Dyeing Manual

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Bhikkhu Colour
Dyeing Manual
Table of Contents
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 2
1.1.1 Cellulose fibres (cotton, linen, viscose, etc.) and silk............................................................................................ 2
1.1.2 Polyester....................................................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 METHODS FOR CELLULOSE FIBRES AND SILK............................................................................................ 2
1.3 Equipment.................................................................................................................................................. 3
1.3.1 Various equipment..................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.3.2 Containers and stirrers............................................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 Chemicals................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.4.1 Sourcing the dye.......................................................................................................................................................... 5
1.4.1.1 Dharma Trading dye.......................................................................................................................................... 6
1.4.1.2 Jacquard dye....................................................................................................................................................... 6
1.5 Usage of the spreadsheet........................................................................................................................... 7
1.6 Manual-dyeing steps.................................................................................................................................. 9
1.7 Kathina-speed-dyeing steps..................................................................................................................... 16
1.8 Machine-dyeing steps.............................................................................................................................. 16
1.8.1 Required chemicals................................................................................................................................................... 17
1.8.2 Steps............................................................................................................................................................................ 17
1.9 METHOD FOR POLYESTER........................................................................................................................ 18
1.10 Appendix................................................................................................................................................ 19
1.10.1 Thanks and References.......................................................................................................................................... 19
1.10.2 Notes on cotton....................................................................................................................................................... 19
1.10.2.1 Starch............................................................................................................................................................... 19
1.10.3 Notes on silk............................................................................................................................................................. 19
1.10.4 Adjusting the colour............................................................................................................................................... 20
1.10.5 Water hardness and laundry................................................................................................................................. 20
1.10.6 Sewing and dyeing robes....................................................................................................................................... 20
1.10.7 Container labels....................................................................................................................................................... 21

Quick Start
If you want to dye cotton or silk by hand, you only need to read these chapters:
1.2 METHODS FOR CELLULOSE FIBRES AND SILK A few introductory lines.
1.3 Equipment  The hardware you need.
1.4 Chemicals  The required chemicals.
1.5 Usage of the spreadsheet  The spreadsheet which does all the calculations for you.
1.6 Manual-dyeing steps  The actual step-by-step dyeing procedure.
All other chapters either add detail information and problem solving or describe other methods.

1

1.1 Introduction
This manual describes different procedures to dye cotton, silk, polyester and other types of material to a colour
which we use for our robes and cloth requisites in the Thai Forrest Tradition.

1.1.1 Cellulose fibres (cotton, linen, viscose, etc.) and silk
All subsequent chapters, except chapter 1.9, describe different methods to dye cellulose fibres and silk.
As the volume of this manual could be discouraging if one only wants to “quickly dye something”, it is good to point
out that once you know how the process works and have the equipment at hand, a dyeing run can take around 2h
(with preparation but without washing), depending on the amount of cloth. There is also a quick version for dyeing
the Kathina robe with a dyeing time of less than 30 min (without the preparation time).
Many of the non-essential points have been moved to the appendix which can be skipped if you just want to follow
the straight-forward way of manually dyeing something.
The main focus of this document is on hand-dyeing, but there is also a section for using the washing machine in
chapter 1.8 Machine-dyeing steps, but be aware that the results are not as good as from hand dyeing.
Using Procion MX dye has the following advantages:
• It gives brighter colours than all-purpose dyes.
• It is a fibre reactive dye, which means, that the dye forms a chemical bond with the fabric and can't be washed
out. The only colour loss you'll get is through bleaching in the sun and bleaching agents in laundry detergents.
• The colours can be reproduced, if the settings stay the same.
• With the provided spreadsheet, you can easily adjust the colours to your needs.
• Specific mixtures are available for cotton and for silk, whereby with all-purpose dyes like Dylon, you can get
funny results on silk.
• It is non-toxic and relatively easy to handle.

1.1.2 Polyester
Chapter 1.9 describes a method to dye polyester with iDye Poly from Jacquard.

1.2 METHODS FOR CELLULOSE FIBRES
AND SILK
In the following chapters you will find different methods for hand dyeing, a quick version to
dye a Kathina robe and a machine dyeing procedure.
Cellulose fibres includes for example cotton, linen and viscose.
Silk is a protein fibre, but it is a special case and can be dyed by the method for cellulose
fibres or by the method for protein fibres, we use the former way as it is much easier.
 Throughout this document, the sections which are to be used
for cellulose fibres only are marked with the tag [Cellulose Fibres],
the ones for silk only with [Silk].

Cotton is a
cellulose fibres
which requires
soda ash
(sodium
carbonate) as a
fixative for the
dye, wool is a
protein fibres
which requires
acid (usually
vinegar) as a
fixative.

There are different ways to dye cotton, silk or wool with Procion MX dye.
A description for dyeing protein fibres like wool is currently not planned. It is more difficult as you need to keep the
dye-bath on a stove near a simmer during the procedure.
2

If you want to dye something important like a robe and haven’t used Procion MX dye at all, it can be highly
recommended to make a test dye run at first.
As dyeing only a very small piece of cloth might not lead to a realistic test result it is better to dye e.g. a bathing
cloth, some bedding or a towel. If you are going to do that it would further be useful to add a piece of the same
material which is going to be used for the robe in order to see what to expect and maybe to adjust the colour if you
are not happy.

