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Aluminum acetate is preferred by many dyers for mordanting cellulose fibers. Many dyers achieve brighter stronger colors with it over the traditional potassium aluminum sulfate and washing soda method. It has a strong acetic acid smell and is a very fine airborne powder so you must wear a N95 mask or respirator when handling it. You can skip the pre-mordant tannin bath, but you must do a calcium carbonate or wheat bran bath afterwards.
Mordant recipe for cellulose fibers:
Scour the fibers. Wear a mask and gloves and weigh out aluminum acetate at 8-10% WOF. Dissolve it in hot water. Fill a dye pot with hot tap water (enough to submerge the fibers). Add the dissolved aluminum acetate and steep the fibers for at least 2 hours or as long as overnight. Be sure the fibers remain submerged at all times. Remove the fibers, wring them out and submerge them in a calcium carbonate (chalk) bath for 5-10 minutes. To make the chalk bath fill a bucket with 1 gallon of hot water and add 30 grams of calcium carbonate. Stir well with a whisk. After the chalk bath rinse the fibers in cool water, wring out and proceed to dyeing or hang to dry to dye another day.
100 grams per packet
Aluminum acetate is preferred by many dyers for mordanting cellulose fibers. Many dyers achieve brighter stronger colors with it over the traditional potassium aluminum sulfate and washing soda method. It has a strong acetic acid smell and is a very fine airborne powder so you must wear a N95 mask or respirator when handling it. You can skip the pre-mordant tannin bath, but you must do a calcium carbonate or wheat bran bath afterwards.
Mordant recipe for cellulose fibers:
Scour the fibers. Wear a mask and gloves and weigh out aluminum acetate at 8-10% WOF. Dissolve it in hot water. Fill a dye pot with hot tap water (enough to submerge the fibers). Add the dissolved aluminum acetate and steep the fibers for at least 2 hours or as long as overnight. Be sure the fibers remain submerged at all times. Remove the fibers, wring them out and submerge them in a calcium carbonate (chalk) bath for 5-10 minutes. To make the chalk bath fill a bucket with 1 gallon of hot water and add 30 grams of calcium carbonate. Stir well with a whisk. After the chalk bath rinse the fibers in cool water, wring out and proceed to dyeing or hang to dry to dye another day.
100 grams per packet
