Vat Dyeing

The last couple of days I have been finishing the dyeing processes for my woven shibori scarves.  The final process in some cases is vat dyeing.  The dye pot holds a combination of water, vat dye powder, lye and thiorea dioxide.  One must be extra cautious when working with this combo, so in addition to the usual mask for mixing dye powders and the usual rubber gloves, I also don protective eye goggles and heavy duty rubber gloves that are shoulder height.  The extra gear is to protect from any potential splash with the lye in the mix.  I have never had a problem, but have always worn the extra goggles and long, long gloves.  This dye mixture will discharge the colour it hits and drop in the new colour which kind of cool.  If you simply want to discharge leave out the dye powder.  The vat dyes themselves will not discharge.  This fact came in handy as a couple of the scarves I did not like the combos of colour and simply put into a discharge bath and all but the vat dye discharged.  I was much happier with the final result.