Fabric Dye As A Basis For Ink?

[Cyber6]

I found a tin of Dylon fabric dye (from when I would make tie dye T-shirts and jeans, I guess that really pins me down) and since those days are long past, I thought I might use it as a basis for an ink for my FPs... but, the instructions are only for how to dye fabric, and then you use a Lot of water to dissolve the stuff. Also, you had to add salt - this made sure the dye adhered to the fabric.

Does anyone have any experience doing this? I only have the one tin, and would not want to lose it because of an avoidable mistake...

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

HA HA... great minds and all.... at the same time you were posting this.. I was considering the same. I acquired some fabric dyes in my local art shop... this is what I've learned..

 

1. Boiling water and a little salt yes... If you follow the correct measurements 50g/1gallon of water.. you will have no sediments. But is too watery to be useful as writing ink.

2. In my case.. I did 50g/200ml .. the red/magenta/teal are awesome... the Blue is still watery (I think my blue powder is defective)

3. You can filter (coffee filter) the solution (specially since I can see some sediments in there)

4. Dip pens are working fine... except with the blue... is way too liquid (I might invest on some gum arabic)

5. If you are into arts.. this is a real cheap way to make color ink .. is great with brushes.

 

 

 

I'll post some swatches later...

[mhguda]

Finally someone who DOESN'T tell me to only put fountain pen ink in my fountain pens.... Great.

I am still disappointed with the color of my single tin of supposedly dark blue dylon. But as a purple, it's quite nice, or would be, if it weren't so diluted.

I was leery of the salt, yes you're supposed to add it and I even went out and bought some, since I no longer cook with it.... but ended up not adding it.

I used a single tin (don't know how many grams) in 1/2 liter water, as per the instructions enclosed, this used to be enough for a number of T-shirts or one larger piece such as jeans, if I recall; you were supposed to add it to a washing machine. But the resulting liquid was so watery I decided to try and get rid of the excess water, and in the end I did. The solution is clear, no sediments floating around that I can see, but I am only putting this in one cheap and easily replaced pen.

I still have some charcoal dye, must try that sometime and see if it gives me a nice concentrated black. I won't put too much water this time... But I'm still staying away from the salt.

 

Thanks for your comments, I'm glad someone was interested...

[Cyber6]

Thanks for your comments, I'm glad someone was interested...

 

 

HA HA.. ... life is too short... and i have tons of cheap pens...

 

I am even considering using Kool-Aid as ink....

[mhguda]

Might be a bit acidic though... even for a cheap pen...

Another liquid that's sort of calling out to me is coffee... but that too would have to be seriously concentrated before you could use it, and it might get too acidic as well. Still, the fabric dye seemed to me like a natural. I'm going to continue to play with it...

[Kosmic-kowgirl]

cant wait to hear what your results are! maybe the charcoal dye will behave like a sumi ink?

[dcwaites]

 

...

 

 

About food dyes - if something is intended to be used in food industry it doesn't mean that this is of high grade, it only means that this is safe to consume. So while coloring your ink you also put a lot of different stuff to ink (and believe me - it's rarely a citric or ascorbic acid). Many food dyes have a purity of about 60%, and what is rest?

 

From the Queen Food Dyes website, for their Blue Food Colouring --

 

Water,

Food Colour (133) (1.8% total dyestuff), - Brilliant Blue FCF

Food Acid (330), Citric Acid

Preservatives (202, 211).Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate.

 

I have used this straight out of the bottle as an ink (in a Platinum Preppy) and it was quite functional.

I would be much happier putting this in a fountain pen than any textile dye (Rit, Dylon, etc.)

[mhguda]

Why?

[Cyber6]

My swatches below.... As you can see the first one is the defective blue. Is supposed to be a Royal Blue Color...

 

Apologies for the crappy cell phone pic... I had to correct the color a bit .. is late and my light bulbs cast a yellow tint on everything.

 

[mhguda]

I will do a quick sheet in the morning and scan it.

 

ETA how were the swatches done? You seem to lay down quite a bit of color (except for the defective one).

