Tips

• When working with dyed reed, pull the reed through a towel to remove any excess dye that might transfer to your basket project. Dyed reed will glide smoothly when pulled with the reed’s grain. Pulling with the grain also reduces the chances of making your reed hairy. Work with dyed reed as dry as possible to prevent the dye from bleeding on your basket.

• The mineral content of the water may affect the color. Choose rain water, soft water or distilled water rather than well water or water from a municipal source.

• If you dye smoked reed in yellow dye, you end up with a pretty gold color. Experiment with other colors on smoked reed the result may surprise you. (Submitted by Mona Hartzler)

• Bleached cane accepts dye better than regular cane. Usually, the back side (rough side) will dye darker and sometimes will be irregular in color. Either side can be used depending on the effect desired.

• Use a plastic freezer zip bag to dye small quantities of reed. You can cut the spokes to size and dye only the weavers needed for a project. Fill the plastic bag with the hot tap water and dye. Then, place the reed in the bag and close. The dye bath should cover the reed for an even dye treatment.

• Twisted and braided seagrass can be dyed for weaving or for rim fillers. Before placing seagrass in a dye bath, tie the ends to prevent unraveling. If dying a whole coil of seagrass, loosen the coil so the dye can reach and evenly penetrate all the seagrass. Tie the coil loosely with string or original material used to tie the coil to prevent the coil from becoming tangled.

• Cane will take a dye better if run through sandpaper first.

• To remove color bleed on natural reed, use a Q-Tip dipped in household bleach to dap off the color. Be careful not to touch the dyed red with the bleach.

• Dyeing Seagrass: Linda Boyle Gibson suggests dyeing by the coil as throwing short pieces in the dye pot causes the seagrass to unravel, plus one never gets the same color again. When dyeing the seagrass, the dye bath should be simmering and very concentrated. Cut all the ties off but ONE so that it does not become a nest. Cook the seagrass for at least 15-20 minutes. Check every five minutes until it reaches the color desired. Sometimes it will take up to 30 minutes to reach the desired color. Be sure it is thoroughly DRY before storing. (Twining Times April 2009)

Using Rit® Dye

The most popular and most economical dye to use is Rit® dye, which comes in a variety of colors and is easy to mix. Rit® dye has a mixing chart online and offers advice for mixing custom colors.

• Use a large pot or old canning pot. The reed needs to be able to “swim” around. Rubber gloves are recommended to protect hands from hot water and from getting stained by dye.

• Fill the pot about ½ full of water (approximately 2 gallons of water). Bring water to boil and turn off heat. Add 1 package of Rit® dye and 1 cup of salt. Stir well. Either powdered or liquid or both can be used. Powdered dye is usually preferred since it costs less than liquid.

• When the dye bath is hot and concentrated, dyeing will go faster and the colors will be brighter. Check the color with scrap reed. If it takes more than a couple minutes to get the desired color, add more dye. At this point if you are mixing dye for a special color, you can add individual dye colors. Add a little dye then retest and repeat until you have the desired color.

• Cut the strings and end band off the reed to loosen the coil. Submerse the loose reed completely in the dye. If your pot is small, dye only a few pieces of reed at a time. A set of barbecue tongs is helpful to help push the reed down in the water. If the reed has a tendency to float, it can be weighted down with a board or other object to hold the reed down.

• After the desired color is reached, remove reed from the dye bath. Let the reed rest for 15-20 minutes to absorb the color before rinsing. Then, rinse the dyed reed several times in cold water. In the final rinse add white vinegar to set color and to help eliminate color bleeding.

• Hang reed loosely and dry completely before storing. Reed not dried completely will mold.

• Rit® tends to bleed when the reed recently dyed. If possible, “cure” dyed reed for a few weeks before using it.

• When weaving with dyed reed, dip it in cold water. Keep dyed reed as dry as possible. The reed will continue to absorb the water after it is removed. Adding some white vinegar to the water is also helpful in reducing bleeding. Always run wet dyed reed through a towel before weaving.

Rit® Dye Mixes that Work

Below is a collection of dry Rit® mixes for reed. Please note some colors may no longer be available from Rit®.

Black 1 pkg. # 15 Black Dye in very hot water and let reed dry Then, re-dye the reed

Blue Spruce 1 part # 29 Royal Blue - ½ part #35 Dark Green

Caramel 2 pkgs. #42 Golden Yellow - 1 ½ tsp. #20 Cocoa Brown

Christmas Red ½ part #5 Scarlet - ½ part #9 Cardinal

Cranberry Red 1 part #5 Scarlet - ½ part #10 Wine

Deep Purple ½ part #44 Black Plum - ½ part #13 Purple

Dusty Rose ½ pkg. #19 Mauve - 1 Tsp. #16 Tan

Grape ½ part #13 Purple - ½ part #10 Wine

Jade Green 1 pkg. #32 Kelly Green - 1 pkg. Yellow - ½ pkg. #35 Dark green

Navy Blue 1 part #30 Navy - ½ part #29 Royal Blue

Rust 1 part #40 Tangerine - ½ part #20 Cocoa Brown

Sage 1 part #39 Pearl Grey - ½ part #29 Sea Foam Green

Teal Blue 1 part #29 Royal Blue - 1/4 part #32 Kelly Green

Teal Green 1 ½ part #32 Kelly Green - ½ part #29 Royal Blue