

Regards,
Sarika

namrathamorab · Mar 11, 2011

Yup.. you got it right.. I tried diluting the fixer a little (12:1)it did look fine to me.Just check on the water quantities.Different fabrics act differently and you cant predict.

Will wait for your update!

gaia · Mar 16, 2011

hey there,
my trial run was a success, have washed the printed fabrics multiple times etc and it looks as is....last week had been to mumbai, visited the weavers' service centre there to get more inputs and check for a good supplier for a ready binder...the incharge there suggested that i add few drops of emulsifier as well to the color for more viscosity etc...will upload few pics of my work in few weeks..thanks once again..you been a big help....