This page is currently incomplete only being improved constantly : Last update November 27, 2020

This folio is an information resource for dyers interested in exploring the use of mordants equally a print medium. This covers apply for printing from a block but the same recipe can be applied and used for a variety of print methods including screen press and (hypothetically) engraving, though I've never attempted this. The practice and execution requires a lot of experience to execute comfortably and reliably, so try not to be discouraged by early setbacks. Try to look at your trouble and discover why information technology is occurring. I'll keeping the FAQ section upwards to date equally questions arrive via email. If you're stumped on anything, feel free to reach out and ask near it and I volition do my best to respond, promptly-ish.

I've linked to products below through Amazon because I am an gorging PRIME user. I can vouch for these products and brands considering I have used them personally. At that place are certainly other options out in that location, some may exist more affordable or available locally where you are. Definitely practice a little research earlier to make sure yous are working apples to apples.

So, here'southward the bones concept : at that place are a class of natural dyes that crave bonding to textile via an intermediary molecules called mordants. Each mordant reacts with the dye molecule to create a different visible colour. There is much information on the internet and in print regarding the use of mordants for yarns, and fifty-fifty some good information almost mordanting cloth yardage. Hither, I'll be discussing the specific application of mordants to fabric via blocks. This will give printers the ability to create a earth of patterns from very unproblematic tools and relatively simple ingredients. These recipes are specifically for cellulose based fibers : cotton wool, hemp, linen, rayon, etc. The mordant print paste recipes below call for the use of Alum and Ferrous Sulfate, both are metallic salts which can be absorbed past our bodies, use all appropriate protections when working with these ingredients and avoid direct contact.

SCOURING

Quick notes on pre-treating your textile: For all-time results SCOUR! Cotton and other cellulose fibers naturally incorporate pectins, waxes and fatty substances equally a product of their growth cycle. These volition deflect, mottle and interrupt your mordant print, yielding inconsistent results and a cloudy groundwork impress. Remove them! I've been using a two-office scouring method recently, because I have a washing auto and it is pretty easy. I actually need to dig in and do some side-by-side dye tests to be able to compare a load of scouring results and so as to recommend the best/easiest/about efficient methods. Hope I can get around to it presently! If anyone reading this is interested in working through this with me, get in touch on! Anyway, my current method of pick is this, excuse my imprecision :

For a single (light) laundry load of cotton goods to exist dyed :

Warm cycle, excess water.

1/4 Loving cup Diastatic Malt excerpt.

Diastatic malt extract is a powder made from sprouted, dried, crushed barley, dextrose and flour. The pulverization is enzyme rich. These enzymes brainstorm to digest the pectins and waxes in the fiber.

Run the laundry cycle and then walk away, assuasive the appurtenances to spin and bleed, leaving the damp laundry in the basket for at least 12 hours. Over this time, the enzymes will begin doing their thing!

Side by side, follow upwardly with a second laundry bike using 1 loving cup Soda Ash and HOTTTTT h2o. If you have the luxury, this is where you can take out your goods and proceed to eddy them for 4 hours and really scour the stuff. I've gotten consistently adequate results with only the second wash cycle.

One time this wheel is complete, remove and dry out your laundry. Appurtenances must be bone dry for this process to proceed. Whatsoever moisture will crusade your print to wick out from where you've applied information technology and create a hazy-fuzz of color.

CREATING YOUR BLOCKS

BALSA BLOCKS :

My recent go-to method to create a press block has been to use balsa. I take a chop saw so I'm able to buy this lightweight, like shooting fish in a barrel to cleave, forest in blocks that are about four"x 4" ten xviii" and trim them down to about 2" thick slabs. When carving I always work my image into the stop grain (where you can see the rings of the growth of the tree). This is the virtually stable surface to carve into and also, it holds the print medium ameliorate rhan the smoothen length-of-the-grain sides. Balsa is easy enough to carve with an xacto and can also be trimmed and joined together using glue to make larger blocks.