1.3 Equipment
This is a list of the equipment you'll need for the manual dyeing procedure.
 Please note, that it doesn't make sense to give you the actual size of the required containers, as this depends on
the required amounts of the ingredients as calculated with the spreadsheet for a specific amount of cloth.
E.g., if you want to dye a tee shirt which weighs 120gr, you need a dyeing pot which can hold 3l of water, but if you
want to dye a Jiworn which weighs 800gr the pot need to hold 20l. So you need to play a little bit in order to find the
right material for the job.

1.3.1 Various equipment
• Rubber gloves. Mainly used to stir the cloth during the dyeing process.
• Fine scale for the dye.
There is no way around getting a fine scale which can weigh fractions of a gram.
One aspect is, that you can't just use a measuring spoon instead of a scale as one volume of e.g. orange dye powder
has a different weight than the same volume of yellow.
Another aspect is that if you dye e.g. 500gr of cloth a difference of e.g. 0.25gr of blue dye powder would mean a
deviation of over 0.5% in the mixture which would lead to a considerable change in colour. This must not be a
problem but prevents you from reproducing a certain colour.
It is useful to have a scale which updates the display quickly, so you can see faster how much you've added.
I've used the product Palmscale 8.0 which is very accurate and inexpensive. Take care to get the 300gr version
which weighs in 1/100 gr steps, the 800gr version does only 1/10 gr steps.
•
•
•
•

Kitchen scale for cloth, salt, soda ash (sodium carbonate) and water softener (sodium hexametaphosphate).
Thermometer.
Clock or timer.
Very fine water strainer or similar to strain the dye.
If your netting is not fine enough, try using a double layer.
• (Optional) Apron.
• (Optional) Rag, to clean up the dye splashes during the dyeing.
Example

From left: Fine scale, kitchen scale, infra red thermometer (can only be recommended), water strainer

3

1.3.2 Containers and stirrers
Especially when you start with this kind of dyeing procedure it can be challenging to find the right container once
are in the middle of doing it. Therefore, chapter 1.10.7 Container labels provides labels which can be printed out and
stuck to some of them.
The letters behind the names are an aid to find specific entries quicker.
• Dyeing pot (A) (once the chemicals are dissolved in the dyeing pot, we also refer to it as “dye-bath”).
In order to keep the fabric well submerged it would be good if the pot is not too flat in relation to the amount of
water used.
• Temporary container (B) to hold the cloth when taking it out of the dye-bath between the dyeing steps.
• Scooping jug (C) to scoop water out of the dye-bath.
• Water measuring container (D). You can use a cleaning bucket with litre scale for larger quantities. If you only
have an ordinary kitchen measuring jug that is also OK, but it can take some time to measure e.g. 20l of water.
• 3 x Dye weighing containers (E) which fit on the fine scale to weigh the dye powder + a tea spoon to scoop the
dye powder out of the storage container.
It is useful to have different weighing containers for each colour to prevent contamination between them.
• 2 containers to pre-dissolve the dye + a spoon to mash the dye-powder + a whisk to dissolve the dye.
1st Dye container (F). Should not be too large in relation to the amount of dye powder.
2nd Dye container (G). Should be bigger than the 1st one to allow stirring of the dissolved dye with a whisk.
• [Cellulose Fibres] 2 containers to measure and pre-dissolve the soda ash (sodium carbonate) + a spoon to stir it.
1st Soda ash container (H). Should fit on the fine or kitchen scale and holds the measured powder.
2nd Soda ash container (I). Used to dissolve it in water.
- or • [Silk] Vinegar container (J). Needs to have a ml scale in order to measure the required volume of vinegar.
• Salt container (K). Should fit on the fine or kitchen scale.
• 2 containers to hold the water softener (sodium hexametaphosphate) which fit on the fine or kitchen scale.
1st Water softener container (L). Used for the dye-bath.
2nd Water softener container (M). Used for rinsing step.
Example

4

1.4 Chemicals
These are some general information about the used chemicals.
 Always close the lids of the chemicals tightly as they can build lumps when they get humid or go off.
• Procion MX dye
The dye powder goes off over time, especially if it comes in contact with air, or is stored in a warm or humid
place. Over time it looses its strength, whereby different colours loose their strength differently quick – this may
result in a shift of the overall colour. So it's best, if you a) get only as much as you plan to use over a certain
period, and b) store it in a dry and cool place (e.g. in a fridge).
After one year of storage a noticeable weakening of the colour depth has been seen. If that happens, you can
either dye the cloth a second time, maybe with Medium or Light Shade, or use more dye powder straight away e.g.
by combining the amounts given for Full and Light Shade in one dye run.
In that regard, it would probably be false economy if you have some dye powder left and after a year or so use it
together with some newly ordered dye. Better to get rid of the old material and only use one set of yellow, orange
and blue together which have been delivered at the same date.
The above statement doesn’t apply for silk, as in that case the dyeing is based on a different chemical reaction
than for cellulose fibres and you can use the dye powder for as long as you want.
• [Cellulose Fibres] Soda ash (sodium carbonate)
Is the fixative for cellulose fibres.
• [Silk] 5% white, distilled vinegar
Is the fixative for silk.
• Salt
The salt should be non-iodized, but if it is, this shouldn't be a problem.
"aids in the dyeing process by helping to drive the dye onto the fibre, out of solution, so that it is in the right place
for any bonding to the fibre to occur."
• Water softener (sodium hexametaphosphate)
 If you have soft water, you can ignore all the sections in this document
which refer to “Water softener (sodium hexametaphosphate)”.
For dyeing, we use the chemical sodium hexametaphosphate.
Use only a pure chemical and not something like water softener tabs for the
washing machine, as they can interfere with the dyeing.
Without water softener you'll probably get dull colours and a visible, fine layer of
scum on the cloth after dyeing.

The hardness of
water is classified in
the UK as “Soft”,
“Moderately Hard”,
“Hard” and “Very
Hard”.
Currently, no advise
can be given for
moderately Hard
water, maybe you
could use half the
amount of water
softener.

• Washing-up liquid
Helps the dye to penetrate the fabric better and prevents dye particles of swimming on top of the water surface
when dissolving it. Is also recommended to pre-wash cellulose fibre cloth.

1.4.1 Sourcing the dye
This manual describes the use of Procion MX dyes of two different dye suppliers, Dharma Trading and Jacquard.
Initially, all test and adjustments have been made with Jacquard dye but later a move to Dharma Trading dye has
been made, because it is more efficient (e.g. amount of dye powder for 500 gr cloth with Dharma Trading: 46 gr, with
Jacquard: 82.8 gr) and cheaper.
5

The dye mixtures used in the spreadsheet are different for both dye suppliers and also lead to different colours. This
means, that if you move from one supplier to the other, you will get different results. It should also be pointed out,
that the Dharma Trading mixtures have been better tested.
Please note, that a different kind of blue dye is required for cellulose fibres and silk.
1.4.1.1 Dharma Trading dye
The dye has to ordered in the US: https://www.dharmatrading.com/
For the UK: Ordering in the US is actually not complicated as the customs clearance is being made by the parcel
service and they either send you a card with the price to be paid before delivering it or an invoice after delivery (at
least, this has been our experience).
If, for example, you would order these quantities:
PR1 Lemon Yellow:
1x 1lb (453 gr)
PR6 Deep Orange :
1x 1lb (453 gr)
PR22 Cobalt Blue:
2x 2oz (56.5 gr) – Total 113 gr
you can dye ca. 10.3 Kg of cloth to a full shade based on a mixture of 47.5% yellow, 45% orange and 7.5% blue.
You will also need PR26: Sky Blue if you want to dye silk.
Dye codes for your order
These are the product names of the dyes taken from their website. If you find similar names make sure, that the
Procion MX codes like “MX-8G” are the same ones as given below in bold. For example, they had some special
editions like “PRST18 : Lemon Yellow (PR1)” compared to “PR1 : Lemon Yellow - Yellow 86, MX-8G (Primary)” - in
which case we would need the latter one.
PR1 : Lemon Yellow - Yellow 86, MX-8G
PR6 : Deep Orange - Orange 4, MX-2R
[Cellulose Fibres] PR22 : Cobalt Blue - Blue 109, MX-2G
[Silk]
PR26 : Sky Blue - Blue 4, MX-R
1.4.1.2 Jacquard dye
The advantage of Jacquard dye is the better availability outside the US. Therefore, if you want to make a few tests
before ordering Dharma Trading dye it might be easier to get a few cans of Jacquard dye in a local shop.
Dye codes for your order
These are the product names of the dyes taken from their website. If you find similar names make sure, that the
Procion MX codes like “MX-8G” are the same ones as given below in bold. Jacquard doesn’t show the codes directly
on the product page, but rather in a linked document.
Anyway, there should be no need to look for the Procion MX codes, as the product names are precise enough.
004 Lemon Yellow
020 Brilliant Orange
[Cellulose Fibres] 076 Cobalt Blue
[Silk]
072 Medium Blue

(MX-8G)
(MX-2R)
(MX-2G)
(MX-R)

6

1.5 Usage of the spreadsheet
Part of this manual is the Libre Office spreadsheet Dyeing Manual.ods (Dyeing Manual – Excel.xlsx for MS Excel) which
calculates the required ingredients based on the dry weight of the cloth you want to dye. Make sure, that Dyeing
Manual.ods / Dyeing Manual – Excel.xlsx is of the same version as Dyeing Manual.pdf by comparing the version number
given in the spreadsheet named “Cover” with the number given on the last page of this document here.
The following paragraphs describe the sections of each spreadsheet.
If there are differences for certain fabric / dye combinations, they are described under a individual sub-heading.

1 – Set colour
The colours are set in percentage of yellow, orange and blue dye (green instead of yellow and blue for polyester)
which have to be mixed together.
In this section you could adjust the colour if wanted, see chapter 1.10.4 Adjusting the colour on how to do that.
When the colours were designed, the goal was to get a deep and saturated colour tone, comparable to
commercially dyed materials (silk doesn’t take the dye that well and yields a lighter shade).
If the colour you get looks rather weak or faded and the dyeing procedure was done correctly, the most probable
cause lies in a type of cloth which doesn’t take the dye well or that your dye is old. After one year of storage a
noticeable weakening of the colour depth could be seen – the best is not to order too much dye and to store it in a
fridge.
You can find more information regarding the dyeing result
• for cotton in chapter 1.10.2 Notes on cotton,
• for silk in section 3 below,
• for polyester in chapter 1.9 METHOD FOR POLYESTER.
If you are not satisfied with the depth of the colour you’ve got, you can dye the cloth a second time.
It is good to know that if you would dry the cloth directly after dyeing it you wouldn’t see the final colour as Procion
MX dye needs very hot water to be rinsed out completely, for more on that see the introduction to Section 3 - Rinsing
in chapter 1.6 Manual-dyeing steps.
Changing the colour of an already dyed cloth
By omitting dye colours from the dye mixture, you can change the existing colour of a cloth.
If you want the cloth to look more red, use only the given orange and yellow dye parts (only orange for polyester).
If you want less red, use only the blue dye (green for polyester).
Which of the shades - Full, Medium or Light – fits best has to be guessed.
Again, please be aware that you need a different kind of blue dye for cellulose fibres and silk.

Sheet “Cellulose fibres - Dharma Trading”
The default setting is 47.5% yellow, 45% orange and 7.5% blue.
If you want a lighter colour with a similar colour tone, you could try 53% yellow, 40% orange and 7% blue.
As it is impossible to know in advance how your dyed cloth will look it is recommended to use at first the default
settings and then decide if you want to change it.

2 – Set fabric weight
You need to weigh the fabric while it is dry.

7

3 – Required ingredients
See chapter 1.4 Chemicals for the discussion of the used chemicals.
Generally, the columns Full, Medium and Light Shade give different amounts of the required ingredients to dye the
cloth with a different depth by using the same colour.
Sheets “Cellulose fibres - Dharma Trading” and “Cellulose fibres - Jacquard”
• Full Shade: Use for white cloth.
• Medium Shade: Use to re-dye an already dyed cloth.
Should be sufficient for things like T-Shirts or thermal underwear while saving the chemicals.
• Light Shade: Re-dye an already dyed cloth.
Sheets “Silk – Dharma Trading” and “Silk – Jacquard”
• Full Shade: Use for white cloth and to re-dye an already dyed cloth.
• Medium Shade: Re-dye an already dyed cloth.
Generally, silk doesn’t take the dye as good as cotton, therefore, it is highly recommended to dye white silk 2 times
with Full Shade.
See also chapter 1.10.3 Notes on silk.
Sheet “Polyester”
• Full Shade +: Use for white material.
The Full Shade + setting uses a lot of dye and has been provided with the idea, that even material which doesn't
take the dye well gets a good colour depth. For things like white fleece the Full Shade (without “+”) should also
give a good result and saves 50% dye.
• Full Shade: Use for white material, see remark above.
• Medium Shade: A possible use is if you dyed something with Medium Shade but want to dye it a second time to
get a deeper colour.
See also chapter 1.9 METHOD FOR POLYESTER.

Printing suggestion
The following chapter has been placed on it’s own pages, so that you can print them out separately,
laminate them, and use them as a reference while e.g. working at the sink.
If you print double-sided, they fit on 4 cards.

8

1.6 Manual-dyeing steps
Keep to the given sequence, as there are usually reasons for it.

Section 1 - Preparation
These steps can be done some time before the actual dyeing
Step 1 - Pre wash cloth in the washing machine
"Perfume, whiteners and brighteners in household detergents and soaps can totally change the dye color."
As special laundry detergents without these additives can be quite expensive, you can use ordinary washing up
liquid for cellulose fibres and hair shampoo for silk. If you are using the latter, make sure that it doesn’t contain
additives like conditioner, baby-shampoo would be a good choice.
Washing up liquid creates a lot of foam, so don't take too much.
If you wash the cloth some time before the actual dyeing, make sure to soak the cloth again for at least for 15 min in
warm water before putting it into the dye-bath, this helps getting a more even colour.
Make sure you don't wash your cloth with ordinary laundry detergent before dyeing it !

Step 2 - Measure auxiliary chemicals
Measure the required weight (given in gr) or volume (given in ml) of each chemical as given in the spreadsheet and
place them into the provided containers listed in chapter 1.3.2 Containers and stirrers.
•
•
•
•

Salt into the Salt container (K).
Water softener (sodium hexametaphosphate) for the dye-bath into the 1st Water softener container (L).
Again, the same amount of Water softener for rinsing into the 2nd Water softener container (M).
[Cellulose Fibres] Soda ash (sodium carbonate) into 1st Soda ash container (H).
- or • [Silk] Vinegar into the Vinegar container (J).

Step 3 - Weigh the dye

1. Weigh the required amounts of yellow, orange and blue dye, as
given in the spreadsheet, by using the 3 Dye weighing containers
(E) and ...

9

2. … place them together into the 1st Dye container (F).
Especially with the blue dye, take care to weigh the powder as exact
as possible.

3. Stir the dye powder well, so that it gives an even mixture.

Section 2 - Dyeing
Now, the actual dyeing begins and the following steps should be
done without interruption
Step 1 – Prepare water with the right temperature
Keep the dye-bath always at a temperature between 35°C – 45°C.
Start with a temperature of 45°C and increase the temperature once it falls below 40°C.
1. Pre-warm the Dyeing pot (A) with some hot water and pour it out again.
2. Measure the required volume of water using the Water measuring container (D),
usually a water bucket with litre scale, and pour it into Dyeing pot (A).
As a suggestion, here are two easy methods to increase the temperature:
Method 1: Place the dyeing pot in a sink, put the plug into the drain, and fill the sink
with hot water once the temperature falls. You might need to repeat this from time to
time, especially if you are dyeing small quantities.
Method 2: Put the dyeing pot safely on two pieces of wood and place a blow heater in
front of it. The hot air should be able to flow under the pot, between the wood pieces.
(This has been tested only with small amounts of liquid).

Why ?
If the temperature is
too low, the dyeing
takes longer and
you have to
increase the
dyeing-time in order
to account for that,
if it is too high, you
loose dye which
binds with the water
itself instead of to
the cloth.

Note on the total dyeing time
If the temperature can't be kept high enough, it might be useful to extend the total dyeing time by 10 to 15 minutes
in order to get the most out of your dye.

10

Step 2 - Add the first auxiliary chemicals to the water
1. Add the water softener (sodium hexametaphosphate) from the 1st Water softener container (L) to the
Dyeing pot (A). Pour it in slowly while continually stirring.
2. Add a tiny drop of washing up liquid.
 Do not add the salt yet!

[Cellulose Fibres]
Step 3 - Dissolve soda ash (sodium carbonate) It doesn't go into the dyeing pot yet !
Keep the Soda ash away from the dye-bath and your cloth.
It only has to be added once your are 15 minutes into the dyeing process.
If you get drops of it earlier on your cloth, you might get permanent spots there.
1. At first, we only add the water.
Scoop water out of the Dyeing pot (A) into the 2nd Soda ash container (I), the amount should be just enough to
dissolve the powder conveniently.

2. Then, we add the soda ash (sodium carbonate).
Pour the soda ash powder from the 1st Soda ash container (H)
slowly into the 2nd Soda ash container (I) while continually
stirring it.

Step 4 - Dissolve the dye
The procedure to dissolve the dye powder might look a bit too much, but if you don't dissolve all the little dye lumps
carefully, especially the blue, you easily get spots on your cloth (which did happen in the past).
Take the water you need for the following steps out of the Dyeing pot (A).
1. Add a few drops of water using the Scooping jug (C) to the dye
powder in the 1st Dye container (F) while squashing and stirring it
with a spoon until the dye becomes a creamy paste, the consistency
we aim at could be compared to soft tooth paste.
 It is very difficult to describe how much water you have to add in
the beginning because the point when the mixture becomes too
liquid happens rather suddenly. So add a bit, stir it, and after a
few seconds add more. If the solution becomes too liquid, it makes
it more difficult to "catch" the remaining lumps with the spoon.
2. Try to mash up as many of the dye lumps as possible.

11

3. Once the mixture has the consistency of a creamy paste,
add step by step more water while mashing up remaining dye
lumps.

4. Continue adding water and mashing up the dye, until you have a
water-like liquid with only a few lumps left.
5. Stir well for a while, like you would do to dissolve sugar in a cup of
coffee.

6. Pour the dissolved dye through the strainer into the 2nd Dye
container(G).

7. Use a spoon to squeeze remaining dye lumps through the strainer.

8. Pour some more water from the Dyeing pot (A) into the 1st Dye container (F) to rinse out the remaining dye
and pour again through the strainer into the 2nd Dye container (G) - repeat, until most of the dye has been
washed out from the 1st Dye container (F) and the strainer.
 When taking water out of the dye-bath use only the Scooping jug (C) - which should be free of any dye – to
avoid getting dye lumps into the dye bath.

12

9. Now,
- stir the dye solution in the 2nd Dye container(G) for a minute or
so with the whisk,
- wait a minute and
- stir again.

10. Clean the strainer carefully under the tap, as we’ll need it again.

Step 5 - Add salt to the water
1. Pour the salt from the Salt container (K) into the Dyeing pot (A).
• Stir while adding the salt, but it is not important to dissolve it all right now.

Step 6 – Add dye to the water
1. Pour the dissolved dye from the 2nd Dye container (G) into the
Dyeing pot (A) through the strainer (which is not shown in the
picture). This time, don’t try to squeeze remaining dye lumps
through the mesh with a spoon, just set it aside after use.
• Again, it can happen very easily to get dark spots on the cloth from
undissolved blue dye, which is why we use the strainer once more.
• Stir while adding the dye and continue doing so until all the salt
from the previous step has been completely dissolved.

13

Step 7 – Soak cloth in dye-bath
The actual dyeing can be divided into 3 phases:

Phase 1

15 min.

Phase 2
Phase 3

Stir continually
Add fixative

30 min.

Total dyeing
time: 45 min.

Stir continually,
less towards the end

From the previous steps, we now have the ready to use dye-bath available in Dyeing pot (A).

Phase 1

Why ?

Start timer
1. Take cloth out of the Temporary Container (B) and submerge completely in Dyeing pot (A)
using the gloves.
2. For 15 minutes, move the cloth continually around with the gloves.
• From time to time re-arrange the cloth, move what sits at the bottom to the top.

If you have
creases
sitting on the
same place
for a long
time, you will
get an
uneven
shade there.

Phase 2
After 15 minutes
3. Move the fabric temporarily from Dyeing pot (A)
into the Temporary container (B)
before adding the fixative soda ash for [Cellulose Fibres],
or vinegar for [Silk].
4. Pour the fixative from
the 2nd Soda ash container (I) [Cellulose Fibres]
- or the Vinegar container (J) [Silk]
into the Dyeing pot (A) and stir well.
5. Put cloth back into the Dyeing pot (A).

Phase 3
This phase lasts 30 minutes
6. Move the cloth continually around with the gloves.
• If you want, you can move the cloth less during the last 15 minutes, maybe every 2 minutes.
(This is, because after a total dyeing time of around 30 min. most of the dye has been used up.)
• From time to time re-arrange the cloth, move what sits at the bottom to the top.

After 45 minutes
7. Take cloth out of the dye-bath into the Temporary container (B).
8. Pour used up dye-bath from the Dyeing pot (A) into the sink.
(There is not much dye left in the bath so it doesn’t make sense to “re-use” the rest.)
9. Proceed to the section 3 for rinsing.
14

Section 3 - Rinsing
The actual dyeing is done, now the cloth has to be rinsed
General note
The dye which remains after the dyeing in the cloth needs very hot water in order to be washed out completely.
Tests have shown, that if you wash the cloth with only 60C after dyeing it, it takes several washes for the remaining
dye to be removed. That is generally no problem, but you should know that the cloth gets noticeable lighter over the
next few washes and probably more red.
The best way is, if you are able to wash the fabric with 90C. After that, the colour should remain more or less the
same. So you have to decide, if your dyed material can take 90C or if 60C or less is safer.
This also means that the colour you see directly after the dyeing is not the final colour, you will see the end product
only after most of the remaining dye has been rinsed out.
This note is mostly relevant for Step 4 below.

