Tips and Tricks: Dyeing With Dye Spoon Salt

A lot of people who dye clean their spoons in a jar containing salt. Overtime that salt container gets very dirty. Many people probably periodically throw that salt away and refill that jar with new salt. However, that jar of dirty salt contains all kinds of dyes that you’ve previously used, and so it occurred to Ania: why not dye with it?

Ania experimented with dyeing with her dye spool salt, and the results were beautiful. You can dye using natural wool, or over other colors. Read on below for a step by step guide on the process, and to see images of Ania’s end results:

 

Ania experimented with dyeing over yellow wool (pictured on the left), and the end results (pictured on the right) were beautiful.

Step 1: Choose your wool. You can use natural wool or any other colored or textured wool. I chose to use yellow wool in this specific example. Have fun with it! Experiment and explore.

Step 2: Soak your chosen wool overnight with either a small amount of Synthrapol, Wetter Than Wet, or Finish/Jet Dry.

Step 3: The next day squeeze out your wool and arrange it in your rectangular dye can, like you would for a spot dye, with multiple peaks and valleys.

Step 4: Pour a very small amount of water along the edges of your wool so that the bottom of the pan has about half an inch to three quarters of an inch of water in it. The peaks in your wool should be dry, and most of the wool should look dry.

Step 5: Sprinkle or pour your dirty salt over your wool in a random pattern. Sprinkle citric acid over the wool. Don’t stir or touch your wool after adding the salt!

Ania’s wool included subtle variations in color, such as hints of red and blue, that created a beautiful effect. This was achieved by not disturbing the wool once the salt was added to it.

Step 6: Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.

Step 7: Place the pan in a preheated oven (it should be preheated to 275), and bake it. Check the level of the water every 15 minutes so that all the water doesn’t evaporate. If you see the water is evaporating, add more to the pan (along the edges and not on top of the wool). As the wool bakes in the oven, the water collects in steam under the foil, and as the steam drips back down on the wool it dissolves the salt and spreads the dye.

Step 8: When the water is clear at the bottom of the pan, you’re done. This should be about an hour after you’ve put the pan in the oven. Take your wool out, and admire your beautiful creation!

 Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions!