So What About about Animal Fibres
Silk scarves hanging in my studio. These were printed onto purchased silk scarf blanks and were done for a local craft promotion
A lot of eco dyers only work with silk/wool because animal fibres are much easier to get good results from. I have mainly worked with cotton because of the cost advantage but having returned from India with several metres of economical silk in my bag, I also will be trying to eco dye with silk.
Animal fibres include wool, silk, alpaca and the structure of the fibres allows them to take up the eco print much more readily and without the need to so much pre-preparation.
These fibres do not need to be scoured, in fact scouring them may damage the fibres. Just wash in hot water with a ph neutral soap such as Dawn or Joy or Fairy.
Using the dry weight of fabric as a base to calculate the amount of potassium aluminium sulphate dissolve 20% of the dry weight in very hoy water. Add sufficient hot water to raise the temperature to 150° F (66° C) Immerse the silk and stire well. Let stand for 2 hours. Remove and rinse well.
I have achieved some results without mordanting the silk but the images will not be so precise.
It is always a good idea to keep a record of what you do so that if something goes wrong you can analyse it. I tend to take a photo of my leaves before printing and often do sample swatches to keep a record of variations in a process.
Liquidambar and maple leaves laid out with underside down prior to bundling
An experiment using onion skins and variations achieved