Step 1 – Cold / hot rinse
1. Fill the Dyeing pot (A) with cold water, put the cloth back in, and wash the excess dye out for a while.
2. Repeat this 2 times with very hot water, as hot as the fabric can take.
Don't make your self the trouble to boil water on the stove, just take it from the hot water tap.

Step 2 – Soap soak
1. Take cloth out and put it into the Temporary container (B).
2. Fill the Dyeing pot (A) with hot water, roughly the same the amount of water you used for dyeing.
3. Add the water softener from the 2nd Water softener container (L) to the Dyeing pot (A).
Pour it in slowly while continually stirring.
4. Add some washing-up liquid, but not too much as it creates a lot of foam.
5. Put cloth back into the pot, move it a bit around and then let it soak for 5 – 10 minutes while keeping it
completely submerged.

Step 3 - Rinse again
1. Rinse again in very hot water, as hot as the fabric can take.
2. Repeat this step until the water becomes nearly clear.

Step 4 – Final wash
Wash the cloth directly after Step 3 in the machine with the maximal temperature suitable for that cloth type, 90C
if possible.
Use washing up liquid for cellulose fibres and hair shampoo for silk. The idea behind not using ordinary laundry
detergent in this step is, that if you are not happy with the depth of the colour and you want to dye your things a
second time, you don't have to worry about chemicals in the detergent which could interfere with a 2 nd dye run.
If available, add washing soda and water softener (sodium hexametaphosphate or any water softener tabs for
washing machines, sometimes called “lime scale prevention tabs”).
For more on that, see chapter 1.10.5 Water hardness and laundry.

15

1.7 Kathina-speed-dyeing steps
This description presumes that you have done the manual dyeing procedure in chapter 1.6 at least once and have an
understanding of how it works, as here is only a description of the changes which need to be made to the
procedure.
The central idea is, that a) we use very hot water in order to get the dye to bind quicker to the cloth and b) to put the
fixative into the dye-bath straight away at the beginning.
1. As you probably don't know the weight of the robe in advance, you can weigh an existing one, generously round
up and put that value into the spreadsheet (we've once used 500gr and got a very nice result).
2. DO THE FOLLOWING BEFORE THE ROBE IS FINISHED (in order to save time)
Prepare steps from Section 1 / Step 2 (in chapter 1.6) up to and including Section 2 / Step 2,
but with these changes:
> Use 60C hot water for the dye-bath in Section 2 / Step 1.
3. DO THE FOLLOWING AFTER THE ROBE HAS BEEN FINISHED
Continue with the steps from Section 2 / Step 3 up to and including Section 2 / Step 6, but with these changes:
> Don’t worry about soaking the cloth 15min as noted in Section 1 / Step 1, just move it around a few times in
warm water so that all areas get wet.
> Under the Steps 3 and 4 it is said to scoop some water out of the dyeing pot to dissolve the soda ash and the dye
powder, but we don’t do that here, as it is now 60C hot and would bring certain disadvantages. Instead use handwarm water from the tap.
- Once we have finished Section 2 / Step 6 we leave chapter 1.6 and continue with the description here 4. Pour the soda ash (sodium carbonate) into the dye-bath straight away after adding the dissolved dye, put the
cloth in and move cloth around intensely for 15 minutes.
5. Take cloth out, rinse under the running tap for a few minutes in cold and then in hot water until the water
looks clear enough. It doesn’t have to be perfectly rinsed, but if you leave too much dye in the cloth, you might
mess up your ironing board.
6. Spin dry.
7. Wrap the robe into a big bathing towel (like you would roll a bathing cloth together with a sabong) and twist the
whole thing as hard as you can.
8. Dry with an iron, cover iron board with a cloth to prevent stains.
9. Finished !
And just to mention, this procedure can’t be recommended for regular dyeing jobs as the cloth doesn’t get dyed
evenly enough and you waste dye which binds with the hot water.

1.8 Machine-dyeing steps
If you are new to using Procion MX dye, it might be necessary to read the chapters about hand-dyeing.
The described method has been taken from the Jacquard documentation for Procion MX dye, the measurements
given below have been converted from the US units to metric units and rounded.
The method is recommended for amounts of 1400gr – 2300gr cloth.
One test has been made with this method which led to a slightly uneven colouration of the cloth (some subtle, dark
shadows and fine crease-lines). The reason is probably, that you have to pour the soda ash (sodium carbonate) and
the dye together into the machine at the same time, so that the dye will start to bind with the cloth strait away and
doesn’t have time to soak properly into the material.
Further, due to the spinning drum the cloth can get twisted and be prevented from moving freely. In these twisted
areas the dye can’t reach the fabric properly which leaves them lighter as other parts.
For underwear and similar, the method seems to be good enough, but can’t be recommended for robes.
There are more sophisticated methods described in the internet which probably lead to better results, but machine
16

dyeing wasn’t the focus of this manual and therefore hasn’t been followed up (some of these procedures are actually
so complicated, that one wonders, where the advantage over hand dyeing should be).
If you have some knowledge about how your washing machine works, you could tweak the given procedure by
pouring the dissolved soda ash after 15 minutes via the detergent compartment into the drum, analogous to manual
dyeing. But in that case, you should be sure, that the machine doesn’t start draining shortly after adding it.
If you still want to go ahead, here is how.