Edited July 15, 2014 by mhguda

[amberleadavis]

Why?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeRgwXzVcck

[mhguda]

Oh.

[Cyber6]

 

ETA how were the swatches done? You seem to lay down quite a bit of color (except for the defective one).

 

 

Same way as normal ink swatches are done... Q-tips.. My dye instructions requested 1 gallon for 50g. I did 200ml/50g

 

The defective blue is well... defective.... it sill looks and watery. I am considering reducing the blue concoction... maybe I get something more useable. The other ones... are awesome...

[amberleadavis]

Oh.

 

 

Didn't you hate getting "because" as an answer?

 

When I looked at vintage powdered inks, the same ink was also sold as a clothes dye. I guess a lot of the properties are the same.

[mhguda]

You could tell, right? Even the implied Because gets my whatsums up. (sorry, I forget the expression).

Anyway, I did a little comparison sheet, putting it next to a real fountain pen ink. Also one that is not exactly run of the mill, just to be contrary. Chelpark black, which I suspect is similar to the old formulation (but no idea how old exactly) of Parker Quink black. Alas, the Dylon does still not really measure up. And it was a one of, since Dylon no longer makes these...

[tommyngo]

Just happened to pass by in my search for a cheap way to make my own fountain pen ink . I am also experimenting with fabric dyes ( i.e. Dylan and Tintex dyes ) .

 

So far these are my findings ( in black dyes only) :

 

1) A solution of 10 grams of Dylan black dye per 50 ml of water produces reasonable black ink . I first boiled 50 ml of deionized waterthen slowly added the dye powder and stirred constantly.

 

2) Next, I let the solution cool down for 5 minutes then added 5 drops of glycerin and stirred some more .

 

3) Let the final solution cool down to room temperature before filling my fountain pen ( a cheap Jinhao 750 bought from eBay for 3 $ US )

 

4) Using the same procedure with Tintex black dye resulted in lighter shade of black compared to that of Dylan-dye ink .

 

5) I also tried out this ink with a dip pen . So far, it worked well ( i.e.no dripping ) .

 

 

I mainly use this ink for sketching purposes, not for writing . As a result, I do not know the dye ink 's stability ( i.e. fading ? ) in the long run yet .

Edited March 15, 2017 by tommyngo

[Kenlowe]

This surprises me because I have always thought that fabric dyes 9and color jet ink refills) had too much wetting agent and would feather and bleed through the paper like crazy, your results and the writing test above, would suggest the opposite.

 

I still like buying ink though, apart from Diamine obviously.

[Chrissy]

It's not something I would randomly experiment with in any of my pens. There are plenty of cheap inks out there to try without trying out fabric dye powder. But each to their own.

[tommyngo]

This surprises me because I have always thought that fabric dyes 9and color jet ink refills) had too much wetting agent and would feather and bleed through the paper like crazy, your results and the writing test above, would suggest the opposite.

 

I still like buying ink though, apart from Diamine obviously.

 

As I had mentioned , I did not use this ink for wrting , though . I sketch comic characters, human poses , scenery etc... on sketching pad ( thicker than normal writing paper) and no bleeding observered whatsoever ! In the USA , a 50 ml ink bottle costs at least 10.$ . So it is certainly logical to go for cheaper alternatives .

[Kenlowe]

 

As I had mentioned , I did not use this ink for wrting , though . I sketch comic characters, human poses , scenery etc... on sketching pad ( thicker than normal writing paper) and no bleeding observered whatsoever ! In the USA , a 50 ml ink bottle costs at least 10.$ . So it is certainly logical to go for cheaper alternatives .

 

 

If it works for you Tommy then go for it, I have seen people who have used black coffee in a pen for sketching and are happy with the result. So, by comparison, fabric dye is no big deal

[dcwaites]

Do not use fabric dye in a fountain pen. They contain salts that help the dye bond to the fabric.

 

Use food dye instead. Generally, if it's safe to put inside your children, it's probably safe to put inside your pens.