In watercolor painting you can use salt to remove pigment. I would love to see you overdye and then sprinkle the yarn with the salt crystals. The yarn would have to be wet. Hot would be good. The salt would only sit on the surface and draw out the color. You could also dredge the skein in the salt and then let it sit. The excess salt would wash out when you rinse.
My guess is that, how well it works, if it works, is going to depend on the depth of shade, so on a dark color it might give you lighter dark spots, but not white spots. But that’s just a guess.
Your results make sense. There is a technique in water color where one sprinkles salt on a freshly painted area to pull color off the paper to create a snow or rain effect once the painting is dry and the salt is brushed off.
I would love to see the experiment comparing the different options. I find it fascinating. I agree that this isn't the best way to get sharp speckles but I think the yarn still turned out very pretty
Yes - I think once I've stepped back I like it more for what it is - unique and a completely different option from what I had in my wheelhouse already.
I like the purple spot in the sea of blue on the third skein. Salt might be better for finer control of the dye application but not expecting speckles, necessarily.
Yes, very interested in watching the comparison between the different edible powders. For the sugar and the citric acid, have you considered drying them in the oven around 100 °C /210 °F to dehydrate it as one would do in a lab?
I agree that there is a lot of fun with the way this turned out - especially if your goal isn't speckles. I think if your goal is speckles then you want to go another direction... but on its own it was really cool.
I wonder if soaking the yarn with more vinegar and steam or microwave setting without spraying with a water bottle would result in more speckling, but comparing the low-immersion salt sprinkles with the low-immersion sugar sprinkles (I looked back at your old videos), the sugar sprinkles gave much sharper specks, and there seemed to be more bleeding with the salt. I think based on this, sugar is a much better base for diy food coloring sprinkles. I'd definitely love to see large crystal sugar sprinkles, though!
I've seen people use salt when silk painting. So, I wondered how it made those effects. I found: "The way that salt works is by osmotically 'sucking' liquid toward it. Any unfixed wet dye or fabric paint will be pulled toward the dot of salt. The result is often a streak of lighter color pointing at a dot of intense color". Maybe you should dye a solid and sprinkle salt while it's still damp.
oooo that would be cool. I'm honestly not sure on the mechanism. Glauber's salt is something I really need to play with since I've had it in my studio for a while.
Very interesting.⭐ I use salt if I want very even colour coverage. 💙 Chunky CA would be very interesting. I wouldn't know where to find it here. It surprised me how much the speckles spread to the underneath, on all of the skeins. 🐨👍
Would like a side by side comparison of one color mixed with citric acid, sugar and salt. Even if you use a mini skein for each. I think it would be interesting to see.
Thank you for doing this experiment. I would also so love to see a comparison between the cores and fine citric acid. Have you ever considered using your steam pans like a double boiler? Just thinking it would be a great way to keep the steam down, get really even heat, with low amounts or no standing water in the top pan. Could it help get sharp speckles? 🤔
Wouldn’t the salt affect the ph level contrary to the vinegar? I think a side-by-side using different mediums with food coloring vs. acid dyes on various yarn bases would would be very informative. You’ve recently mentioned getting a double boiler insert for your catering pan. I highly recommend it...it works great. Thanks Rebecca 🧶
Salt (NaCl) won't change the pH but it will change the total amount of stuff dissolved in the solution which can change some properties. I don't recommend using baking soda with wool since it could damage it. Baking soda will absolutely raise the pH. :D
Awesome! I think that the DIY sprinkles I made with sugar and citric acid worked better overall, but this does have applications for some soft pastels that might otherwise be hard to do with food coloring.
Have you thought about using a coffee grinder to make a finer powder after it has completely dried in all three mediums? If it’s finer, you might have more control over the speckling. Just a thought that popped in my head while watching.
It's interesting that salt works at all because RIT dye (at least it used to) recommended salt setting your color, I've done it many times. I wonder if the skeins you did today would be more bleed resistant?
I am wondering if time was a factor. If you had left the sprinkles of salt to sit for half an hour or an hour would there have been a different result? Also did the coarseness have anything to do with it? Would regular table salt work better or worse? Take care and stay safe!
