1: Canyon Keep brazilwood
I plan to do some large-scale red dyeing with my 40-gallon copper kettle, a madder dye with a brazilwood afterdye. So I bought brazilwood from my three favorite dyestuff suppliers, to see which of them worked the best for me with my water, etc.
Ingredients:
1 oz Canyon Keep brazilwood (powdered)
1 oz George Weil brazilwood (small dark red chips)
1 oz Prairie Fibers brazilwood (curled, orange sawdust shavings)
11 oz. wool, divided into 6 pieces
3 oz.alum
1 tbsp cream of tartar
Process:
Mordant 3 pieces of wool (5.5 oz) in 1.5 oz alum one hour at the boil, soak 1 half an hour, rinse.
Mordant 3 pieces of wool (5.5 oz) in 1.5 oz alum + 1 tbsp tartar for one hour at the boil, soak 1 half an hour, rinse.
For each type of brazilwood, boil it in water for 1/2 an hour. Strain the liquid and bring it back to a boil. Add one piece of alum mordanted wool and one piece of alum-tartar mordanted wool. Boil 1/2 hour. Let sit one half hour.
Notes:
I liked the Canyon Keep the best, it was the truest red. I could have soaked things longer in the mordants and boiled the dyestuffs longer, however I didn't want too deep colours as that makes it more difficult to distinguish the colors than when they are lighter tints. The Prairie Fibers was decidedly less vibrant; however, the wood may have needed longer soaking for the same effect.
I took some of the wool and boil it for 5 min in a 10 ph afterbath (sample 8). This darkened the wool nicely to a claret. I also dyed some wool in the George Weil exhaust bath and got a very candy pink.
Samples:
1: Canyon Keep brazilwood
2: George Weil brazilwood
3: Prairie Fibers brazilwood
4: George Weil Exhaust bath + alum & tartar
5: George Weil Wool left 5 min in a 10 ph afterbath
