Ice dyeing

I had a 20 lb bag of ice in the freezer and I had the itch to do some ice dyeing again.  I can tell autumn is coming and the time to do these outside activities is now. (I have done ice and snow dyeing inside in the winter, but find it is much easier doing it outside).

I wanted to make some blue sky type fabrics, and thought I would try some green/brown/gold fabrics as well, which are not colors I typically choose.

I did not take pictures of my process, but I use large tubs, and clip aluminum window screening to them. I soak my fabric in soda ash (I planned to soak them a half an hour, but they ended up soaking 4 hours). I wrung the fabric out, then squished/scrunched it and set it on top of the window screen covered tubs. I add ice, so all the fabric is covered. Then I sprinkle Procion dyes on until all the ice is covered (while wearing a mask to avoid breathing in the loose particles).  I have used liquid dyes before, but I like the results better with powdered dyes

Here are my results.

Oddly, I used Procion aqua marine, turquoise, teal, bright blue, and medium blue, yet my fabric looks more purple than blue. This is 100% cotton sheet.

Detail.

 

I also did some 60%cotton/40%linen, but the patterns where less distinct since it has a looser weave. Also, I got a lot of concentrated spots, which happens when there is not enough ice.

This is silk dupioni that was previously painted with Jaquard Textile paint, you can see the original fabric in this post. It was looking very pink after it dried, so I thought I would over-dye it blue, and it would look more purple.  This picture makes it look very blah, but in person it kind of looks like aged copper (with purples and blues).

In the second tub, I used Procion Bronze, Golden Yellow, Rust Orange, Antique Gold, Avocado, and Olive Green.  This is the first time I have used Olive Green and I absolutely love it. On my ice dyes, it became a gray green that I really like.
Cotton.

Cotton

Silk (I only soaked the silk in soda ash for 15 minutes. It is my understanding the soda ash can damage silk).

I had a couple other pieces, but they were similar. I am somewhat sad that my blue fabric looks more like purple, but I loved discovering I like Olive Green, which was unexpected!