Table salt may have worked better for the dissolving, but I did leave it on the counter for a bit and it just didn't dissolve all the way. So... I'm not sure.
It depends - if I don't want any color transfer to happen between parts of the yarn I wrap in plastic. Otherwise I just put it directly in the steamer basket.
I have some course citric acid to try, too! I need to figure out which color I should do so I can be as consistent as possible. Maybe on miniskeins so I can try a lot of things? Hmmmm.... I'd be tempted to do different colors for different powders, but we know that they strike differently. *sigh*
It could, but salt also slows down the dye absorption a bit. I've tried using salt with acid yes (thinner salt) and the dyes spread more than with sugar, for example.
I have some powdered food coloring and I haven't tried mixing them with other powders. I didn't like them very much, but that might help make more speckles since itwould spread out the fine powder. Interesting idea!
Oops, rats, dammit. Can you tell I posted my saltwater ph question before the end of the video? Can. you tell its been 30 years since I took Chem 101? Sigh.
NaCl has no pH (by the definition the pH is a measure of hydrogen ions, and so the Na+ Cl- from salt do not contribute to that. The association of the hydrogens with water are stronger than how they would interact with Cl- so it doesn't shift that balance. Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is a strong acid because the Cl- and H+ separate so easily in water. TECHNICALLY you end up with H3O+ (vs H2O and H+ in solution.) Anyway.... lol.
It occurs to me that the dye is binding rather quickly and tightly to the salt itself. This could explain both the difficulty in the initial blending the food coloring into the bowl of salt crystals, and the way the speckles looked sharp before the salt crystals dissolved and then spread as the salt dissolved. I am no chemist, so this is just an amateur observation to be taken, as it were, *cum grano salis*.
The dye isn't binding to the sale exactly, but the gel is coating it, dissolving a slight outerlayer and then almost becoming a paste. I'm not sure what it is about salt that causes colors to spread more chemistry wise, though.
It does look a lot like non-superwash! I think that it does have its use for a softer application that is unique with food coloring, but I wouldn't recommend it for speckles for sure!
In watercolor painting you can use salt to remove pigment. I would love to see you overdye and then sprinkle the yarn with the salt crystals. The yarn would have to be wet. Hot would be good. The salt would only sit on the surface and draw out the color. You could also dredge the skein in the salt and then let it sit. The excess salt would wash out when you rinse.
No idea if this would work, but it sounds like a cool experiment! Maybe if the salt was in a powdered sugar shaker like they have at cafe du monde?
If it works it would be a great way to reverse speckle to get a night sky.
My guess is that, how well it works, if it works, is going to depend on the depth of shade, so on a dark color it might give you lighter dark spots, but not white spots. But that’s just a guess.
I’ve done this watercolour technique and thought this was what was going to happen from the title of this video.
In silk painting / dyeing we actually use salt to pull dye out of the silk
That's interesting 🌟
This is super interesting to me!
Your results make sense. There is a technique in water color where one sprinkles salt on a freshly painted area to pull color off the paper to create a snow or rain effect once the painting is dry and the salt is brushed off.
I love the softer colors. Perfect for spring.
Thank you, Leslie!
I would love to see the experiment comparing the different options. I find it fascinating. I agree that this isn't the best way to get sharp speckles but I think the yarn still turned out very pretty
Yes - I think once I've stepped back I like it more for what it is - unique and a completely different option from what I had in my wheelhouse already.
The results reminds me of speckling in non Superwash yarn. Great effect for soft, pastel hues on SW.
I like the purple spot in the sea of blue on the third skein. Salt might be better for finer control of the dye application but not expecting speckles, necessarily.
@@margaretk9954 Yes, I really liked that too. I wonder if it came from the black breaking or the blue and red combining 🤔
It REALLY REALY does feel like that.
Loving these three yarns as a set
I think they worked so nicely together!
Yes, very interested in watching the comparison between the different edible powders. For the sugar and the citric acid, have you considered drying them in the oven around 100 °C /210 °F to dehydrate it as one would do in a lab?