FOAM BLOCKS

I haven't institute a adept online source for the proper foam to use for creating a quick and easy grade of block. Detect a dense foam. y'all don't want to use a lightweight white styrofoam that is composed of the little assurance. For the best results notice a foam that is at least ane inch thick (2" is preferable because it is stronger and holds up to use for a longer amount of fourth dimension. The sources I've used in the by are most e'er hardware stores where these sheets of dense insulation foam can be purchased in two'x2' sections. Sometimes it is bachelor in 2" thickness as a 4'x8' sail which is handy if you're making a LOT of blocks.

The surface of this material is actually quite smooth and won't concur much mordant print paste when you go to impress with information technology. I've solved this trouble a couple unlike ways. First, I simply sanded the foam down  (before carving) with a lx grit sandpaper to "rough it up" this creates a bunch of nooks and crannies where impress paste can exist stored. The other option for making this material concord more mordant is to coat it with a fabric. I recommend a synthetic suede. The type that i linked to above actually has an agglutinative backing, but it won't agree upwardly over repeated utilize. So, earlier carving your blocks, I recommend blanket the summit of your cream block in a thin, even layer of gorilla mucilage (spread it on in one, even, thin glaze with an old credit card, no bumps, no ripples, no spots with no glue), then lay down the suede on top of that and press information technology down and so it adheres evenly. Gorilla glue expands as it cures, and then you'll often have to re-flatten your suede every v-ten minutes in the first hour equally the glue cures. Once it is adhered, you lot tin cut through both the suede and foam at the same time.

All this work is kind of a pain in the donkey so you can likewise just consider getting a block 3D printed and avert carving altogether.

Please feel free to contact me if you lot have any questions about making blocks.

TOOLS TO GET THE JOB Washed

Practiced niggling .1g Authentic Scale : Spirit 0.01oz/0.1g 3000g Digital Pro Pocket Scale with Back-Lit LCD Brandish Silver

Immersion Blender : Conair Cuisinart Smart Stick CSB-75BC 200 Watt 2 Speed Hand Blender (Brushed Chrome) (Besides available in Pinkish)

Cheesecloth : Cheesecloth - 18 Sq Feet: Grade fifty - 100% Unbleached Cotton - Filter - Strain - Reusable

Gloves, Spatulas, Mixing containers, Canvas pans, Frames for the postage pads : available at the dollar store commonly.

MORDANT PRINT MEDIUMS

INGREDIENTS:

Distilled white vinegar (Vinegar) 5% Acerbity : Heinz White Vinegar Distilled - 128 oz - Whatever grocery store of course. Buy a large one, you lot'll go through it!  Smart and Final has good deals in the LA expanse!
Soda Ash AKA Sodium Carbonate AKA Washing Soda : 5lbs Washing Soda
Aluminum Potassium Sulfate (Alum) : Jacquard Products Jacquard Alum, 1-Pound
Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate (Iron) : Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate - FeSO4*7H2O - twenty% Atomic number 26 - Very Soluble - one Pound

Guar Gum : Bob's Red Manufactory Guar Gum - viii oz

Wheat Bran : Bob's Scarlet Mill Wheat Bran, 20-Ounce (Pack of iv)

RECIPES:

Brilliant MORDANT

Vinegar - 600g

Alum - 60g

Soda Ash - 30g

Guar - v.7g

DARK MORDANT

Vinegar - 600g

Atomic number 26 - 30g

Soda Ash - 15g

Guar - seven.2g

(These 2 mordants tin be blended to create any tone between them on the spectrum. For a good centre-blend use ane part by weight each.)

Measure vinegar into a tall jar or container with at least a few inches of clearance above your liquid. I'll oft mix my mordant batches in large open up bowls or VERY deep containers. The addition of the soda ash to the vinegar and dissolved metallic common salt causes an energetic release of carbon dioxide bubbles (Foam) which has the tendency to bubble upwards, over, and out of any undersized or constrictive container. Once all the bubbling is done and the soda ash is fully dissolved, the mordant mix will reduce in book dorsum to its original dimensions. Decant the liquid into a deeper jar before adding the guar gum, as that is easier to alloy in deep liquids instead of shallow.

