Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Garment Dyeing

Over-dyeing is a great way to recycle and reuse a garment that you are not ready to part with. The garment in question may be a perfect but worn-out skirt that you've had since college. Or maybe you can't find just the right color cami in the store and would like to create a custom shade. Or you would like to give a whole new life to your wedding dress. The possibilities are as numerous as the contents of your closet.


There are many garment dyeing techniques and brands of dye on the market. There are just as many fabric dyeing recipes and variations. It seems to me that most people never follow a recipe perfectly. Last week when looking at a highly rated oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe, I read through hundreds of comments that read something like this: "Great recipe! I added less sugar and substituted butter with margarine. The cookies came out just as perfect as the recipe said they would." or " I used less oats and more flour and the cookies turned out as awesome as all the other people said they would!" Just like the perfect oatmeal cookie, there is no one correct garment dyeing recipe. And like with the oatmeal cookie, there is a chance that the end product will come out lousy or fabulous despite incomplete adherence to the original recipe. The anticipation of the finished chewy chocolate chip cookie (or a perfect shade of green dress) is simply exhilarating. That's a chance I was willing to take! After some research and despite some protests, I dyed an ivory silk dress green. (It is worth mentioning that Chemistry was my favorite class in college!)

This is my version for water immersion method for a long ivory silk dress and is mostly here for me to remember what I did:


Ingredients:
1 2/3 oz. container of Procion MX teal powder dye (found at Blick Art Supply stores)
1 cup Soda ash aka sodium carbonate (also at Blick Art Supply stores)
6 cups Non-iodized salt (found at any supermarket)
6 gallons of lukewarm water (75-100 degrees)
12 gallon plastic storage bin (or a similar size glass, plastic, or stainless steel container that is not used for food)
2 large plastic yogurt containers (or similar containers that are not used for food)
2-3 plastic spoons
1 stirring stick (found at Home Depot or any paint store) or a wire hanger
2-3 old towels
a box of latex gloves

Directions:
Prewash the garment, if it has never been washed before, taking care to remove stains. Sadly, the dye will not cover up stains.
Fill the tub with lukewarm water and let your garment soak.
Line the bathroom floor with old towels and place the dye bath container on the towels
Fill the container with 6 gallons of lukewarm water
Dissolve 6 cups of non-ionized salt in the dye bath, taking care that all of the salt is in solution
Measure out 1 cup of soda ash and dissolve in hot water in one of the large yogurt containers, set aside
Put gloves on
Add 1 cup of lukewarm water to the second yogurt container, add the dye, and mix thoroughly making sure that there are no clumps
Add the dye water to the dye bath, taking care to stir constantly until all the dye is completely dissolved
Wring out your garment and add to the dye bath, leaving the water in the tub for rinsing
Stir with a wooden stick or your gloved hand constantly for 15-20 minutes to make sure that all garment surfaces are exposed to the dye.
Take the garment out of the dye bath and add soda ash taking care to dissolve the soda ash completely
Put your garment back into the dye bath and continue to agitate for 15-60 more minutes.
After 30-60 minutes in the dye bath, wring our your garment and rinse in the water used to soak it initially.
Continue to rinse until the water runs clear.
Hang your garment on the line to dry.

General recipe:

1 gallon water - 1 c of salt - 1/6 c soda ash - 1 Tbsp dye
Usually 3 gallons of water are used for 1 lb of dry fabric/garment

More garment dyeing resources:

http://fabricdyeing101.blogspot.com/
jacquardproducts.com
ritdye.com
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing.shtml

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Gloomy Sunday Split Pea Soup

While the weather on the east coast has been heating up, today was a gloomy sunday in Los Angeles. This day reminds me of Gloomy Sunday, a beautiful film set in lovely Budapest in the 1930's.



Ingredients:

2 small yellow onions, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large carrot, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 large potato, diced
1 cup of dry green or yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
1 lemon (zest and juice)
6 cups of water
olive oil
cumin
paprika
salt
pepper
2 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (optiona)
1/4 cup quinoa (optional)

Directions:

Saute onions in a soup pot in plenty of olive oil on medium heat until golden brown.
Add lemon zest, cumin, garlic and lots of paprika and mix well with the onions.
Add carrot, zucchini, potato, split peas (and quinoa) and let saute until the veggies are well coated in olive oil.
Add water, cover and bring to boil; put the heat on low and cook for 30-60 more minutes until the split peas are soft.
Take off the heat.
Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, Bragg's liquid aminos.
Puree in a classic blender or use an immersion blender.
Enjoy with toast and avocado!

