Following instructions

I'm generally not someone that follows instructions too well, but when it comes to dyeing, following instructions IS A GOOD THING. Actually most of the time I've had to come up with my own instructions, but after I come up with a set of good instructions, I follow them to a T. Today I did the final dye of my lantern batik, and I'm in the process of waiting for the dye to set. I used a mixture of black, warm black and red.

I have been having problems with mottled dye effects on large surfaces, so I decided to experiment with immersion dyeing this time round, which is essentially, a large vat of dye which the cloth is immersed into for a period of time.

Instructions as follows:

1. Soak fabric for 15 mins in lukewarm water.
2. Fill a pail up with 3L of warm water.
3. In 2 cups of hot water, dissolve 1/3 cup salt and 1/2 tsp of dye. (Use more dye if using black or turquoise)
4. Let the fabric sit in the dye for 10 mins.
5. While waiting, in a separate container, mix 1tbsp soda ash with 1 cup of warm water. Stir until fully dissolved.
6. Remove fabric from dye.
7. Add soda ash solution to bucket and stir.
8. Return fabric to the bucket and stir around for a bit. Let sit for an hour, stirring occasionally.

This is the recipe I'm following. The instructions are a mix of what was obtained from the prochemical site, the Paul Birch site, and the G and S dyes site, as well as the instructions on the back of the container.

It seems like the color is developing evenly, so perhaps we won't see the streaky effects of painting. Will have more pictures of the result after I take the fabric out of the dye bath.