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pigment and polymerization

1/28/2020

 
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Over the last few months
I've written again and again
about the bliss of making 
​(and using)
coffee filter yarn.
NOTE: To explore these posts, click the  coffee filter yarn, cellulosic experiments or tapestry buttons in the sidebar
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The filters, as I've mentioned,
​ come from my friend Jodi,
 the colors from her process 
of turning plants and minerals
into pigments,
that she then transforms
​into watercolors.
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Most of my coffee filter yarn posts
include links to her Instagram
​
and if you want to know more 
about lake pigments (pictured above)
and mineral pigments (pictured below),
​I highly recommend you click and scroll
for she has generously shared
a great deal of information on her feed.
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On my end though,
for all the photos of cutting,
 adding twist,
and weaving
what I have not talked about
is how the colors
 stick to the filters
​ in the first place.
​
And the reason for this 
is that they don't. 
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Watercolors hand made by Jodi Gear -both mineral and lake pigments
Unlike dyes,
which chemically bond with a fiber or a mordant,
or watercolors (and other paints),
where the finished pigment is mixed with a binder,
the particles of color on the filters
are essentially resting in place,
a bit like stains,
and are thus both fragile and potentially fugitive.

At first I didn't care about this--
didn't, in fact, even think about it. 
I just wanted to learn and play.
They were just coffee filters for goodness sake,
fished from Jodi's garbage can.
But as I spun more of them,
 wove paper tapestries,
and made the tapestries into books,
I couldn't help but notice
the occasional bit of color
​ coming off on my hands.
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My remedy of choice--
Soy Milk.
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Not, I hasten to say,
the stuff from the grocery store,
but rather the white milky liquid
you get when 
a handful of soybeans,
has been
soaked,
rinsed,
crushed,
thoroughly masticated with water,
(faster with a blender than a suribachi 
if not as photogenic),
then filtered
​and

diluted.
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At its most elemental,
it works like this:
when applied to fibers,
the proteins in the soy
(long chain polymers),
literally grab both the pigment particles
and the particles of paper
(or fiber if that is what you are using),
and hold on
in a kind of ever-tightening group hug
that won't let go,
the bond growing stronger over time
as the soy cures.

The process is called polymerization.
(explanation seriously oversimplified, of course).
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There is info on using soy milk for dyeing
around the world and across the web,

but since I learned about it
many years ago

from the amazing John Marshall
I will send you straight to 
-his recipe for making soy milk,
-his book, Salvation Through Soy,
and hope that while you are there
you check out more of 
his website
for his work in all areas
(katazome, fresh indigo dyeing, historic Japanese textiles....)
is fascinating and comprehensive.
He is also a generous and lovely person
and puts on a damned fine workshop.
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At any rate,
one of the ways that John uses soy milk
is as a "post sizing"--
a kind of fabric finish
that protects the cloth as well as binding the pigment
and that is the way I have been using it--
as though the filters were finished cloth.
Ideally,
I would have dipped
all of the colored filters in soy milk
the moment they arrived from Jodi
so they could have been curing
during the months I was working on other things.
Buy since I did not think about it then,
I've now been using it in three ways:

1.  dipping the remaining uncut filters and letting them dry

2. winding the paper yarn onto my willow distaffs,
painting the strands (as in the photo above),
then re-winding onto paper purns when dry.

3. painting the soy milk onto finished tapestries.

And that is where I am now.
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The first batch of yarn and uncut filters
has been curing for about a month,
and though it is probably a little early,
I may soon cut and spin a few
and try some rub tests,
just to see.
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I'll also probably continue
to treat the finished tapestries with soy milk--
not only to keep the pigments in place
but also for the long term protection
(what John has called the 'natural scotch-guard' effect),
provided the cured polymer--
especially those tapestries that will  go on
to have a working life.
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I'll keep you posted as I learn more,
and in the meantime,
feel free to use the comments
to share your own information
and experiences 
with all of us.
Thanks!
​Now, back to it.
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Jodi link
1/28/2020 03:26:04 pm

An “ever tightening group hug that won’t let go”. I love it!

Severine
1/28/2020 03:39:07 pm

Doesn't it mold? Soy milk is wonderful stuff but I don't think it has anti-fungal properties...

Sarah
1/28/2020 03:42:26 pm

No mold once it is dry. And I make it and use it the same day (after soaking over night that is). John recommends never keeping it longer than a day. So I don’t.

Kathy
1/28/2020 04:16:00 pm

Have you written somewhere about the willow distaffs? They are beautiful and simple, and I am very intrigued.

Sarah
1/28/2020 07:06:23 pm

Hi Kathy --
There are a few posts—none comprehensive, exactly, but enough info to go on. Try the blog posts called: “Oh, The Possibilities,” “Dress for Success,” and “The Fine and the Makeshift,” or go to the blog and type “distaff” into the search bar at the top.

