I'm Losing My Marbles

Okay, that was actually a bad pun but the weather continues to be uncooperative and I got rained on again -- unfortunately after I hung out the alum-ed fabric (it was nice and sunny). So I am almost out of alum yet again so will have to find a new source as I can't seem to get it in quantity locally (I have yet to try one more place).

Aha! I found out a source of alum also called aluminum sulphate. Now you can buy it in the spice section of your supermarket for 2 ounces for $3 or $4 (which would be enough to soak about one yard of fabric) or you can buy it from a dye supplier for about $3/lb plus shipping (not too bad but the dye supplier I use was out of it for awhile) or you can buy it from your garden supply store!! I knew there had to be another source -- 4 lbs for $7 -- it is the chemical that you use to make hydrangea blue and also for other acid loving plants! I have yet to try it and it seems a little bigger granules but it should work. Of course it is something you put on plants in the spring time so not a lot of it around but I did find it. I still want to try one of the Mennonite owned bulk food stores as there is lots of pickling done in the late summer and fall and it is also used for making the pickles crispy!

So I have soaked about 15 yards of fabric now which will translate into about 60 pieces which is about all I can do in 4 or 5 days. It is not a good idea to leave the alum on the fabric for too long. One of the by-products of dissolving alum in water is a mild solution of sulfuric acid -- not too good on fabrics if you remember college chem classes!

Today, I am updating the experiment yet again and think I have hit upon something and the variation was also mentioned on the Marbling list (great minds). I mixed up some plain acrylic extender with water as that will keep the paints more separate (it should act like another paint). That was not totally successful (probably would be if I added some surfactant but not ready to do that yet with this nice clean size) so I added some pearlescent white instead -- now that worked just fine and I like the print that I got. It is more open and brighter so we shall see -- as soon as I get more fabric prepared. The Marbling list person just suggested using a little surfactant greatly diluted to keep the paints separate (ala Suminigashi) but I really try to keep surfactant out of the equation as long as possible as that just trashes the tray too quickly.

I am liking my new experiments. I have just been using up the colors that I have mixed over the past few days and just playing.



I decided to try to just take a piece of foam sheet which was very wobbly and just stroke it back and forth across the paints to see what happened. Kind of like it!


This is specifically for my bird of paradise piece when I get started on it. All these fabrics have to sit for a couple of weeks before I can really wash them.