FLYMPH FORUM

The leveling dyes Bill refers to as being scare in the US are Kiton Dyes. Pro Chemical and Dye stopped selling this some time back; however, I was able to snag some off of eBay.

Charlie

Bill,

I saw this picture and thought of you.



Examples of natural dyes. I was really surprised by the stunning blue from purple cabbage. Neat.

The colors from ginger root (top) and coffee beans (bottom) look especially useful for fly tying.

Ray, those types of colorants aren’t actually dyes. They really only stain fibers. For something to be considered a dye it has to chemically bond with fibers. To make natural colorants bond with fiber usually requires an intermediary called a mordant. These are metallic salts which bond to the fiber. In turn, the natural colorants bond to the mordant. The blue color you mention is produced by anthocyanin. These are usually used in an highly acidic bath to create sort of an acid dye. Pokeberries create a very bright magenta color with this method but unfortunately the color fades away. Nevertheless, you can have a lot of fun with food dyes and of course they are safe to use. For a trout fly; permanence isn’t usually an issue.

https://yarnphreak.wordpress.com/2009/0 ... rn-dyeing/

Bill

Old Hat wrote: ↑Wed Dec 26, 2018 12:46 pm I try to forget my college chemistry classes.

I don't have to forget mine. My high school chemistry grades showed I never did learn them.

Several of those egg colours look subtle . . . natural.

I'd guess the "ginger" is turmeric. Turmeric does bring potent pigments. Economical bags of the powdered form can be had at Indian/Nepalese grocery stores.

(Consumption tip to try: the earthiness of dried turmeric is pretty complementary to coffee.)

Having never attended a chemistry class of any kind I'm feeling a little out of my depth here. Look, I just got the hang of playing with Koolaid and now we're talking mordants, sulfuric acid, and something called 'anthocyanin'. All I want to do is channel my inner Burt Gummer and dye a bunch of white poly-fil fibers using "A few household chemicals in the proper proportions."

Is it possible to dye/stain poly-fil type synthetics using my favorite coffee beans, kale, and Koolaid and have the color hold? Can I accomplish this feat without benefit of a PhD?

...or should I just take the easy way out and buy a couple of bottles of RIT synthetic dyes?

The easy way.


https://m.wikihow.life/Dye-Polyester

wsbailey wrote: ↑Sun Mar 31, 2019 10:56 am The easy way.


https://m.wikihow.life/Dye-Polyester

Thank you for the link. There's just enough involved in the process to make me feel like I'm not cheating somehow. In my next life I will faithfully attend all those science-y courses I skipped out on in this one.