Space Dyeing (Vat Colors)

On tone space dyed yarns
Naphthol Vat combinations for contrast shades.
Melange Yarns

Melange yarn is dyed before spinning. The yarn is produced from color printed tops or slivers. The color bands are short enough that each fiber has multiple colors. This results in a heathered effect after spinning.

Grindle Yarns
Grindle Yarnsare made  of 2 different shades which  doubled and twisted on Two-for-one twister.
Roving Grindle Yarn
Roving grindle yarns are made by mixing 2 different shade rovings  which are spun together to make beautiful yarns.
Jaspe Yarns

Space Dyeing (Naphthol Colors)

Using Single Naphthol Single Base

Undyed/light - dark dyed combination

Step 1:- Apply Naphthol to the entire material on roller dyeing machine. Do partial hydro extraction to remove excess naphthol.

Step 2 :-Devide the hank in 4 equal part and calculate the length of light/undyed part required in the folded hank.Set the water level in the machine upto the required undyed part ( just to dip the required length). Set the bath with acetic acid and soap at 85-90 0 C. Lower down the hanks in water , keep it for 10 min, The hanks will remain steady during this period. Lift the hanks and squeeze them manually to remove excess water other wise water will percolate down. The temperature and acid will remove the naphthol from this particular portion.

Step 3:-Rotate the hanks by half turn , so that washed portion go up and the opposite part comes to the right position. Repeat step 2 in the same bath.

Step 4:- Squeeze the material to remove excess water , the hanks will appear as in the fig. Make the base bath ready.

Step 5:- Run the entire material in the base bath as usual to develop the shade .The washed portion will remain white or lighter depending upon the effectiveness of washing , while the unwashed portion will develop fully.

Neutralise , soap and Rinse as usual.

Light and Dark Shade combination

Step 1:- Apply Naphthol to the entire material on roller dyeing machine. Do partial hydro extraction to remove excess naphthol.

Step 2 :-Devide the hank in 4 equal part and calculate the length of light part required in the folded hank.Set the water level in the machine upto the required undyed part ( just to dip the required length). Set the bath with cold water. Lower down the hanks in water , keep it for 10 min, The hanks will remain steady during this period. Lift the hanks and squeeze them manually to remove excess water other wise water will percolate down.The action of water will remove the naphthol from the dipped portion ,you can play with temperature for the desired depth.

Step 3:-Rotate the hanks by half turn , so that washed portion go up and the opposite part comes to the right position. Repeat step 2 in the same bath.

Step 4:- Squeeze the material to remove excess water , the hanks will appear as in the fig. Make the base bath ready.

Step 5:- Run the entire material in the base bath as usual to develop the shade .The washed portion will remain white or lighter depending upon the effectiveness of washing , while the unwashed portion will develop fully.

Neutralise , soap and Rinse as usual.

Contrast shade One naphthol - Two Bases

As we know that one naphthol can produce different tone when combined with different bases , this property of the azoics is exploited in this combination, different steps in this process are,

Step 1:- Apply Naphthol to the entire material on roller dyeing machine. Do partial hydro extraction to remove excess naphthol.

Step 2 :-Devide the hank in 4 equal part and calculate the length of light/undyed part required in the folded hank.Prepare the dye bath with the desired base and set the water level to desired height of first color. Lower down the hanks in water , keep it for 10-20  min,with manual stirring of the hanks but the hanks will remain steadly dipped in the developing bath during this period. Lift the hanks and squeeze them manually to remove excess base other wise base will percolate down.

Step 3:-Rotate the hanks by half turn , so that developed  portion go up and the opposite part comes to the right position. Repeat step 2 in the fresh or replenished developing bath.

Step 4:- Squeeze the material to remove base , the hanks will appear as in the fig. Make the base bath ready for the second shade.

Step 5:- Run the entire material in the base bath as usual to develop the shade .The already developed portion will remain as it is because there is no naphthol remained to react with fresh base , while the undeveloped portion will become the second color.

Neutralise , soap and Rinse as usual.

More contrast shades can be made by double dyeing method , such dyeing fully one shade , then applying fresh naphthol to the entire material and doing one method  any of  above three.

Note :- The calculations for base and chemicals are done the basis of approximate weight of the portion to be devloped.
Look for more Space dyeing with Vat Colors in Hank Form

Space Dyeing Techniques

Space dye refers to yarn with multiple colors printed on each strand which may or may not repeat after a fixed interval.

The space dyed are used to produce beautiful effects after knitting, weaving ,decorative stitching or embroidery. The colored band pattern and their length depends upon the desired effect.


There are five basic processes used to create this effect:
Space dyeing in package form
Various package dyeing machines , with a single package dyeing capacity are available in which we can dye up to 8 colors , each color is having a different feed tank as well as injector pump . The color is injected at a fixed place at high pressure and collected through vacuum .
This type of machine is used to create beautiful patterns of dyed patches on packages , with good sharpness .The dyed time is extremely low . The packages are taken for further color fixation and washing in another set of machines such as autoclave and yarn dyeing machines.
Click for image



Space dyeing in hank form
This is a simpler process to produce tie dye effects in the knitting yarns and embroidery threads.

The process which can be employed are,
a. By spraying the colors on a layer of hanks at fixed places , which is forced through hanks with pressure and collected underneath by vacuum. The yarns are the dried , and cured for color fixation and the washed.
b. The roller dyeing machines can be used very effectively for space dyeing with vat and naphthol colors. Even reactive dyeing is also possible with a slight modification of machine for mercerized cotton as well as rayon.

Space Dyeing Using Naphthol dyes on Roller Dyeing Machine

c. Package dyeing machine with fiber carriers can be used for space dyeing in polyester hanks , but the method involves a higher labor cost. But desired effects can be obtained with this method.

Watch video of the Multi color space dyeing machine

The yarn printing process or The warp system

In the warp system, multiple strands of yarn are continuously printed at spaced intervals with different colors. These yarns usually have “long” spaces of each color. Typical color lengths are 3”–7” .

The knit-de-knit process
In the knit-de-knit process, the yarn is first knitted into a tubular fabric (sock), dyed to a solid color and then overprinted with up to seven different colors. The socks are then de knitted , producing contrast effect of overprinted and base colors , because the overprinted colors do no penetrate at the yarn crossing points. These yarns usually have “short” (1/8”–1/4”) spaces of color.

The continuous dye process.
In the continuous dye process, yarn is dyed as singles or plied yarn and color is applied either by air jet or dye troughs. This process allows for yarns to have either long or short spaces of color .

useful links in space dyeing are :-
http://www.floorbiz.com/carpet/carpet-buying-guide/dye-methods/space-dyeing.htmhttp://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-space-dyeing.htm
http://printedyarn.com/yarn-printing-machinery.html

Tie and Dye
What is tie-dye Read
Bandhani-Indian Tie and Dye

Dyeing Method

Method of dyeing by hand in which coloured patterns are produced in the fabric by gathering together many small portions of material and tying them tightly with string before immersing the cloth in the dyebath. The dye fails to penetrate the tied sections. After drying, the fabric is untied to reveal irregular circles, dots, and stripes. Varicoloured patterns may be produced by repeated tying and dipping in additional colours. This hand method, common in India and Indonesia, has been adapted to machines.

For any clarification of space dyeing of yarn in hank form please mail at dyeingworld@gmail.com
Comparative study of tie dye methods