Crocking

One of my goals when I do a workshop for a new skill is to experience the difficulties involved. I'm following up from last weekend's Indigo workshop. I dyed up this bit of silk in the afternoon. It looked great when it came out of the vat. After washing it's not so good. A lot of the colour has washed out and there are these odd spots here and there: From my reading, I think this is a phenomenon called crocking. Indigo, being a surface dye, can build up on the fabric instead of attaching properly. It then flakes off in the wash. Result, blue water and unevenly dyed fabric. The solution is . . . patience! More frequent, smaller applications of dye apparently minimise this problem. I'll have to try that. Not today, though. Today I need to go back to fixing the side fence. Then if I have any time and energy for indoor tasks I'll do a bit more rinsing.