No, not really. The original sprinkles tutorial I used didn't have you bake them to dry them out.
I wonder if it might be the kosher salt, it's more like flakes compared to coarse salt crystals. Just a thought.
I was hoping to be able to spread it easily. :D I plan to revisit a salt vs sugar vs ca type video.
Even though it didn't speckle spectacularly, I love the colorway. The colors blended beautifully.
Thank you so much!
I’m really liking this for the controlled spread and few specks. I’m not sure if there is another way to accomplish this. A new look
I agree that there is a lot of fun with the way this turned out - especially if your goal isn't speckles. I think if your goal is speckles then you want to go another direction... but on its own it was really cool.
I wonder if soaking the yarn with more vinegar and steam or microwave setting without spraying with a water bottle would result in more speckling, but comparing the low-immersion salt sprinkles with the low-immersion sugar sprinkles (I looked back at your old videos), the sugar sprinkles gave much sharper specks, and there seemed to be more bleeding with the salt. I think based on this, sugar is a much better base for diy food coloring sprinkles. I'd definitely love to see large crystal sugar sprinkles, though!
I really like the pastel speckles!
Thank you!
I've seen people use salt when silk painting. So, I wondered how it made those effects. I found: "The way that salt works is by osmotically 'sucking' liquid toward it. Any unfixed wet dye or fabric paint will be pulled toward the dot of salt. The result is often a streak of lighter color pointing at a dot of intense color". Maybe you should dye a solid and sprinkle salt while it's still damp.
oooo that would be cool. I'm honestly not sure on the mechanism. Glauber's salt is something I really need to play with since I've had it in my studio for a while.
Yes, I think a better comparison with the different mediums will be much more informative. Thank you. I’m really very interested in dyeing cotton.
Awesome! I hope to do more cotton and other plant fibers this year.
Very interesting.⭐ I use salt if I want very even colour coverage. 💙 Chunky CA would be very interesting. I wouldn't know where to find it here. It surprised me how much the speckles spread to the underneath, on all of the skeins. 🐨👍
I'm not sure either but someone sent it to me!
Would like a side by side comparison of one color mixed with citric acid, sugar and salt. Even if you use a mini skein for each. I think it would be interesting to see.
And comparing table salt versus table sugar as they are roughly the same size to remove the granule size as a variable
I'm not sure HOW many variables I can do, but I'm interested in doing this for sure. I'm glad people want to see more!
Thank you for doing this experiment. I would also so love to see a comparison between the cores and fine citric acid.
Have you ever considered using your steam pans like a double boiler? Just thinking it would be a great way to keep the steam down, get really even heat, with low amounts or no standing water in the top pan. Could it help get sharp speckles? 🤔
Wouldn’t the salt affect the ph level contrary to the vinegar? I think a side-by-side using different mediums with food coloring vs. acid dyes on various yarn bases would would be very informative. You’ve recently mentioned getting a double boiler insert for your catering pan. I highly recommend it...it works great. Thanks Rebecca 🧶
I’m interested in the ph issue and how the salt affects dye absorption. What do you think about using baking soda?
Salt (NaCl) won't change the pH but it will change the total amount of stuff dissolved in the solution which can change some properties.
I don't recommend using baking soda with wool since it could damage it. Baking soda will absolutely raise the pH. :D
Just this morning thinking of confetti looking yarn for sock knitting.
Awesome! I think that the DIY sprinkles I made with sugar and citric acid worked better overall, but this does have applications for some soft pastels that might otherwise be hard to do with food coloring.
Have you thought about using a coffee grinder to make a finer powder after it has completely dried in all three mediums? If it’s finer, you might have more control over the speckling. Just a thought that popped in my head while watching.
I haven't tried this, and it could potentially be helpful.
So beautiful
Thank you so much!
Hi I was very interested to see the results, I wonder if setting it in the microwave would help this produce a sharper speckle.
Maybe!
I would want to see you do more comparisons!
Awesome! I wasn't sure if these types of videos got boring so it is nice to hear people enjoy them.
My dyeing has increased a lot since I met your videos!
Thank you for sharing
Thanks for watching!
