DYEING WOOLDyeing wool opens up a whole new world of possibilities for needle felted projects and other wool crafts. Extensive instructions for coloring wool can be found on the Pro Chemical website. We will explain how we die our alpaca wool using the one-shot type dyes as we find them easy to work with. We are by no means experts at dyeing alpaca wool but have found this method to work for us. We use Pro Chems country classic dyes for hand dyeing alpaca fiber. We like the convenience of not having to mix anything else and the choice of colors available is plenty adequate for our needs. Put aside a whole day so that you can take your time. Making several different colors in one day will give you a long stretch before you need to dye again. Of course, that depends on how large your projects are, how much fleece you use, and how fast you make/sell your items. We dye in small batches. You will need the following supplies ready for dyeing your fleece:
NEVER use food utensils you have used for dyeing wool for food preparation! We bought utensils and canning jars from a thrift store for our dyeing and we keep them in a storage area separate from our items used for food so they don't get mixed up and accidentally used. DYEING ALPACA PROCEDURE1. Open windows or do outside. You should be in a well ventilated area when dyeing wool. 2. Wet 1/2 pound of raw uncarded wool in 1/2 gallon of warm water with 1/2 tsp of liquid soap. Let your alpaca fiber soak for 30 minutes. 3. Fill the canning pot with water so that when you put the jar in the canner the water will come up to around the neck area but not over. Put it on a burner. You will want it to simmer so adjust the burner to the level of heat needed on your stove. 4. Put on your dusk mask when dyeing wool. It is not good to breathe in the dye powder. 5. Boil some water separately for use in adding to the dye powder. 6. Measure desired color of powder into the jar with your measuring spoon. Start with a teaspoon. We will do 1/2 tsp of a color in one jar, 1 tsp of the same color in another jar, and 1 1/2 tsp of the same color in a third jar so we have different shades of the same color. Put the desired color and amount of powder into each of the six jars. 7. Pour a small amount of boiling water into the jar to dissolve the dye. We use the wooden dowel to stir or just swirl the glass jar. The boiling water seems to dissolve the powder quite well. Do this with each color in each of the six jars. 8. Squeeze out excess water from your fleece that has been soaking. Do not rinse it. Divide your wool into six even amounts. Add one of these amounts of fleece to each jar. 9. Fill the jars with warm tap water until the level reaches the lower edge of the neck of the jar. 10. Push the fleece down into the jar with the wooden dowel so that all of the fleece gets saturated with the dye. (Rinse the dowel inbetween jars)You can remove your dust mask by now if you have closed all your jars. 11. Your large pot of water should be simmering before you add the jars when dyeing wool. 12. Make sure the level of water in the canner is not going to be higher than the neck of the jars. Place the jars in the canner. We use the wire rack (jar holder) that comes with the canner so the jars do not tip over during the dyeing process. 13. Simmer for thirty minutes. Once or twice during the process, push the fleece gently around in the jar with a wooden dowel. 14. If at the end of the 30 minutes, the water in the jars is clear, you are finished. The wool has taken up all the dye. If the water is still colored, add 1/2 TBS of distilled white vinegar to the jar and simmer for 10 more minutes. 15. Lift the jars from the pot (Careful, they are VERY hot!) 16. Place them on your oven top or a counter that will not be harmed. Use oven mitts to pick up a jar and dump the fleece into your salad spinner basket in the sink so water can go down the drain. 17. Let the fleece cool a bit. 18. Spin the water out (don't save the water). 19. Lay fleece on a screen to dry. Do this with all six colors. 20. When the fleece is dry, card each color separately to blend and even out the color.
This method of dyeing wool gives you small batches of color to work with. Great for needle felting small items and characters or small wet felted projects. Be sure and write down the amount of dye and the weight of the fleece you used so you can reproduce a color you like. If you want to be more exact when dyeing wool, weigh out separate amounts of your fleece and soak it in soapy water in individual canning jars. Just use a drop or two of liquid dish soap for each jar and approximately one and 1/2 cups of warm water. If you want to dye larger batches, use the whole canning pot instead of quart jars. You can dye a pound of fleece. Just follow directions on the jar of colored powder. Dyeing wool seemed scary to us at first but once we did it we were pleased and surprised that we could create colors easily. Don't be intimidated. The one-shot dyes make it less daunting and colors give you so much more possibilities with your creations that it's worth exploring and experimenting. Give it a try!
Return from dyeing wool to alpaca fiber.
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