I made them while the wood was flexible and green and of course all have since dried out, which makes them wonderfully light and manageable. I tend to use the slightly flatter one most often as it is the lightest. SUCH a blast all the way around as you can make exactly the shape, height and handle style you like —within the limits of the withies you can find, that is.

Michael F Rohde link
1/28/2020 04:28:28 pm

Have you tried this on wool yarn dyed with indigo, to stop crocking?

Sarah
1/28/2020 07:12:15 pm

Hi Michael — not on wool, though I dont’ see any reason that it wouldn’t work as John uses it on silk as well as linen etc, and highly recommends the post dye treatment for just that situation. Indeed, I remember that at a Natural Dye symposium in Iowa years and years ago, Roland Rickets appeared in John’s booth (where I was hanging out), with a suitcase full of his beautiful indigo resist pieces (one small piece of which I now own... lucky me), and the post dye treatment with soy milk was definitely a thing they both agreed upon, especially for the really rich, dark indigo as crocking happens so easily at depth of shade.
I’ve always meant to try it on wool, but haven’t. So if you do, please let me know!

June Covington
1/28/2020 05:06:28 pm

I do like the idea of soy milk as a fixative. I am less and less interested in using crystallized chemicals (and a mask plus gloves) to fix color in my work. Thank you for this reminder!

margaret clark
1/28/2020 05:13:22 pm

I agree that John Marshalls book on soy is a wonder and is his book on indigo. The best workshops too!

Sarah
1/28/2020 07:14:28 pm

Indeed, indeed! I feel so lucky to have been able to attend one —and though I never became a regular maker of katazome, I have used stencils, rice paste resist and indigo in some pretty satisfying ways — to make spotted fabric for repairing a quilt, for instance— and am so happy now to have had the soy milk solution at my fingertips.

Karen Williams link
1/28/2020 05:18:15 pm

I too am intrigued with your willow distaffs. They would be lighter than the unwieldy beasts I have on hand.

Excellent use of handcrafted soy milk!

Sarah
1/28/2020 07:07:15 pm

Hi Karen --
Just answered kathy’s question above, so the info is there.
Or type “distaff” into the search bar at the top of the blog page.
Thanks!

Meta Lau
1/29/2020 04:03:28 am

My father use to make this delicacy called “Tofu Fa”. My parents would invite all their Chinese friends for dinner and serve this for dessert. Add some gelatin to soy milk, heat, chill, and serve. I did not care for it but perhaps that was due to the stench of the (time consuming and messy) process of grinding and straining the soy beans. Next time you make a batch for your coffee filters, try heating a cup with a teaspoon of gelatin, chill in fridge and enjoy. (sorry, i don't remember the exact recipe but it has the consistency of jello. My parents would sprinkle a little sugar on top. Let me know if you like it. Meta Lau
P.S. LOVE your blog! I want to be you when I grow up...I’m counting the years when I can retire!

Sarah
2/4/2020 12:17:41 pm

That sounds weirdly delicious! I might just try it — though will have to move my operation into the kitchen and stop using my dyeing tools (not food safe....) Which reminds me that it would be a great idea to have a suribachi in the kitchen, not just the dye studio. Thank you! And for your lovely words.

laura
1/29/2020 05:17:43 am

Hello Sarah. I just bought a book called "Botanical Colour at your Fingertips" by Rebecca Desnos and she tells you how to process and pretreat your fibers in soya milk. She also has information and a ebook on how to use plant dyes on wood but I don't have that one so don't know if she uses soya milk or not. By the way soya milk is soymilk.

Sarah
2/4/2020 12:14:08 pm

Hey Laura — YES, I know of Rebecca D’s wonderful work. I should have referenced it in the post as it is super interesting, though focused on John’s info because he is so pigment-centric (vs dye, though he does talk about using natural dyes as well as pigments in his work). But yes, please, check out what Rebecca is doing — and her Plants Are Magic magazine

Jillayne link
1/29/2020 07:19:59 am

How wonderful this post is... I knew about using soy milk as a mordant but that it is also an effective fixative is something I did not know. I love that it can be used after the fact. Thank you Sarah!

Kris Nardello
2/3/2020 04:56:01 pm

Has anyone ever tried using soy milk with watercolor pigment sticks instead of water? Wouldn't that work for stenciling onto fabric like John Marshall does with the Japanese pigment sticks? I would think the polymerization would occur there, too.

Sarah
2/4/2020 12:10:03 pm

I don’t know about this but don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work. Any vehicle for getting the pigment onto the fabric seems appropriate, as long as the soy milk polymers can grab them. Sounds worthy of an experiment, that’s for sure!
You could also contact John M and ask him, as he has way more experience with stencils and soy milk than I.


Comments are closed.
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