Sunday, March 8, 2015

Oopsie DIY


I love reading inspirational blogs for new ideas and one of my absolute favourites is Jenny Komenda's "Little Green Notebook". Jenny takes on a lot of DIY projects; some are simple, while others are more complicated. Recently she blogged about an easy project where she dyed an inexpensive cream flokati rug to a lovely blush pink. I decided that I would like to do the same with my flokati - I would dye it a soft lilac to complement my master bedrooom.


OOPS.

It turns out that my Ikea sheepskin was the genuine wool version, meaning that it was much more absorbent than Jenny's acrylic version. The fibers took the dye much faster than I expected and after just a few minutes in the dye bath, the rug was already quite dark. The soft lilac I envisioned came out about 10 shades too dark. Boo :( Does anyone have any ideas how to soften the colour? I'm wondering if bleach would work or if that's a bad idea.


At least it matches, so I can live with it, but I wish it was the pretty lilac shade I was aiming for.

5 comments:

  1. maybe if you wash it a few more times you can lighten it? Maybe stick in the sun this summer??

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  2. I actually like it. The colour picks up the dark tones in the picture next to your nightstand. If you want to fade wool, according to E-How: To safely bleach wool fibers, use a combination of hydrogen peroxide, washing soda and detergent.

    Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_12022551_bleach-wool-rug.html

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  3. I like the dark colour too. I'd be very hesitant to bleach it even with hydrogen peroxide. To bad you don't have a little piece to test.

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  4. I like it! It is so fun! But if you reeeeally want it lighter, I think Casey and Dharma have the right idea.

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  5. What kind of dye did you use? If you used Rit or Tintex, they both sell a colour remover. The Rit description says: "Rit Color Remover is used primarily to remove or reduce color from fabric prior to dyeing with Rit Dye. Color Remover is a non-chlorine, reductive type of bleach that will not damage or deteriorate washable fabrics as chlorine bleach will."

    That sounds like it would help take out some of the dye.

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