Add together each ingredient in order, mixing thoroughly with an immersion blender until information technology is fully dissolved (there'southward really no other way to practise it properly that I've found).

For additional saturation or dilution, conform amounts of alum and fe (try doubling, halving, quartering, etc)

These mordant mixes piece of work best when used immediately! I recommend making and using them on the aforementioned day. Every bit they historic period, the contents will oxidize in their containers and the active ingredients volition deplete. Used fifty-fifty a day afterwards, the ferrous acetate volition be bright orange and take considerably less strength, leaving your final colors much more pale than they would be if the medium is used immediately upon mixture.

Preparing for Printing

For first time, and novice printers, I recommend using a very lightweight cellulose fabric (cotton wool, linen, etc). Piece of work minor, perhaps 24" 10 24". Heavier weight materials and larger pieces of fabric present their own challenges (mordant crocking, difficulty maneuvering, bunching in the vat) which can be very discouraging as a beginner.

Create a printing table for yourself. This process works well when at that place is a chip of batting or soft surface underneath your cloth. I've created a impress table by layering cream sheeting and canvas, topped with muslin, stretched tightly effectually plywood. Though you can probably just layer them on top of eachother. This surface provides a nice fleck of push button-dorsum into your piece of work and yous can also pivot your textile downwardly into information technology.

The mordant printing process pushes some mineral rich cloth all the way through your fabric. Lay downwardly newsprint (I use a large scroll of the stuff simply old newspapers work fine) on top of your print tabular array before securing your fabric. If you skip this step, you will become a bunch of mordant on your print table that will contaminate the back of the next piece that you print. Yous can only recycle the print paper later on one utilize. If you lot're printing on a garment, make certain to place some of this blotter paper within to absorb whatsoever mordant and then it doesn't drain through to the reverse side of the slice.

Apply T pins to pin down one side of your material, then proceed around the sides in clockwise society (don't jump across). This will give you the smoothest possible lay of fabric.

Creating your Printing Pad

In lodge to get a clean, neat, repeatable impress onto your fabric, you need to create a printing pad. Mine are merely made by taking a piece of plywood (near 6" x 9" x 3/four", though they tin can exist made larger if you lot are working with a larger block) and trimming a sponge textile to sit down neatly on elevation of it. The pad provides a bit of push-back confronting your block which makes it easier to go the whole print surface of your cake coated. I wet thoroughly, then wring dry out as much a possible the sponge then wrap the block and sponge together in cheesecloth, neatly, and so there are no thick spots where the material is bunched up. Cheesecloth has lots of infinite between the weave which allows for a lot of mordant to sit in the textile. This wrap is thought if yous are printing with big, bold shapes. Still, if you want to print effectively lines of less than i/8", wrap the cheesecloth in a layer of open weave muslin. This volition not hold as much mordant and will let you coat your cake for printing without transferring so much mordant that the crevices get clogged with print medium.

Tuck the tail of the fabric neatly underneath the block and fix it down onto a tray. Old lunch trays work bang-up, as exercise cookie sheets. You desire the print surface of your pad to sit down to a higher place the top lip of the tray then that you can easily use all of the pad without running into the lip of the tray.

Pour your mordant onto the impress pad liberally. The backlog mordant will pool on the tray and you tin transfer information technology back up onto the pad betwixt impressions with the use of some sort of scraper. Make sure that your scraper is at least equally broad equally the narrowest dimension of the top of your pad. This will allow you to distribute the mordant evenly with a single swipe between prints. If you lot utilize a scraper that is as well narrow, you'll often create ridges and pools of mordant on the pad which volition transfer to your cake and ultimately the textile, these areas where the print medium is applied to thickly can cause bleeding, slow drying and clouding on the slice when it is dyed.

