Kool-aid Dyeing!

I spent an afternoon last week dyeing fleece. I had never used Kool-aid to dye anthing other than hair before, but knew it'd work well. At school, I used acid dyes on protein fibres, Koolaid works very much in the same way, the difference is that it's NON-TOXIC and so I felt safe using it at home. Acid dyes are toxic in their powder form, and the liquid is not good to ingest, so while I am bound to dyeing in my kitchen I am opting for a safer alternative.

Dave bought me a big ugly enamel stock pot at Value Village, just for dyeing in. It's a great size (8-10L).

Without any further ado, here is my fleece experiment!


wetting down (water with a hint of soap)


look at all the fun packs I had to mix colours with!


draining the fleece, and measuring my vinegar (acid!!)


The pot as it simmered


checking for exhaustion of dyebath


yep, it's pretty exhausted, no more dye left in the water


Beginning colour #2


one packet of orange suspended in this much water, just so I could mix part with the green


Happy results drying!!

It's very easy to over process the wool and accidentally felt it. (You are using all the things that you'd normally do to felt it, heat, water, changing the pH and agitation) so I don't recommend it for people who don't understand the felting process.

AND. If you are on my christmas list, don't even think about any modifications you can do to this process for your own benefit. I am staking my claims here.