1.8.1 Required chemicals
Dye powder

You need 2 x times the amount of dye as for the manual method.
To get the correct calculation, you can multiply the dry weight by 2 and fill it into the
spreadsheet as described in chapter 1.5 Usage of the spreadsheet.

Soda ash
(sodium carbonate)

600gr – 800gr (for darker shades)

Salt

1700gr – 2200gr

Water softener (sodium You need 5 gr water softener per litre water.
hexametaphosphate)
If you are lucky, the manual for your washing machine shows the number of litres it uses
per program, if not, you could make an assumption, e.g. 50l.

1.8.2 Steps
1. Pre wash the cloth as described in chapter 1.6 Manual-dyeing steps, Section 1 / Step 1.
2. Measure the chemicals which are listed in the table above.
3. Fill one bucket with ca. 4l hand-warm water and dissolve salt, soda ash and water softener. You can also use 2
buckets with 2l each, one for the salt and one for soda ash and water softener, but this doesn’t really matter.
Only a small amount of the chemicals will dissolve, most of it sits at the bottom.
4. Dissolve the dye in a separate container as described in 1.6 Manual-dyeing steps, Section 2 / Step 4, except that
you use hand-warm water from the tap.
5. Set the washing machine to a program which runs at 40C and lasts no less than 45min. Longer shouldn’t be a
problem but doesn’t give any advantage as most of the dye will be used up after 30min.
6. Put the dissolved chemicals from the bucket and the dye at the same time together in the machine.
7. Add the cloth and start the machine.
8. When the program is finished, wash your dyed cloth as hot as the cloth can take. It is good to add washing soda
and water softener tabs (sodium hexametaphosphate or any water softener tabs for washing machines, sometimes
called “lime scale prevention tabs”) to clean the remaining dye out of the fabric as thorough as possible.
9. Remove the dyed pieces and start a short program without laundry to rinse out the machine.
You probably need to clean some remaining dye from the glass and rubber seal.

There are machines which start by draining any liquid which is in the drum.
Test out what your machine does, else you can loose all your dye straight away at the beginning.

17

1.9 METHOD FOR POLYESTER
This procedure is much more straight forward than the one for Procion MX dye, you only need to read this chapter
and chapter 1.5 Usage of the spreadsheet.
The dye you need is called iDyePoly from the manufacturer Jacquard and is available in 14gr packs which contain the
dye and the required, liquid colour intensifier or in 1lb (453gr) cans.
The colours you need are Orange JID 1448, and Kelly Green JID 1460.
If you want to dye any larger amounts the small packs become very expensive and impractical as you need a lot of
dye powder so it is better to get the Orange in 1lb cans, for Kelly Green the 14gr packs should be enough as you need
only 4.5% of it.
Regarding the smaller packs, don't trust the amounts printed on them, always weigh the dye powder. On one
occasion, 17gr has been measured for the dye powder though it said 14gr on the packet and 13ml for the colour
intensifier though it was said to contain 14ml.
There are generally 3 steps:
1. Enter the dry weight of your cloth into the spreadsheet named “Polyester”.
2. Measure the required chemicals as shown in the spreadsheet.
Please note, that a small inaccuracy when measuring the green dye can have a big effect on the colour.
3. Follow the dyeing instructions of the manufacturer, but use the measured amounts instead of the whole packs.
The dyeing instructions is printed on the inside of the 14gr packs.
You need the following equipment to measure the chemicals:
• Fine scale for the dye.
See description for the fine scale in chapter 1.3.1 Various equipment.
• 2 weighing containers which fit on the fine scale to weigh the dye powder + a tea spoon for the dye.
It is good, to use a different container for each colours.
• Kitchen scale for the cloth.
• Small measuring spoons or a small jug which enables you to roughly measure in ml units.
Be aware, that the colour intensifier is an oily substance, so if you use a large measuring jug you would loose a
certain amount of liquid sticking to the walls.
• Appropriate containers to store the partially used dye powder and liquid colour intensifier.
Notes on the procedure
• Add a tiny drop of washing up liquid to the water after filling the pot, then the dye doesn’t swim on the surface.
• A dyeing time of 45 minutes has been enough with white fleece cloth. However, if you dye material which doesn't
take the dye well or you have to use more water, e.g. because of the size of your pot, extend it to maybe 60 min.
• The dye leaves a chemical smell on the fabric, so it might be useful to put the material straight after dyeing in a
pot with clear, boiling water and boil it for a while (hasn’t been tested yet).
Notes on polyester material
• Be aware, that polyester textiles can shrink in the same way as cotton does.
• It is quite unpredictable how good a specific material takes on the dye.
• If your material dyes too orange, you can give it another go with a little bit of green dye only.
Dyeing an orange fleece jacket
If you have an orange fleece jacket and want to give it a more “appropriate” colour, you could enter it’s weight into
the spreadsheet and dye it by following the procedure described here with the exception, that you only add the
amount of green dye which is given there. This hasn’t been tested yet but is a good guess.
18

1.10 Appendix
Contains additional information for the cellulose fibres and silk method.

1.10.1 Thanks and References
Thanks
I would like to express my gratitude to the Sangha members who helped me with reviewing this manual and by that
way making it better understandable and useful for others.
Especially, I would like to thank Aj. Kongrit, Ven. Narindo, Ven. Anejo, Ven. Jinavaro, Sm. Dighadassi and Sm. Jalito.
References
The basic dyeing procedure has been taken from the instructions for Procion MX provided by the dye supplier
Jacquard and been adapted for the use here.
Quite a lot of information has been incorporated from Dr. Paula E. Burch from her website http://pburch.net. If you
should ever have any exotic questions about dyeing, chances are high that you'll find an answer there. Without her
generously provided descriptions, FAQ's, tables, etc., there would be a few things missing here.
A few other helpful points have been cited from Dharma Trading Co. (https://www.dharmatrading.com/).

