The Rayon Rip

Did you know that cotton isn't the only fabric you can dye with fiber-reactive dyes? Any natural fabric will work! Rayon is one such fabric that dyes absolutely beautifully, but there is one very important thing to remember when dyeing rayon: it is EXTREMELY fragile when wet! I'm talking paper towel fragile! Okay, okay, maybe a *slight* exaggeration, but care must be taken when rayon is wet- especially when using artificial sinew to tie your designs. I'm thankful that the "Rayon Rip" has only happened to me maybe a total of 4 times ever, but it can and WILL happen if you are not paying attention. What is the Rayon Rip? The Rayon Rip happens when too much force is applied to the tie and the tie "cuts" through the fabric- often slicing chunks of the fabric right off the garment! It is heartbreaking to a tie-dyer when this happens during the tying process! The garment is most often ruined by a Rayon Rip. The dress in the photo above is 100% rayon and was tied into a design that requires very tight ties. So... how did I prevent the Rayon Rip from happening here? Very carefully, and (most importantly) I tied the design on a DRY garment. The dress was ice dyed with soda ash added to the ice to avoid having to soak the garment in soda ash. Now, when it comes to the rinse/wash process, patience is key. You're going to want to very slowly unwrap your sinew from each of your lines, making sure to not catch the fabric while unwinding. I believe this particular dress took me probably 35 minutes to untie for a tie that would normally take me about 5 minutes to untie on a regular cotton garment. So, what is the takeaway lesson for today? Baby your rayon!! The end result is ALWAYS worth the extra time and care used to avoid that dreaded Rayon Rip. The colors are most vibrant and the garment so soft!

A little bit of love goes a really long way!