Dye plant opens new markets and design opportunities

Our dye plant was installed during the summer of 2008 and is now up and running and producing yarns in 10 different colours. The plant gives customers an additional service that can open up new markets and offers unlimited design opportunities.

It may help if you think of dyes in the same way as paint. Browns and greys, for example, go with a range of different things; blues match greys, golds match browns; pink, turquoise and purple go with either.

Our plan is to focus on standard shades although we will gradually add to the range. Due to the time and work required when matching specific requirements, we have to charge £15 per colour, and since natural wool varies considerably, we reserve the right to charge more when using deeper-colour dyes on certain yarns.

This year's shades include pastels and clearer colours; think of beaches, ice cream, terracotta, jades, sand, peaches and limes. There are plenty of greys and blues, but for deeper colours opt for reds, purples and dark greens. The key colours for the winter are red, black, grey, brown and purple.

Dyes approved for use with organic wool

We use acid-reactive dyes. In addition to hot water, all they need to complete the dyeing process is an acid and balancing agent.

All our dyes are organically approved to the Global Organic Textile Standard. Effluent from the dye vats is almost colourless as the fibre absorbs all the colour. We are able to dye either organic or non-organic yarns, but obviously these have to be done separately.

Try a one-hank sample

It may be best to start by dyeing a small quantity enabling you to make a pattern with the natural and dyed colours running together. You could, for example, dye perhaps 10% of a weaving yarn batch to add a few stripes or checks which will lift the natural colours.

Try starting with a one-hank sample, the smallest quantity we can accept. This would become part of a batch of 10kg or 25kg. To help you, we are prepared to combine yarns from several different customers to make up a batch.

Each yarn will take on its own unique shade because of the individual characteristics of the fleece and fibre. This means that although we will do all we can, we cannot guarantee that dyed colours from different batches will match.

Although we are hunting for a small-scale pressure dyeing machine that can be used for cones, at present we can only do hank dyeing.

Prices

Up to 1kg: £25

1-10kg: £20 a kilo

10-25kg: £15 a kilo

For larger quantities, space dyeing and specialist small batches, prices on application.