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I've been through several different methods for activating Procion dyes, but they break down into three basic methods. 1. Adding the dye activator to the dye itself. This method works OK if you are going to use the dyes up quickly. It's disadvantage is that the dyes are being activated before they are applied, and can only be used for a short time. 2. The second method is to add the activator after the shirts are tied. The advantage of this method is that the activator is applied to the shirt with very little handling. The disadvantage is that it is difficult to get the activator all the way into the tied material, and that some ties will not hold up to being dunked in activator. 3. The third method, which I use, is to apply the activator to the shirt before tieing. This avoids any dry spots within the tie which can have some pretty ugly results. The disadvantage of this method is that you either have to handle the activated shirts, or wear gloves while tieing the shirt. I personally find it OK for my hands to work with the activator. It is quite drying to the skin, but I find that frequent hand washing and lotion takes care of the dryness for me. Please note I am not telling you that it is totally OK to handle clothing that contains activator, because it probably is not OK for some people. So you are warned--please don't come back and tell me that you followed my instructions and your hands fell off or something. Both Rupert, Gibbon & Spider and Dharma sell soda ash for activator and suggest one cup per gallon of water. I prefer Pro Chemical's dye activator which works well with 10 TBLS per gallon, because I find it easier on my hands. I pour the activator into a container, and add about half of the water as very hot tap water. Stir till the liquid is clear (all activator is dissolved), and add the other half as cold water. You can use all hot water, but the cold water makes the mixture easier to work with. I usually scrub all clothing by soaking in hot water, wring out the material and transfer it to a bucket of activator water for about a ten minute soak. Then wring out the material till wringing does not give much water. Do not rewash or rinse. If the material drys out it is OK to spray with plain water to rehydrate the material. The activator solution can be reused. |