Glossary

A.B.I.

Short for Air Brush Ink. These are rich pigments, thinned and ready to spray. They should be smooth flowing with great color intensity.

Abrasion Resistance

A Fabric's ability to withstand wear and rubbing.

Acetate

A man-made cellulose fabric similar to Rayon used in linings and some dressy tops. Some Acetate can be dyed with Procion MX Dyes.

Acetic Acid

Liquid acid that is eleven times stronger than vinegar. Used by some companies and artists for dyeing wool, silk, nylon, hair, and other items of protein origin.

Acid Dyes

Acid dyes are made for dyeing wool, silk, nylon, and other protein fibers. These powdered dyes are intended for vat-dyeing yardage, yarns or clothing. They can also be used for painting but they're not our first choice. If you intend to paint on silk or wool they have to be steamed. You can use these dyes on top of your stove or in a washing machine but they do require very hot water to work properly. The only other thing needed is a little white vinegar, citric acid or acetic acid. Acid Dyes are very economical as they react fast and they exhaust well. The results are permanent, light and wash fast.

Acid Free

Anything having a pH neutral level of 7.

Acid / Acidic

Anything having a pH balance below 7.

Acrylic

A versatile thermoplastic that emerged in the late 1950's. It is used as a heat set paint medium as in Fabric Paints and Inks. Also it is used to make soft and durable fibers used for yarns, velvets and carpeting.

Activator

A substance that is used in a dye bath to fix the dye. It changes the PH of a dye bath to enable the necessary chemical reaction. Examples are: the use of Soda Ash with fiber reactive dyes on cellulose fibers: or using white vinegar, citric acid or acetic acid in a hot bath with Acid Dyes on protein fibers. Also referred to as an "assistant".

ACT

Association for Contract Textiles. An association of textile companies who design, manufacture and sell textiles for interior design.

Additives

Any one of a number of special chemicals added to a product to bring about special effects. Examples are: driers, anti-setting agents, and coloring.

Adhesion

Adhesion happens when paint attaches by drying and remains fixed on the surface without blistering, flaking, cracking or being removed by tape. Proper adhesion with fabric paints is achieved by heat fixing or addition of a "No Heat Fixative".

Aerosol

A product that uses compressed gas to spray a product from its container into the air. Historical Note: Aerosol paint products have not contained chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs that destroy the O-zone layer) since 1978.

Afterfix

Quick and easy way for painting with Procion dyes. Mix the dye with water, a little thickener and paint it on fabric, When it’s dry, cover the painted area with Dharma’s Afterfix by painting it or spraying it with a Mist Sprayer to lightly saturate-damp but not dripping! After an hour, wash out the Afterfix and excess dye. Warning – it can be very difficult to remove Afterfix from anything once it dries. Best for very small projects.

Air Brush

An atomizer for applying paint, ink or dye, it uses compressed air to spray a fine mist of product.

Alginate

A seaweed derivative used as an anti-migrant. High-viscosity alginates are normally recommended for cottons; low-viscosity alginates are recommended for silk fibers, when trying to achieve finer lines.

Alcohol

A colorless, volatile, flammable liquid that is the intoxicating agent in fermented and distilled liquors. In silk painting it is mixed with distilled water to dilute dyes, blending colors on the silk and to correct mistakes.

Alkali / Alkaline

Anything having a pH balance above 7

All Purpose Dye

Certain Dyes for multipurpose uses and on various fibers. Also known as Union Dye.

Alum

Often used as a mordant when marbling to make the paint stick to the fabric or paper. Also used as a mordant for Natural dyes. Ours is a salt of aluminum known as aluminum sulfate.

Ammonia

A pungent, colorless, water soluble alkaline compound used to make household ammonia which is used for: a color modifier for Natural Dyes; also with Methyl Cellulose to make size for floating colors in Marbling.

Ammonium Sulfate

Another type of Alum- we carry aluminum sulfate..

Analogous colors

Three to five neighboring hues on the color wheel. Example: yellow, yellow green, green, blue green.

Aniline Dye

Synthetic organic dyes derived from coal tar. Can be quite garish and having poor light- and wash-fastness.

Anti-chlor

Compound made from Sodium Bisulfate or Sodium Thiosulfate used to neutralize chlorine after removing color with hypochlorite bleach.

Anti-Fusant

No-Flow, Stop-Flow, Anti-Diffusant and Anti-Fusant are all different names for this. It is painted onto the silk before painting dye or thin paints. It keeps the dye from spreading when it touches the silk. Some work with paints, some with dyes.

Anti-Microbial Treatment

An anti-bacterial finish for fabrics, that guards against mold and fungus.

Anti-Migrant

A substance added to a dye to slow down its ability to spread or bleed into a fabric as it is applied. Some examples are Sodium Alginate and Superclear.

Anti-Skinning Agents

These are chemicals added to paint that help prevent the formation of a surface film.

Anti-Spread

A transparent liquid that is painted over an entire area of fabric prior to dyeing to cut down the absorbency of the fibers, thereby preventing the dye from spreading like anti-fusants. There are many different versions of this, such as Inko Resist, Presist, No-Flow Primer, and Gutta thinned with Gutta Solvent or turpenol.

Applique

An image or design that is cut out and either glued, sewn or embellished to the surface of a larger item.

Assistant

Also called "activator" this is an assistant in dyeing which aids in the bonding of the dye to the fiber, such as an acid with acid dyes, or an alkali with Fiber Reactives.

Auxiliary

A term for products used to assist the dyeing process.

Azoic Dye

Not truly ‘dyes’ these are really a duo component system that create color on cellulose fibers.

B

Baking Soda

This can be combined with water and dye to make a weak alkali solution used for direct application. Also known as Sodium Bicarbonate. When used with Fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX or Procion H, the chemical reaction must be assisted with heat, such as by steaming It won't damage silk the way soda ash can.

Batching

A process of fixing dye onto fabric by keeping the fabric damp at room temperature for twenty-four hours or longer.

Batik Wax

A blend of 15% sticky wax and 85% paraffin wax, that is used for creating the crackle effect in batik. To decrease crackle, increase sticky wax and to increase crackle, increase the paraffin.

Batik

Technique using hot wax as a resist applied with a tjanting tool; a drawing instrument with a cup and spout from which molten wax is poured onto fabric in a design. Dye is then applied in progressive layers over the wax. Batik is traditionally done on either cotton or silk, or other natural fibers. A cool water dye such as Dharma Fiber Reactive is usually used so as not to melt the wax. Most Batik has a characteristic look with lots of darker fine lines caused by dye seeping into cracks in the wax.

Beeswax

This is a wax used for Batik as a resist, it doesn't crack much if at all and is usually mixed with paraffin to create a crackling effect. It melts at 120 degrees.

Binder

Solid ingredients in paint coating that hold the pigment particles in suspension and attach them to a substrate. Consists of resins (e.g., oils, alkyd, latex). The nature and amount of binder determine many paint properties: washability, toughness, color retention, and adhesion, etc.

Binding

A strip of fabric folded over and sewn to the edge of the fabric to protect it.

Biodegradable

Any material that can be broken down by bacteria in a natural way that is considered not hazardous to the environment.

Bleeding

The effect in which one color of a dye or paint diffuses into another causing it to discolor.

Blend

1. A combination of two or more different types of fibers in the same fabric. 2. The intermingling of 2 or more colors on a piece until there are no clear lines of demarcation.

Blistering

Formation of dome-shaped lumps in paints or varnish films resulting from local loss of adhesion and lifting of the film from the underlying surface.

Block

(aka Printing plate) A surface which contains an image that is to be printed. Some artists carve these by hand, place the block on their fabric or paper, and press or hammer the image. Others have been mechanically produced by photographic methods, and are used with a mechanical press.

Blocking

1. The unwanted sticking together of two painted surfaces when pressed together. 2. The laying out flat and reshaping of an article of clothing after washing and while still damp to regain its original size, as in blocking a sweater.

Boucle

An uneven yarn of three plies one of which one ply is looser and forms loops at uneven intervals.

Bound Resist

A method of dyeing in which the fabric, yarn or fiber is tightly tied in certain areas to prevent dye penetration, as in shibori, tie-dye, ikat.

Broadcloth

A tightly woven cloth with a plain weave where the warp and filler threads are usually of the same size. In silk or cotton, it launders and takes dyes well. Because of its ability to wear well it is used extensively in men's shirts and blouses, as well as home decorating.

Brocade

A jacquard fabric woven with a raised pattern or design in contrasting colors.

Brocatelle

A jacquard fabric in which the design is satin in texture with a dull background to form a contrast in the material.

Bubble Jet Set 2000

This is the new improved formula, which prepares fabrics to be printed on with inkjet or Bubblejet printers, including those using the newest HP inks. The results are permanent. Simply saturate your fabrics, let dry, iron onto freezer paper (from any supermarket), cut to fit your printer, print, let sit at least 30 min (longer, up to 24 hrs will give even better results), wash with Kieralon. Use gloves and proper ventilation. The darkness of the final image varies with different brands of inks.

Burn Testing

Fiber content is determined by the results of burning a small piece.

Burn Out

Better known as Devore. This is the production of a pattern on a fabric by printing with a substance that will destroy one or more of the fibers present, but not the others. Fiber Etch is used to eat cellulose fibers and works well on rayon/silk, hemp/silk and other blends of cellulose protein fabrics.

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