Second on the 2nd: Rust Dyeing

It's summer and I want to start dyeing fabric and paper again.  I also want to create some rusty fabric like I'm about to show.  Many of you have seen at least one of these two posts, but I want to begin by saying I want to make it abundantly clear that you must NEVER, EVER, EVER handle rusted fabric or paper without gloves until it has been neutralized.  Please play it safe.  Your blood hemoglobin will love you and you will be saving your health.  Having said that, I have two posts I want to share with you today.  The first is from August, 2014 and I only show the rusting, not the finished project.  I call it

Shibori Dyeing Experiment

I got it in my head to try a new shibori experiment.  Shibori dyeing is a way to fold, shape, and secure the fabric prior to dyeing it.  In the past, I've used plastic poles and PVC pipes to wrap the fabric that I dyed using various inks, sprays, and dyes.  Incidentally, tie-dyeing is considered a form of shibori dyeing.

For this experiment, I replaced my plastic poles with my large rusty container I found a couple of years ago in my neighbor's dumpster, and replaced my dyes with vinegar.  Additional supplies include a long strip of recycled bed sheet, a plastic bag, and disposable gloves I wear anytime I'm working with rust.

TIP: Always wear gloves (preferably disposable) when working with anything rusty.  Never touch the rusted piece with bare hands because the rust will enter your skin and mess with the hemoglobin in your blood.  Leave the gloves on through the entire process.

Like my regular shibori projects, I wrapped the fabric around the rusty part,

saturated the fabric with vinegar, then placed the entire assembly inside a plastic bag

that I tied tight,

and stored it upside down in the sun.

Four days later I opened the bag and removed my rusted shibori dyed fabric.  Those are rusty leaves that were inside the metal disk that I didn't notice till I removed the fabric.

Be sure you wear disposable gloves

while you unwind the fabric.  Isn't it lovely?  Much more subtle than I had hoped, but better than I expected.  I'm so glad I tried this, because it gives me another tool in my rusting arsenal.

Take the fabric (this is a thin cotton/poly blend) to your favorite sink, add warm water and baking soda (I use about 1/2 cup to a half filled sink, but this isn't rocket science, so more or less of either shouldn't hurt), swish the fabric around in the water/soda mix, then allow the fabric to soak in the mixture for a few minutes.  If the fabric is extra rusty, you may need to perform a second baking soda/water rinse.   Once the water runs clear, you can now remove your disposable gloves.  The rusted fabric is now safe to touch.  Rinse completely, then hang to dry, or dry in your dryer.

This project was completed over four days.  This is not a quick project, since rust dyeing depends on the heat and humidity levels of your area.  It's not a project you can start and complete in a day.  I hope you enjoyed this experiment.  I hope to have a few more before summer runs its course.


For my second experiment, this is the post I created in March, 2016 I called:

A Rusty Update

As promised these are the results of my latest rust dyeing experiments.

For those who don't remember what I rusted, I decided to show the pieces before I pulled everything apart.    The first rusty tin can practically fell away from the fabric as I was removing it from the bag, but everything else was still intact.  For some reason, I don't show the completed paper I rusted.  Maybe it is because I was a bit underwhelmed by it all.

As an aside, if you rust PAPER, in order to stop the rusting process and make it safe for you to handle the finished piece, please use a sealer of some type.  It could be a purchased sealer, a fixative, or cheap aerosol hairspray.  For fixing fabric, of course, you know I use baking soda and water.  And I always wear disposable gloves until after the final rinse or until after BOTH sides of the paper have been sprayed and dried.

It took a bit of manipulating, especially since most gloves I buy are too big for me, but I finally got the rusty wire off

this pipe.

I was shocked, yes SHOCKED, when I opened the fabric that I had wrapped steel wool around a tin can.  I had a horrible mess to clean up, even before I could soak the fabric three times in baking soda water.

Of course, the end results were well worth the effort because they were truly amazing.

This (and the photo above this one) are from the pipe.

This is from the rusty can that hadn't been held in place with wire.

And this fabric is from the can that had steel wool wrapped around it.  Each very different, yet all beautiful in their own way.

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Although Second on the 2nd is normally open for five days, this link will close Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. when I post our first T party in August.  Since my Mr. Linky is a free membership, I can only post one link at a time.

Now it's time for you to link your second look on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  The only condition is it must have been published sometime in the past. Then link below and Bleubeard and I, along with other Second on the 2nd friends, will be by to visit.
 
Remember to share something from your blog that you showed previously. Be sure the link goes directly to your Second on the 2nd post and not your blog in general.