It's interesting that salt works at all because RIT dye (at least it used to) recommended salt setting your color, I've done it many times. I wonder if the skeins you did today would be more bleed resistant?
I think that salt may help get more even color coverage in that it slows down absorption, but I'm not 100% sure on the chemistry of it.
I am wondering if time was a factor. If you had left the sprinkles of salt to sit for half an hour or an hour would there have been a different result? Also did the coarseness have anything to do with it? Would regular table salt work better or worse?
Take care and stay safe!
Table salt may have worked better for the dissolving, but I did leave it on the counter for a bit and it just didn't dissolve all the way. So... I'm not sure.
Is there anyway to dye yarn by slinging dye from a brush ?
Yes, but I would do that outside and not in my kitchen.
Sure! But I agree, I would do this outside due to the mess you would make. it could be a lot of fun, but also make sure to bring some eye protection!
I would LOVE to see a comparison video of citric acid, sugar, and salt in the same sort of speckly colorway and conditions.
I hope to do this at some point!
When put it in the steamer basket, do you wrap the yarn in plastic or do you sit the bare yarn in the basket ?
It depends - if I don't want any color transfer to happen between parts of the yarn I wrap in plastic. Otherwise I just put it directly in the steamer basket.
I'd love to see this technique with table salt, as well as coarse sugar.
I have some course citric acid to try, too! I need to figure out which color I should do so I can be as consistent as possible. Maybe on miniskeins so I can try a lot of things? Hmmmm....
I'd be tempted to do different colors for different powders, but we know that they strike differently. *sigh*
If the salt specks are large could that be the reason for excess spread as salt would slowly dissolve and spread the colour too far?
It could, but salt also slows down the dye absorption a bit. I've tried using salt with acid yes (thinner salt) and the dyes spread more than with sugar, for example.
Have you thought of trying powdered food colors and citric acid/sugar/salt?
I have some powdered food coloring and I haven't tried mixing them with other powders. I didn't like them very much, but that might help make more speckles since itwould spread out the fine powder. Interesting idea!
Please experiment! I am learning so much that I wouldn't be able to afford to do myself.
This is a huge reason why I love what I do - I can play around and then people can decide what types of things to play with (or avoid!)
doesnt salt make vinegar stronger? if so why didnt the colours strike faster? i have so many questions as to why t didnt work as expected.
Salt doesn't change the pH of solutions. If salt helps with cleaning, that would be for other reasons vs the pH.
Not great for distinct speckles but it is a nice impressionistic effect.
I agree! I would use it for fun but not to try for speckles.
Isn't salt basic? So does it make sense that you would need more vinegar to make the solution acidic enough to make the speckles strike?
Oops, rats, dammit. Can you tell I posted my saltwater ph question before the end of the video?
Can. you tell its been 30 years since I took Chem 101? Sigh.
NaCl has no pH (by the definition the pH is a measure of hydrogen ions, and so the Na+ Cl- from salt do not contribute to that. The association of the hydrogens with water are stronger than how they would interact with Cl- so it doesn't shift that balance. Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is a strong acid because the Cl- and H+ separate so easily in water. TECHNICALLY you end up with H3O+ (vs H2O and H+ in solution.)
Anyway.... lol.
It occurs to me that the dye is binding rather quickly and tightly to the salt itself. This could explain both the difficulty in the initial blending the food coloring into the bowl of salt crystals, and the way the speckles looked sharp before the salt crystals dissolved and then spread as the salt dissolved. I am no chemist, so this is just an amateur observation to be taken, as it were, *cum grano salis*.
The dye isn't binding to the sale exactly, but the gel is coating it, dissolving a slight outerlayer and then almost becoming a paste. I'm not sure what it is about salt that causes colors to spread more chemistry wise, though.
I just messaged you new photos on messenger i hope you like them.
I'm gonna admit it, not a favorite..
Almost looks like non-superwash .
But it is a nice pastel.
It does look a lot like non-superwash! I think that it does have its use for a softer application that is unique with food coloring, but I wouldn't recommend it for speckles for sure!
Salt & vinegar
I want chips now. ;)