Before inking up your block, make certain that the pad surface is completely saturated. And then, scrape whatsoever excess mordant off the pad. The best print surface is clean, even and has a lot of mordant tucked down and in betwixt the threads of the weave of the cheesecloth. To ink up a block, firmly only gently dab the block onto the pad. Do not button hard otherwise the mordant will squeeze out from under the block and deposit itself onto the sides of the block, thickly. Dab multiple times until your block confront is completely coated with the mordant. The offset fourth dimension you utilise a cake, it is often challenging to get the whole surface of the block coated with mordant. After a couple impressions, the block gets hydrated and will more easily pick up mordant from the block.

Re-coat and smooth the pad surface with mordant from the pool in the tray between each and every print of the block for the most consequent results.

Dry Earlier YOU DYE

Let your pieces dry FULLY before dyeing. Wait a couple days if you can notice the patience. You may iron the Alum (excuse the defoliation, Utilise A STEAM IRON, without the steam) based mordant dry then print with others on peak. If you iron (heat dry) the dark mordant, it volition alter the fe in the mordand and yield a less saturated tone. Air drying is best.

FIX Bath

One time your piece has been mordanted and dried (ideally for 24 hours if y'all have the luxury of time), remove any unbonded mordant on the surface. Rinse and wash your pieces thoroughly in excess flowing h2o.

Natural Dye Mordant Print Rinsing Stream Graham Keegan Workshop Vermont.jpg

Equally my experience with this process has grown, I've found that this rinsing footstep is VITALLY important to the overall finished quality and contrast of the print. A well rinsed impress, following the mordant fully drying on the fabric, hardly needs a fix bathroom immersion. Withal, this requires a large volume of water compared to what the indoor - dwelling dyer has admission to. I've been teaching this workshop in Vermont during the summer and have found that at that place is a pocket-size stream running by the school that is a perfect place to rinse the goods. Fifty-fifty a small, trickling stream has much more water passing through it than a home bathtub on full nail so I at present officially abet for rinsing out in the wild if you can. If not, try to do this step in quickly flowing and draining water : like a shower or bathtub with the bleed open. Commencement with common cold water then work your way upwards in temperature.

Otherwise mordant will menstruum from the printed parts of your cloth onto the groundwork and create cloudy areas. You can even throw the pieces through a load of laundry (hot) to brand sure this is done well.

So make a hot bath of h2o 150 degrees-ish and dissolve a cup of the wheat bran in it as well as i/4 loving cup of chalk. Then, rinse your pieces in that fix h2o and allow them stew for about v minutes (hey science people, I'm interested in learning almost HOW LONG it is actually necessary to perform this step, what we're aiming to exercise is chelation of the metallic ions with the calcium and phosphates naturally present in the chalk and wheat bran. My impression is that this reaction occurs about instantly, true?)  This volition both bond the extant mordant and articulate off any of the mordant that may crock during dyeing, the hotter temp liquid also helps to dissolve the excess guar that is still on the slice.

Rinse, then y'all're set up to dye!

THE DYE Bath

Follow private instructions for extracting the paint from whatsoever dyestuff you lot're planning to use. I've used this method with Catechu, Oak Gall, Sumac, Goldenrod, Tree Tobacco, California Pepper, Eucalyptus, Madder, Lady's Bedstraw, and Alkanet with good results. Utilise a non-reactive vessel (stainless steel or enamel) that is large enough for your appurtenances to flow effectually freely. Wet your piece prior to immersion into the dye, over time you lot will see the areas where you've printed begin to concenter more and more color. Each dyestuff is different! You'll have to experiment to observe proper concentrations of dyestuff and the corporeality of time that each of them takes to properly dye the cloth

If yous've made it this far and are totally overwhelmed, I can help! I teach all this information (and more) in a unmarried-day crash course from my workshop in Los Angeles. Bank check out www.grahamkeegan.com/workshops for listings.