Killer Colour: Safe Dyeing Practices
Lush. Vibrant. Crazy. Intense. Completely and absolutely unique. Dyeing your own yarn, fibre, or fabrics gives you ultimate control over your finished product and your craft. There are as many ways to dye as there are personalities in this world and you can make your dyeing process as complex and scientific or easy and intuitive as you want. But before we get into splashing dye about Jackson Pollock-style, there’s a little dye safety stuff that needs to be addressed…
Industrial Strength Chemicals
The dyes and chemicals used by home dyers are generally non-toxic but should still be handled with care.
The most hazardous part of dyeing is being exposed to the dye powders. Prolonged exposure to dye powders may cause respiratory irritation or sensitization, so to minimize contact always wear an approved dust mask (at a minimum) or a respirator. As well, wear rubber gloves and an apron to protect your skin from direct contact with the dye solutions or auxiliary chemicals and so that you don’t absorb anything through your skin.
Finally, you want good ventilation for when you are steaming or heating up dye baths BUT don’t mix your dye solutions near windows or drafty places — the dye powders are very light and will blow all over the place… even if you can’t see it! You might want to put a damp towel underneath your mixing area to catch any stray dye powder.
DYE ONLY — NO FOOD
Anything that you use for dyeing should not be used again for cooking. That includes any kitchen pots, cooking utensils, wooden spoons, measuring cups and spoons, stock pots, crock pots, and turkey roasters, etc. Pick up inexpensive, used equipment from the local Salvation Army to use for your dyeing projects and save your pretty kitchen stuff for cooking!
Some people like to dye with their microwave ovens or conventional ovens — again, these should be reserved for dyeing only.
Just like you wouldn’t be using bathroom cleaner while eating lunch, keep your food and drink away from your dye area!
Mise en place
If you do much cooking or food prep (or read Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential), you’ll know the importance of "mise en place" which, literally translated from French, means "setting in place".
When I apply this to my dye work process, what it really means is that you have everything you need for your dye project prepared and ready to go. The above photo is of my dye area as I get ready to mix stock solutions. The dye powders are lined up in sequence next to the squeeze bottles. The respirator and gloves are on hand. I have a small scale to weigh the powders (I make 1% or 2% dye stock solutions by weight, not by teaspoons/volume — more about this another time!) and a large wet/dry scale to measure the liquids. Finally, I have a mini food processor that I use to blend the dye stocks (so that I minimize the chances of inhaling dye powder while stirring).
With everything ready at hand, it is more efficient to mix the dye stocks while also minimizing the chances of mistakes or accidents caused by running around looking for that measuring spoon or that dye powder. Neat, clean, efficient is what you are going for.
Exceptions?
Some dyes, like Gaywool Dyes are sold in a crystallized form and look almost like coloured kosher salt. They may appear to be safer in this form (unlike fine, dusty dye powders), however there is still powder residue with the crystals. Use a dust mask or respirator to be safe.
Kool-aid is obviously approved for human consumption (although sometimes I wonder…), so you could dye with Kool-aid and use your regular kitchen equipment or utensils. However, you still don’t want to be breathing in the Kool-aid powder either.
Happy, safe dyeing!
Reference Books and Sites
- Color In Spinning by Deb Menz
has some information about setting up a safe dye studio with photos of her large basement studio (pg. 58-59) - Dyeing to Knit by Elaine Eskesen
has quite an extensive description of safe dyeing procedures and studio set up (pg. 27-29) - Dyeing Wool and Other Protein Fibres: An Introduction to Acid Dyes by Susan Rex
is an excellent resource for everything to do with acid dyes (from Koolaid to Lanaset and everything in between). There is a small section about dye safety in general, but dye safety for specific dye products is discussed throughout the book. Susan also indicates in several places that microwaves used for dyeing should be reserved only for dyeing. - Pro Chemical’s website
has detailed material safety sheets on pretty much everything they sell including all the acid dyes and auxiliary chemicals.
August 16th, 2006 at 11:33 am
I am so excited to have you on board – i can’t wait for more spinning dyeing and yarn stories. fabulous pics – yay.
August 16th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
I have been dyeing for over 18 years now – (I did for 10 on a large scale in my house with children) and think this post is a wonderful message to everyone. You can not be too careful with this process! ProChem has some great workshops too from time to time and are worth taking for those who want to know more. We also offer small scale home dyeing workshops at our studios. Safety first! Good job.
August 17th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Excellent advice, although I’m not sure why you say most dyes are non-toxic? I have never found a commercial dye powder that didn’t carry warning labels about careful handling and toxicity danger, so I hope people don’t get the impression that these are nontoxic. They are composed of heavy metals and other poisons.
August 17th, 2006 at 11:49 pm
Thanks Paula!
Yes, the commercial dye powders do carry labels saying “handle with care” but they are still generally considered safe to use by home dyers when also following their safety guidelines. For instance, my container of Lanaset dye powder carries a label that says “Warning: Product contained herein is industrial strength which must be handled with caution. Avoid contact with skin and eyes. Use in well ventilated area. To reduce exposure, use MESA-NIOSH approved respirator and gloves”. Arts and crafts supplies that are labelled “non-toxic” are not considered safe to eat.
All of the references I listed above relate to chemical dyeing and not so much to natural dyeing. However, some mordants used in natural dyeing are heavy metals and considered toxic or poisonous (e.g. chrome, tin, copper or iron in high concentrations). Alum is recommended as the safest mordant to use in natural dyeing.
My point here is just that yes, dyeing can be fun and creative but it has to be done with safety in mind. Here are two more links that will be useful: one about what dyes are safe/unsafe to use and another about safety in natural dyeing:
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/unsafedyes.shtml
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/naturalsafety.shtml
August 28th, 2006 at 8:53 am
I think that this article is wonderful. I think that with the large amount of new dyers out there that it is important that this issue be addressed.
I did want to add that mixing dyes outdoors or in a well ventilated studio space is the best idea. I had a professor in college that said that it was dangerous even to dye in your own kitchen because there is a risk that left out food or cooking/prep areas could become contaminated. Thank you for writing this post, it is really informative.
March 30th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
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