1.10.2 Notes on cotton
Your best starting point for dyeing cotton would be, if you are dyeing
• 100% cotton cloth,
• which is bleached (during the manufacturing process) and mercerised,
• before sewing it.
The more non-cellulose fibres the cloth contains (like polyester), the lighter the resulting colour will be. If you are
dyeing underwear like long johns, you still get good results with only 60% cotton.
If you use cloth which is not bleached and mercerised, like some forms of natural cotton, the resulting colours
won't be so bright and deep.
Even if you pre-wash the cloth with 90C before dyeing it, it can shrink further during the dyeing process.
See also chapter 1.10.6 Sewing and dyeing robes.
1.10.2.1 Starch
“Starch is a huge problem because it is so difficult to remove. Not even boiling will remove starch. Since starch
contains the same glucose building blocks as the cellulose in cotton, it will be dyed just like the fiber; however, the
dyed starch will then gradually bleed out with every washing, making it look as though your dye was not properly
bound to the fiber in your fabric. The only answer to this problem is not to dye fabrics that have been sized with
starch.” (http://www.pburch.net, Dr. Paula E. Burch)

1.10.3 Notes on silk
In order to avoid shrinkage in existing garments (which has happened), follow these points:
• Use a temperature of maximal 30C, which includes the rinsing at the end of the dyeing process.
• To make up for the lower temperature, dye for 60 minutes.
• Be very gentle when moving the garment in the dye-bath, avoid excessive squeezing.
Only stir more intensely (for a minute ?) directly after putting it into the dye-bath and again after adding the
vinegar.

19

1.10.4 Adjusting the colour
There are many factors which can have an effect on how the dyed cloth will actually look, a detailed description of
these factors can be found on www.dharmatrading.com.
Some factors are: type of fabric, age of the dye, chemistry of your water, temperature, pre-washing.
For the case that you are unhappy with the colour you get after dyeing cellulose fibres or silk, here are some tips on
how to tweak the dye mixture. Polyester is not included here, as this mixture uses only orange and green.
Generally can be said, that a change of 0.5% blue for cellulose fibres or silk or 0.5% green for polyester has a
considerable effect – so be careful when changing these.
• Focus only on the amount of orange and blue dye in your considerations. Adjust the amount of yellow after
changing orange or blue to get again a total of 100%.
• Orange dye: You get a noticeable difference when changing the amount by 5%.
• Blue dye: You get a noticeable difference already when changing the amount by 0.5%.
• If you want a less red colour, you can either
a) decrease the amount of orange
- or b) increase the amount of blue (which leads to a darker colour than a).
• If you want a more red colour, you can either
a) increase the amount of orange (which leads to a darker colour than b),
- or b) decrease the amount of blue.
• For a bigger change, you can apply the changes suggested under a) and b) both at the same time.
And to say it straight away: There is no fast-track way to see how the outcome of your change will be, you have to go
through the whole dyeing procedure only then will you see the final result.
Further, if you want to dry the cloth with an iron to see the final colour, do so only after it has been thoroughly
rinsed as you could get permanent changes in the colour if it still contains too much dye.

1.10.5 Water hardness and laundry
Here is a very detailed answer from Dr. Paula E. Burch to an email in 2017 why you should use water softener when
there is hard water in your area:
"Do try to acquire some water softener. The calcium and magnesium ions in hard water otherwise can combine with
soda ash to form an insoluble precipitate. In addition, some Procion dye molecules can form a dimer with calcium in
between, creating a more difficult-to-wash-out compound. It is possible to think that you have washed out all of the
unbound dye, using hard water, only to find that when a customer washes the item with softer water, more dye
washes out, possibly transferring onto other garments. Such misplaced dye can be removed with hot water, since it
has not reacted with the new locations, but it’s better to avoid this occurrence."
These measurements could be taken to improve the washing result when you have hard water:
• Add water softener.
• Add washing soda.
• Increase the amount of laundry detergent, if you have no water softener.
For the dyeing procedure this is especially important for pre-washing the cloth before dyeing it, as residues of
chemicals or fat can affect the colour or leave spotty areas.

1.10.6 Sewing and dyeing robes
One method when you want to sew your robes from white cloth and later dye it, is to a) pre-wash the cloth with 90C
in order to shrink it, b) sew the robe and c) dye it.
The problem with that is that the dyeing + rinsing procedure at the end can lead to further shrinking. For a Jiworn,
this can be several cm, usually in the width.
20

You can ovoid these problems by following this procedure:
1. Measure and cut the robe material and include a buffer for the expected shrinkage.
Don’t cut the strips for the border, rather prepare one big piece which will be cut later.
2. Wash cloth with 90C.
3. Sew the robe without trimming it and without putting the border on.
(Take care, to close the seams at the fringes of the cloth properly.)
4. Dye the robe and the extra piece for the border.
5. Wash again with 90C.
6. Trim the main piece, cut the border strip and sew the border on.

1.10.7 Container labels
Labels for some of the containers which can be printed out and stuck on.

Scooping jug (C)

Water measuring container (D)

1st Dye container (F)

2nd Dye container (G)

1st Soda ash container (H)

2nd Soda ash container (I)

Salt container (K)

1st Water softener container (L)

2nd Water softener container (M)

(v 1.3, 1 Dec. 2018, Dhammavicayo Bhikkhu)

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