Marble LWI

For anyone who cant find a suitable container for dyeing in, a plastic playmat, or large piece of vinyl tablecloth (perhaps even an old piece of vinyl flooring etc) will do, especially if you are dyeing large pieces. As long as the shaving foam isnt so runny that it goes everywhere, and you leave a few inches around the edge of the fabric, it works just fine. I noticed B&Q have a large "mixing tray" in their building supplies yard, but I couldnt justify the £16 for it, although if you were to do alot of this sort of dyeing then you might find it useful.

Ooooh great tip!

I have a dying pan for marbling, if your after one google " dying /marbling pan"

whats soda ash

Soda ash, aka sodium carbonate can be bought in most super markets... DriPak make it.....

Are soda crystal exactly the same as soda ash? I get soda was in 5-6kg bulk, but I have 2 pack of soda crystal in house. I just haven't used as didn't know if they had other stuff in them. I was under the impression they aren't as strong either, but because I couldn't find info didn't use them as fixer.

Where can you buy soda ash?

Although you can buy washing soda in the grocery store, this is usually advised against, because some US brands in the past were known to contain optical brighteners, salt, and/or fragrances. However, Arm & Hammer brand "Super Washing Soda" does not now contain any additives, though you must use a larger quantrity due to its greater hydration level (see above). A better source is a swimming pool supplies store, or a hardware store that carries some pool supplies, which will carry pure sodium carbonate (a popular brand is pH Up), sold for the purpose of increasing the pH of pool water. This is typically cheaper than mail-ordering from a dye supplier, and just as good. Beware of suppliers that try to sell you sodium bicarbonate instead of sodium carbonate; bicarbonate is much less basic (it has a lower pH), and will not work for most dyeing recipes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_carbonate

Yup I've used Dripak soda crystals for as long as I can remember for dying. We get a bulk discount at the quilting club from our local hardware store!

I'll try using the leftovers then when I run out (just cos they have been sitting the ages). I think the packet said something on the back though about being 30% sodium carbonate, but if you're using excess fixer it doesn't actually make any difference. I'm sure the pool stuff is more concentrated, it heats up more with H20 I think you see see the reaction happening.

I've been told that the dripak soda crystals aren't strong enough so I guess you just need to use more comparitively...