Dying Lace with Potassium Permangante is Not for Wimps!

Okay...I debated about even posting this adventure. But, if it helps someone else NOT make the same errors, it is worth it.

See this...it is a batch of lace dyed with potassium permanganate. More on that in a minute. First, let me say that I have purchased some gorgeous lace dyed with PP, and wanted to try it for myself...I'm just a Do-It-Yourself kind of girl! So, I read up on the process. Found an article in CQMagOnline some time back that included this information:   QUOTE: "I next repeated the process using 1 cup of water with 1 teaspoon of the PP. The results were darker, but along the same colorations. I then decided I wanted to add darker areas, so I mixed up another batch of solution with 2 teaspoons of PP and painted this on the drying lace. The longer this was left in the air, the darker the color became. It did not become very dark, but did add nice shading. I also experimented by painting this on dampened uncolored lace; however, the final result was virtually the same as dipping dry lace in the 1 c water/1 teas PP solution."    Now, I have no idea what type of lace this lady was dying...but mine were various pieces of venise lace motifs. According to this article, the recipe was "1teaspoon of PP to 1 cup of hot water".

 So, I heated a pot of water and went to get my rubber gloves. Opened all the windows in the kitchen, and drug out my ole trusty bucket for dying. Into it I put all of my lace (first mistake, should have tested one piece!!)...but in my defense...I was trusting of the recipe. I measured the hot water as I poured cup after cup onto my lace. Soon it was submerged in nine cups of water. To this I added seven teaspoons of PP...while holding my breath, because I do not own a ventilated type mask...and this stuff is super poisinous. I added less PP than the recipe because I did not want the lace too dark. But here is what it looked like coming out of the solution, after two plain clean water baths...and I was getting concerned after it was all laid out.

The PP reacts with oxygen, and I did note that some lace pieces were turning brown. But, not very fast...and I was still worried. So, I scooped almost all of the lace back up...

put the pieces into a white pillowcase...rolled the top down twice and secured with safety pins. Put it into the washer...on oversize load...and warm water for wash and rinse. Here is what the RINSE water looked like. That's AFTER the wash cycle had completed...isn't this dark? Good I thought, a lot of the PP is being washed out...so the lace should be lighter...but I hope not TOO light.

 See, I'm a worry wart ...aren't I. Hugs! After the washing...I took it back into kitchen and dumped the pillowcase contents on to a dry towel...to spread out for drying. Here is what I saw...

In case you have not figured it out...here is a closeup...

Yep, the lace had disintegrated...not just tangled...it looked like a huge hairball with some tidbits of lace here and there. Awful mess!  All that lace...gone...how sad.  But, there is more...I used the PP rinse water...which I figured was about 1 1/2 gallons and added 1teaspoon of PP to it. Threw in some trims...(understand that the motifs were in the washing machine, and I had not seen their RESULTS yet...or I would not have tried the trims) But, here is what I got...and love them! Thankfully...

 The shades are dependent on the type of lace...as they should be.

I don't know what went wrong with the recipe...or if my PP is stronger or something...but just BEWARE! If you try this at home...test a piece before you do the whole bucket full of lace! If/When I do this again...my NEW Recipe will be 1 GALLON of water to 1 teaspoon of PP.

 I'd like to know what recipe you use if you do this...email me if you don't want to comment. Have you ruined lace in the past...or am I the only "foolish, stupid, unlucky, etc...pick your own word" out there to mess up like this. Geez!   Okay...you can't say I didn't warn you...Hugs!  

What's the Problem?

 Seems like I'm just running around in circles lately! I'm behind in posting motifs, and just can't seem to get caught up in so many household chores. It's like I just lost 3 days somewhere...and I'm running to get back on track. And, the least little thing just adds to the mix. For example, Aidan and I spent some time this weekend painting lace (with dye) because my lace drawer was very low in options. I had photos all ready to go...but, the computer decided they were "unstable" and needed to be scanned and fixed. In computer lingo...I found that means deleted. Rats! So, you are left with a newly taken photo of my current lace drawer...fatter than before. But, no photos of my precious little Aidan helping Nana paint.

Dying with Friends!

Yesterday, I spend a wonderful day...no babysitting...and just left all my other tasks undone!! I spend time with my friends...Pam and Francis...and my SIL (and friend) Tracy. We got out the rubber gloves, paper towels, and dye! These lovey little bits of lace are the end result.

Dying Lace with Mom

Mom and I were talking last week about the truck load (okay, maybe not quite that much) of lace I has mailed to my cyber friend Nicklee for dying. She is the Queen of Dyed Lace...and I begged her to do some of mine. Didn't really think I had a lot...until I started pulling from all my many drawers and boxes.

Anway, I found a few more pieces that did not get mailed. Mom asked "why can't you dye it yourself". After I quit laughing, I explained what I knew about dyes, permanent inks, curing, rayon vs nylon, ... took me about 3 minutes cause I don't know much. ;)

But, in talking about permanent inks, I tolk Mom about a television program that Renee (another super cyber pal) had seen where they use aloe vera to float the ink. She said we should try and see if that would work with food coloring. So, hey, why not...it might cost me a few pieces of lace...but I 'apparently' have a lot!

So we drug out our food coloring gels and the aloe-vera and water and paint brushes. We mixed our magic formula (a squirt of this, a dab of that) and started painting. We were so excited at the marvelous colors that we could do with this dye!! Wish now, I had been smart enough to take photos of the process...sorry. We painted and then we 'cooked' them in the microwave for a minute. Rinsed them again...and let them air dry. Gorgeous laces!




When we finished...some hours later...I took the laces to the sink. Figured, I had best wash them off to ensure all of the residual food coloring was gone. And, yep, you probably guessed it...most of them came out white or cream again! We had a good laugh...and hours of fun doing them.

And, although all of them washed out terribly and some totally...we don't regret the experience and the fun! But, Nickilee...
you've got a permanent position as my lace dyer... :)

Here's what did make it, and what didn't.