Comment teindre vos cordes

Voici une méthode pour teindre vos cordes en chanvre ou en jute. C'est en anglais, puisque son auteur, -EM- est américainThis is based heavily on the techniques I learned from talking with knot_head, and also from watching a few videos on YouTube from the dye maker.The dye of choice for natural fibers is Procion dye from http://www.dharmatrading.com. You can use RIT dye from fabric outlets or hobby shops, but it's designed for white cotton and similar fabrics. Crimson dyes come out a beautiful burgundy. Navy blue turns out black.Procion dye is fiber-reactive and meant to dye natural fibers (hemp clothing for your neighborhood hippes, anyone?) and thus you get the color you want. It also comes out much more professional looking. It's also simple.You'll need 2 ounces of dye and the smallest bag of soda ash which Dharma sells in order to dye one rope kit. You can purchase soda ash locally, but I skipped the hassle and grabbed a bag of it. It looks much like baking soda.I use a five gallon bucket filled with 3-3.5 gallons of hot tap water. No need to boil it. Stir in the dye powder and one pound of NON IODIZED table salt . (Which runs 99 cents at the grocery store).Make sure that dissolves thoroughly. And do all of this outside with long rubber kitchen gloves on.Add your rope to the bucket. Make sure it all submerges (This dye mix did a dozen eight meter jute ropes with ease). Stir periodically and let soak for 30 mins.Now add two cups of soda ash to the water and stir in thoroughly. Without this step, the dye will bleed onto anything the rope touches. It kicks the pH of the mix to the alkaline end of the scale, and that change fixes the dye into the rope forever. Again, stir periodically and let soak for 15 mins.Rinse rinse, and rinse. Grab the hose and rinse the rope until it looks clear. Then fill the bucket with clear water and agitate the rope in it over and over. At this point the rope is now safe to handle barehanded. You might see slight color on your hands, but once it dries that will never happen again. Procion dye results in a totally colorfast rope.Hang the rope up to dry, and finish processing/waxing/oiling it however you prefer.I should also add that all dyes are a particulate, and the rope fibers act as a filter media. Unless your rope is twisted extremely tightly, this dye will penetrate to the core.However, whipped ends or terminating knots are a different matter. No dye I've tried has ever colored the inside of the knots. When you tie with the ropes a few times, the knot will shift a bit and tan will be exposed. Personally I prefer my ropes a bit long for dye baths. After it's dry I tie new end knots in the colored rope and snip the extra length off.