Republican Tunica Blues

[WillMH]

Hi everyone,

just before I start making 10 tunica's for the Xth Gemina recreation Keltica is working on, should the 1st BC tunica be as large and baggy as the later one which I have read so much about on RAT?

Also, I made ofr myself two weeks ago and being a typical man, put in in the washer to dye red and ended up putting it through on a hot cycle, it has turned to felt in patches. My wife just shook her head.

Will it be acceptable to wear this or should I just put it down to collateral damage?

[M. Demetrius]

Well, is it still comfortable on the body? If it is, wear it. If it's stiff in an uncomfortable place, looks like ya got yerself some focala material!

[Marcus Julius]

Also, I made ofr myself two weeks ago and being a typical man, put in in the washer to dye red and ended up putting it through on a hot cycle, it has turned to felt in patches. My wife just shook her head.

Dye in the washer? That's what she was shaking her head about! My wife would have my head, and send my body out to the Vandals if I tried doing that again...


...yes, I did say again. I've now learned that buckets are quite useful for dying. With a tiny bit of fore thought and planning, I can also stretch the same amount of dye out to more material/garments.

[WillMH]

Hi M Demetrius and Marcus Julius,

Firstly, yes its still very comfortable to wear, I was more worried about it looking like felt than wool.

Secondly, I always dye my gear in the washer, my Cloaks, some of my Celtic kit..it works really well, you just have to ensure its cold wash and don't let it spin, otherwise you lose your load of dye.

Its amazing what Javex can do to make the washer look white and as new. lol you should try it! Actually no, I wouldn't want you in the company of Vandals.

[M. Demetrius]

I use the washer, also. A little bleach and a rinse, and it's fine for the next load.

I did find out though, that if you wash your red linen tunica with a nice white wool one, you get, YIKES! Pinkish wool. Had to dye the pink to a beige by adding a little green. Couldn't stand it. Grr.

[Lepidina]

Men and laundry - *sigh*

Color catchers are your friend. You can get them at any grocery store in the laundry aisle. They are sheets that you put in the wash which will soak up any extra color that bleeds out of your clothing. I found out about these AFTER I turned the white diamonds on my kilt hose pink from washing them with I think my purple stola. I discovered bleach pens shortly afterwards too.

You can usually get dye out of clothing if you rewash it with the color catchers BEFORE you dry it. Once you dry it, the color is pretty much set in.

[M. Demetrius]

You are right, Lepidina, particularly on the point of "after it's been in the dryer". The solution to that now, is just to change the overall color, which I did, and make the tunic another hue. It's ok, it's has clavi anyhow, so the background color isn't so strict as if it were a military tunic.

Beige isn't bad with navy clavi. Looks pretty nice, in fact.

You know, about that red linen...I guess I just figured that since it had been washed about 20 times already it would behave. But nooooo, it had to have been saving up all that fade for the time that a nice, white tunic showed up.

[Lepidina]

You know, about that red linen...I guess I just figured that since it had been washed about 20 times already it would behave. But nooooo, it had to have been saving up all that fade for the time that a nice, white tunic showed up.

Some dyes just never set. One thing that us knitters do with handdyed yarn is handwash the yarn or the knitted item in cold water and vinegar which sets the color. Might work for the linen.

[M. Demetrius]

Thanks for that tip.

Some have told me that linen, real linen, doesn't take dyes very well, and the ancients generally didn't bother to dye linen so much for that reason. Once synthetic, oil based, and analine dyes came around, though linen was dyeable.

Have you noticed how many fabrics in the US stores call themselves linen, but are anything from rayon to polyester to cotton to who knows what? They look a little like linen fiber, but...never saw a flax plant.

Wool takes dyes very well, though, and could be dyed in a veritable rainbow.

[Lepidina]

Some have told me that linen, real linen, doesn't take dyes very well, and the ancients generally didn't bother to dye linen so much for that reason. Once synthetic, oil based, and analine dyes came around, though linen was dyeable.

Hurm. Interesting proposition. Analine dyes don't come about until like the 1860s but I've seen dyed linen before then. Makes me wonder how common it was since linen is a staple of reenactor clothing.

Have you noticed how many fabrics in the US stores call themselves linen, but are anything from rayon to polyester to cotton to who knows what? They look a little like linen fiber, but...never saw a flax plant.

That's something you have to watch out for in fabric stores. The other catch is that here in the US, 100% wool can mean up to like 20% non-wool. No, I don't understand it either. Linen is also a weave so many company make "linen" fabric that isn't from flax or combine it with another fiber. You can always burn test a swatch if you are concerned about the fabric content or get some mystery fabric that you aren't sure what it is.

[Tarbicus]

Some have told me that linen, real linen, doesn't take dyes very well, and the ancients generally didn't bother to dye linen so much for that reason. Once synthetic, oil based, and analine dyes came around, though linen was dyeable.

Hurm. Interesting proposition. Analine dyes don't come about until like the 1860s but I've seen dyed linen before then. Makes me wonder how common it was since linen is a staple of reenactor clothing.

Is that why so many Coptic fragments are the garment made of linen, but the coloured decoration is wool?

[M. Demetrius]

That's what I've heard, Tarbicus. You can try it, if you have any real linen, just dye it with grocery store water dyes (mostly those are vegetable) or dye it with yellow onion skins, for example. Dye a piece of natural wool along with it and notice the difference. I think plain table salt is the mordant for that, with a vinegar rinse, but I wouldn't swear to it. My wife knows more about the dyeing process than I do.

My specialty is fading cloth on other cloth. :roll: