Dye Lab - Cochineal Steeping Tests
15% WOF Cochineal
I wanted to see how a longer Tannin & Mordant steeping would change the colors so I did a batch with a 2 hour steep, one with a 4 hour, and one with a 6.
Images below showing these dyed with Cochineal at 15% WOF (1 hour active on heat followed by a 12 hour steep).
Where I really see a jump in color is between a 2 hour and a 4 hour steep. Between 4 and 6 looks minimal - but might look different with other dyes or when this is shifted with Iron/Indigo. The close up image shows the 2/4/6 hour steeps with a piece of a 4 hour steep Cochineal (15%WOF) I dyed previously.
I can not figure out why that original piece looks so much darker, but I have suspensions;
A) I might have stepped that linen piece in mordant/alum overnight. I don't think I did, because with my well water I usually don't leave the fabric in the tannin and alum overnight (I do with dyes), but it's not clear in my notes so I can't rule this out. I now make sure to note the steeping times in my notes for all items.
B) It could be the specific linen piece. I have images of the linen on my spreadsheet and its noted as the same linen, but sometimes pieces can vary.
I'm going to prepare another piece of linen and Tannin/Mordant for 12 hours each to see what I end up with. I also have another piece of linen from both the 4 and 6 hour steeps, and I'm going to give these a dye with a higher %WOF to see if I an get to the same color as my first piece. This has been a good lesson and reminder about the difficulty of color matching. Now I have a good set of samples to show this, all beautiful in their own way but also all slightly different.
