First I want to say: OBSERVE ALL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS - ie. no eating or drinking, use a mask to make the dyes, wear old clothes and rubber gloves.....
1. Wind your warp as usual. Mark every inch or so of the warp (depending on the design you are trying to achieve). I like to use tyvek squares marked with numbers tied to one end of the warp
2. Wash your warp using a drop of synthrapol - make sure you have protected the warp with plenty of ties
3. Make your soak bucket. I add 105 g citric acid to 4L (1 gallon) of water. I prefer citric acid to vinegar because of the smell (citric acid has none)
4. Put your warp in the soak bucket for at least 1/2 hour.
5. Mix your dyes - I like to use 5g/250ml water- that is I mix 5 grams of dye in 250 milliliters of water.
6. Lay out some plastic wrap on your table. Have your soak bucket at one end. Pull your warp out and lay it on the plastic wrap in order.
7. NOW THE FUN PART! Using a paint brush ( I like the foam ones) - paint your warp . I like to let serendipity take over at this point. The most important thing to do is make sure the underside warp is painted also - you may have to flip it over and check. You may also have to mop up any excess dye - I like to use cloth that I can process later to create something beautiful instead of paper towels.
8. As you continue to paint lay more plastic wrap on top of your warp - either a new layer or fold the sides in on top - the important thing is to keep the warp moist at this point. Roll it up as you go and pull out new warp to paint until you are done.
9. I let the entire bundle rest for about 1/2 hr or so - it can rest longer, but that is the minimum.
10.Then I place it in a steam basket and put into a pot of water- making sure it never touches the water and steam for 30 minutes. I let it rest again until it reaches room temp (this is the tough time to wait and see) and ***NOW FOR THE MAGIC *** unwrap - it's like a birthday present every time!
