Dharmaset (Acid) Dyes

These are pre-metalized dyes which means they hold color and can do amazing solids with your yarn. Sometimes you need solids. Toe and heel yarn for socks these are fabulous. I also use these for kettle dyes and anything with Alpaca in it. They don't fade give me grief and you can get the most amazing (Blue Box Special Jewelry Store) blue that you've ever encountered. Use the 714 at .1% and see for yourself. I do not use Albegal and do fine but I've been dyeing with these for years. You can use them with the acid dyes but the acidity must be a tad lower. I always use Ammonium Sulfate and Glauber's Salt with these and keep the pH around three. I have a meter and although you don't need one if you are going to dye for sales you probably want one. The regular acid dyes do well at a higher pH even around five but these like it lower. I also put them in a slow rising temp bath. Your mileage may vary. The black alone is so worth it. The depth of shade is amazing and it holds up really well even in superwash socks I've been known to wash by accident in the machine. You cannot go wrong with these if you follow all the instructions and test them at .1% .5% 1% 2% and higher on black. The colors are rich and gem-like without overpowering. You can go for stripes and variegation a lot of people do. However like I wrote above for solids and tonals this is my go-to favorite hands down. Worth a slight bit more time. In my experience the 701 yellow will go bad faster than the other colors in a dye stock solution. I don't make up tons even though I mix it more than the other colors to make more colors I just do it a bit more often. Your nose will tell you when it's time to make new. I keep a 2% and a .5% stock solution of all the colors at the ready. I do add a titch of rubbing alcohol into the mix. I've also had amazing success with using all the Dyes Dharma sells with Distilled Water. It makes the colors pop and our water pH is a tad high here about 9. I thought I was seeing things when I tested it but that's where Ann Arbor keeps it's water pH at. If your pH is high you need more acid to get your acidity to 5 or below. If you are on city water and dye with it your city water department can tell you your average pH level for your water. If it's not online it's more than worth a call. They get those a lot and not just from dyers.

I have been using Lanaset for years and have an extensive collection of dye samples and formulas. Happy to report that these from Dharma do indeed match the Lanaset colors purchased elsewhere. I am starting to host "dye days" with my fiber guild and am glad that now I can buy ALL my favorite dyes and supplies from Dharma!

My first use of Lanaset dyes and I am totally blown Away by the brilliant density of colour ease of use and total take up of dyeI used Golden Yellow Red and Bordeaux in stripes of dye powder on layers of wool in a slow cookerThe result was fantastic mottled reds oranges yellows and dark magenta to make the most sublime merino sock wool you could wish for !!!Loris at McAuslin Merino

I wish I could add a picture! Im fairly new to dyeing with acid dyes (besides food coloring). Even though the Dharmaset dyes are apparently harder to use I like that they are supposed to be more colorfast. I did and experiment with none of the extra chemicals first to see if I really needed them. The colors definitely arent as deep and beautiful. Today I got two gorgeous shades of purple mixing the red and blue 2:1 and 1:1. I miscalculated and used a bit too much dye so I have a beautiful tonal set of silks in each purple as I kept tossing in another silk trying to exhaust the bath. So excited to make some beautiful greens and oranges next!

Great stuff!