Why won't the freakin' water run clear!?!?!?!?!?

[twouglyducks]

OMG I used WAAAAAAYYYYYY too much dye (fc, KA and wiltons) for these mini skeins of yarn I dyed last night for a pair of pants. Customer wants rainbow stripes seperated by natural stripes, so I really want these colors to be colorfast. The green is proving to be a royal PITA!! I cooked it last night till it was already too dark, but the water was still opaque. :emb (see, too much dye lol) rinse rinse rinse rinse cook a little more rinse rinse soak overnight in clear water. This morning rinse rinse rinse rinse rinse in HOT water and it still lets out color . Or it will run clear for a few seconds, I squeeze it, and green gushes out again. Should I just give up and try again on fresh yarn???

[gorzong]

Is this Wilton's green by any chance? I just dyed some playsilks with it this weekend and am having a heck of a time with it. It's the worst color leaking I've ever had, even worse for me than koolaid red ever behaved! I think I'm finally giving up and hoping my daughter just doesn't suck on her playsilk too much. :)

Holli

[twouglyducks]

It's wiltons with a bit of food color. Grrr... Think I'll just go get some KA and forget about this for these pants.

[pmcgary]

Try soaking it in a panful of water with about a 1/4 cup of vineager and a bit of salt (1/4 teaspoon should do the trick)

Let is soak in that for about 30 minutes........more won't hurt.

That might help "set" the dye a bit.

[twouglyducks]

I did all that, but not with salt. Is that key?? I have some yellow that wasn't running clear, too, as well as some indigo that I decided not to use. So I was going to use those 3 colors together for a hat or something.

[pmcgary]

I don't know what the deal is with the salt...are there any chemists here?
I know they recommend it with Rit dye and it is also recommended by Maya Wrap for some of their sling colors that tend to run/bleed/dye transfer....

[twouglyducks]

Hmmm.... Okay. I will try it. Thanks. :)

Doh, except I'm out of vinegar. Went through LOTS of it last night. :LOL

[clothusingmama]

I dyed some merino with wiltons green and used WAY to much dye too. It did the same thing. I kept washing and soaking it and it is finally running clear. Try actually washing and soaking, not just rinsing. It made a huge difference for my cucumber colored skein that was supposed to be a nice bright green :lol:

[littleturtlemama]

try this trick. Fill a pot with water, set on the stove to simmer. add the yarn and a glog of vinegar, THEN add another skein of (undyed) yarn(about the same size as the first), and let them be for about 1-2 hours (turn heat off right after water gets hot) The undyed skein should take up the unreacted (excess) dye from the first skein)

:)

[ravingcutie]

Green is a PITA to exhaust! Sorry, Davina!

[twouglyducks]

It's in the pan doing the thing Theresa suggested. The water is deep green and the extra yarn is pretty green. Only been a little over an hour. I really hope this works out.

[littleturtlemama]

if the first skein doesn't make it exhaust, add another (I actually have a skein of yarn that I use as my exhaust yarn, and let me tell you it's been dyed 2 dozen times and it's the most putrid brown ever, but it works!!!)

[Susan_WW]

Once all the extra dye has come out, I set the color by soaking the wrung out skein in purevinegar & then steaming it in a steamer basket for about 30 min. Then shut the heat off but leave the lid on until it cools (I do this in a cast iron pot which can hold its heat for a long time). I'm so sorry you're having trouble. I know what a PITA running dye can be :goodgrief