Discharge Day at My House

Well, Rochester's wonderful summer weather continued for yet another day and we had a successful day discharging all sorts of fabrics in the driveway. By the end of the day we had a dizzying assortment of fabrics spread all over the lawn and everywhere!!

Here is everyone at the beginning of the day, all bright and eager to get started.



Here is Anne checking the results of her discharge with bleach. She is putting her fabric first into water and then into anti-chlor to stop the bleach action.



Here are Caren and Anne checking the results of discharge on a piece of commercial batik from Joanns. It was a dark mottled blue and Caren used a sponge with bleach or Thiox to remove the color. It was a particularly nice piece.



Here is Jeanne at the Thiox pot in full discharge gear.



Here is the whole group around my dining room table partaking of great Chinese food. We were a little crowded but it was great fun!



Here are a bunch of Pat's (I think) fabrics draped over the bushes nearby.



Here is a representation of Barb's fabrics on the front lawn!



Here is the group at the end of the day with their favorite fabrics held up.

Getting Ready for Discharge Day!

Well, the challenge has definitely been to find all my "stuff" for the discharge day and I think I have finally accomplished this goal!! The only remaining thing missing is RIT color remover but it is okay if I don't find that although it would be fun to play with. It requires heat like the Thiox.

Techniques we will play with include: bleaching with 50% Chlorox and either folding, pole-wrapping and maybe even spraying (everyone will be wearing masks and we will be outside; using a immersion bath of thiorea dioxide (Thiox)to strip color from fabric again using folding, etc; using Jacquard Discharge Paste which is a commercial discharge agent; using homemade Thiox paste; using Chlorox pens; and using Sunlight dishwashing gel. That should keep everyone busy.

I did some experiments today and had some surprises already. My old Kona wouldn't discharge with Thiox but this stuff discharged to bluey green as did the Joann's classic cotton. The old classic cotton I used before discharged to grey/beige. They both discharged to a rusty color with the bleach pens. It is amazing what happens with commercial fabrics. My own hand dyed are more predictable if you know what made up the dye in the first place.

Below is my sample of what I did today.



The recipe we will use are for the Thiox immersion: 2 tsps thiox to 2 1/2 gallons water although you can go up to five times as much thiox plus 2 tbsps of soda ash. You have to refresh the Thiox about every 20 minutes in the 180 degree water. It takes almost an hour to heat up my pot on the stove.

After we have used the chlorox, we will immerse the fabric in water and then into a bath with anti-chlor in it. That will neutralize the bleach so that no more damage is done to the fabric. You can't use bleach on silk or wool but can on cotton, rayon or linen. You can use the Thiox on silk but with a little less soda ash. Also, it is a good idea to soak it in a vinegar or citric acid solution once you are done to neutralize the soda ash. The cotton or other cellulose fibers don't require any special treatment after using the Thiox.

You don't need to neutralize the fabrics after they have soaked in the Thiox bath. If you have used silk though, it is a good idea to use a little vinegar or citric acid to soften it up. The soda ash in the Thiox bath is a little rough on silk.