BS: why is red dye never fast ??

Subject: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Mr Red
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 07:34 AM

personally I do a red wash followed by a dark wash. Whites have to wait.

But GF (who does not wash my clothes) asked "why is red the one colour that is never fast?"

Any chemists amongst us?

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: MMario
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 07:47 AM

There are reds that are colourfast; but red tends to be the colour that is supersaturated, the fibers have far more dye on/in them then they can take up and thus when washed some comes out.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Mr Red
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 07:53 AM

wot? You mean I have to be over the top? As if!

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 02:47 PM

Long ago I worked briefly in a print shop. As I remember, red paint was quite, quite different in its properties than, say, black. I don't remember the reason(s) for it but there are known ones.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: GUEST,
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 03:05 PM

If all your clothes are red, does it matter?

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: GUEST,Modette
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 03:18 PM

In a different life, many moons ago, I tested cloth for Marks & Spencer. Of the dyes that company used, the blues and the greens generally did not run when tested (and, hopefully, when washed by purchasers). However, the reds and yellows (and I'd include pink and orange there too)were far less satisfactory, but my experience was that yellow was far more likely to run than red.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: GUEST,verve
Date: 15 Nov 15 - 04:10 PM

Mr Red - pinterest.com 

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: BobL
Date: 16 Nov 15 - 04:18 AM

Anecdotal explanation, i.e. I'm not a physicist so this isn't an authoritative answer, I read it somewhere in the New Scientist "Last Word" column but I can't find the original.

Essentially, the energy of light depends on the frequency: blue light has a higher frequency than red, so its photons are more energetic. And dye works by absorbing the light of other colours - so red dye absorbs light from the blue end of the spectrum. The higher energy breaks down the dye molecules more readily.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 16 Nov 15 - 11:27 AM

When I was younger people were taught to add plenty of salt when washing coloured garments for the first time, to fix the dye. It seemed to work.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 Nov 15 - 04:07 PM

taught to add plenty of salt when washing
AH! mordant enough?*

BobL - I like your explanation. It has that light touch!

Modette - interesting, yellow is my favourite colour - but I would look a bit of a wally in yellow. And I don't want to look that do I?

Verve - vinegar eh? I take that with a pinch of salt. Don't want to develop a fix-ation!

* technical joke.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Leadfingers
Date: 16 Nov 15 - 06:41 PM

Cresby - No mate - Over the Top id certainly not you mate

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 16 Nov 15 - 08:36 PM

And red cars fade too! My son's old VW Polo was just about pink before it went to the scrap yard. Just wondering what will happen to our current cars, which just happen to be red (er, well, they are at the moment!) Didn't choose red, by the way, just what was going in 2nd-hand models when we bought them. ( Second-hand Rose?)

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Mr Red
Date: 17 Nov 15 - 04:47 AM

Red car paint often has a UV filter over it, as a lacquer. You can see it on old cars, peeling off. Pinker where it has peeled.

Terry - I may not be over the top but I have popped my head above the parapet a few times. When I see red that is.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 17 Nov 15 - 11:20 AM

"Why is red dye never fast?"

Because it's made out of snails, of course. I thought
everybody knew that!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Nov 15 - 10:16 AM

I have two red blouses and red sheets, and they don't fade in the wash. Maybe only old-fashioned reds fade.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Nov 15 - 12:18 PM

The red velvet made as much as 100 years ago is still vibrantly red!?
Perhaps because it has avoided the sun but still.

Some fast reds in art are highly poisonous like Cadmium.

btw You got that right about red cars

Violins do not retain a strong red even with the Dragon's blood formula.

You might try certain inks when dealing with cloth and research the red dye for silk.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Nov 15 - 02:17 PM

Doesn't this have to do with the midaevil (I have given up trying to spell that word) discovery of madder?

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: LadyJean
Date: 18 Nov 15 - 07:55 PM

Wash bleeding fabric with a cup of vinegar and some salt. I've had some blues that bled too.

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Mr Red
Date: 19 Nov 15 - 07:31 AM

Blues is all about bleeding misery. Especially when you wake up in the morning.

I thought madder was quite dark and nearly brown/brown-maroon.

Incedentally maroon comes from the French for chesnut (marron) and originally described that sort of brown, it has morphed into a description of dark reds with a hint of the blues in it.

Did I ever report my dream where all my clothes turned dark. When I awoke, I realised I had been marooned.





I'll get my scarlet uniform...........

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 19 Nov 15 - 07:53 PM

What do you mean? "red dye is never fast.

Have you seen the speed at which it gets into other clothes?

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 20 Nov 15 - 08:35 AM

And have you seen the speed of Ferraris?

Subject: RE: BS: why is red dye never fast ??
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 Nov 15 - 02:36 PM

There was one down my street a while back, quite convincing, but the badge said:

Fauxrarri

But at least it was red