It happens occasionally...

It been a while since I've run into this problem, but it does happen occasionally!

I was spinning my Fine Shetland Roving and came across this problem. 

Now this problem has happened occasionally with all dyers even the commercial dyed fibre or yarns I've boughten in the past. The dye didn't completely set. Just in the turquoise. The rest of the dye colors has set completely in the roving. This was problematic but completely solvable. It was just a bit irritating. Before I have boughten yarn from a large commercial dyer and had this problem and it just kept weeping or leaching dye continually and I wasn't sure what to do with it. Now that I dye yarn I know what needs to be done. 

I grabbed a small dye pot added about a tsp of Synthrapol and about 2 tbsp of Citric Acid. You can buy citric acid at Bulk Bin or some grocery stores will have it. I had boughten citric acid in the past from Bulk Bin for $5 and if your not dyeing it will last you a long time. If you prefer you can use vinegar but you'll just have to use more. I would add about a cup of vinegar for a skein of yarn. Some peeps might say that this is a lot but I would rather have too much acid in the pot than have to redo it again, and again 😉 You should be able to buy Synthrapol at Michaels or if you have an art store in your area. Which we have both in Red Deer 😄

I threw the yarn in the pot and turned on the stove to medium heat. I checked it occasionally to make sure that it wasn't boiling. Just a constant heat. The Synthrapol will remove excess dyes and prevent them from attaching to other parts of your yarn. The acid will react with the the acid dye and the heat to bond the remaining dye to the yarn. 

After a while it looked like this. The Synthrapol didn't bubble up or anything it just kept the water a little soapy. I left it to cook in the pot for about 30 min, just to be sure.

Then I turned off the heat and it looked like this. The pot was exhausted and looked pretty good. I let it cool down in the pot then soaked it in the sink with some more Synthrapol and some wool wash. And it looked pretty good after. No leeching or running dye 😄

This is pretty abnormal for my dyes. I had boughten a new turquoise dye from another supplier to try out and apparently it needs more acid to set it than my other dyes. So if you are the peep that bought the other braid of Camping at the Fibre Shindig send me a quick email if your having problems with the turquoise dye!

Happy Knitting or Spinning 😄