Nature Cure Cook Book



At a local library book sale, I came across Nature Cure Cook Book, penned in 1918 by Henry Lindlahr, MD, one of the pioneers of the Nature Cure movement and of Naturopathic Medicine. In fact, Dr. Lindlahr's Philosophy of Natural Therapeutics is a required text in the first semester of naturopathic education.

Before delving into specific remedies, Lindlahr warns that "even the most wholesome foods, in the best possible combination, cannot be properly digested and assimilated if the digestive organs are in a sluggish, atrophic condition. In such cases these organs must be made alive and active through natural methods of treatment." This remains one of the most fundamental principles in naturopathic medicine.

The Nature Cure Cook Book divides all food elements into five categories: starches (St), sugars (S), fats/oils (F), proteins (P), and minerals (M). Each recipe denotes which food elements it contains. This type of notation enables the patient to remain on the prescribed diet. For example, the patient who is prescribed a low-carb diet will know to exclude recipes that have starches and sugars and go straight to the Dandelion and Orange Salad recipe which contains minerals, fat, and protein.

Nature Cure Cook Book: Dandelion and Orange Salad (M,F,P)
Wash the dandelion leaves in very cold water to make them crist; cut into shreds with scissors; peel and chip sweet oranges in proportions of 1 orange to each cup of shredded dandelion.
For a dressing, rub the salad bowl with a garlic, cut a stalk of leek into fine rings, add a little salt, a dash of cayenne pepper, and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir well, add the orange and dandelion, toss together with a wooden fork and spoon. Cover with sliced hard-boiled eggs. This salad should be served as soon as mixed.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Zuquinoa (Zucchini + quinoa)



As a memeber of the squash family, Zucchini is not a well received vegetable in my household. However, thinly sliced and sauteed with onions in some good old olive oil, it is really tasty and flavorful. Quinoa is another common under-utilized staple that works really well with sauteed zucchini. For this recipe you can use the common solid green zucchini or its shorter speckled sister. You can substitute quinoa with red quinoa, brown rice or wild rice. You can add some kick with cayenne pepper, or sweeten it with extra paprika. It is all up to you. Give this easy-peasy recipe a try!

Ingredients:
4 zucchinis, peeled and cut into very thin rings
2 medium onions, peeled and cut into very thin slices
1 cup of dry quinoa
about 1/2 cup of olive oil
1/2 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
2 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp paprika
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large cast iron pan, on medium heat, saute onions in plenty of olive oil until golden brown.
2. Add cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and mix well.
3. Add sliced zucchini and let saute until the zucchini is coated in olive oil and soft.
4. While the onions and zucchini are sauteing, rinse 1 cup of quinoa; cook in a rice cooker until fluffy.
5. Add quinoa to the onions and zucchini mixture and mix well.
6. Add lemon juice, cilantro and adjust salt and pepper.
7. Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

A Different View of Vinyl


Last month, I began talking about environmental pollution and how in nature everything is connected (when we harm the environment, we harm our health). Let's go further by talking about indoor air pollution. Potential home owners are warned to check a home that they are considering buying for indoor pollutants such as mold, asbestos, and radon. However, as soon as the house is closed on, the new owners may unknowingly introduce new indoor pollutants. Because most Americans spent about 90% of their time indoors - indoor pollutants present a big health risk.

The topic of today's post is indoor air pollution or off-gassing created by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) found in vinyl shower curtains and mattress covers. If you who are not familiar with the term off-gassing, think back to the day you bought a new see-through shower curtain or a shower curtain liner and hung it up. The strong plastic smell is the off-gassing of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). These particles are neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors. Moreover, when vinyl is manufactured and destroyed, dioxins (chemicals that cause reproductive problems, cancer, and birth defects) are released into the air. Judith Helfand's documentary Blue Vinyl is a good examination of the toxic effects of PVCs used in production of vinyl siding, shower curtains and toys.

If you are in the market for a new shower curtain, consider these alternatives to the smelly vinyl version:

  • Hemp
  • Cotton
  • Polyester

After some research and price comparison, I picked up a basic washable polyester shower curtain. It has been over a year and this curtain looks as good as new. I wash it every few weeks in the washing machine and let dry on the line in the sun. No water soaks through and there is no evidence of water/soap build up.

Has anyone used a hemp or a cotton shower curtain?