Wednesday 9 May 2012

Wondering Wednesday : Procion and Lutradur?

Can you use Procion MX dyes on Lutradur?   Good question. I once read an article on working with Lutradur that featured procion dyes; I think that they had been thickened and painted on.  Just one problem... they could not be fixed onto the fabric.

Procion MX was not designed to work with polyester fabrics.  It will, of course, work on mixes with polyester in them, such as polycotton, but in that case, what happens is that the dye bonds to the cotton, and washes off the polyester, giving muted colours instead of the usual rich colours that Procion produces.  The only dye that works with polyester is transfer dye; we've talked about it before (have a look here).  Intriguingly, transfer dyes will make marks on cotton fabric, but they are very muted.  You can get a special medium to make transfer dyes work on cotton, but I have never used it.  I'd rather use the dyes that are designed for the particular cloth.  The only time I do use transfer dyes on cotton is when I've combined cotton, polycotton and non woven or spunbonded fabric in a single piece; then it's interesting to look at the resulting print, which will be strong in some places, and not in others.  Just to prove it, we'll do a project using all three at some point. 

Sadly, I haven't got an image of a quilt made in this way, so I've popped an image of 'Green Girl In The Garden' in here, instead.  If you want more information about procions and lutradur, just ask. 

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