Cleaning up my act on the dye bench

[TwinOaks]

I'd like to suggest:

MORE CARE WHEN DYEING !!!!! _{Sorry Ray, somebody had to do it.}

I typically do all my large area dyeing outside with an airbrush. I use the cheap purple nitrile gloves to keep my hands clean. For inside work, since I'm on the dining room table I use waxed paper , or foil overlaid with newsprint.

For a full work bench, I think Craft paper/ Butcher's paper on a spool would be fantastic, as it would provide a clean surface every time AND room to sketch out notes or pattern variations.

My ONE dye spill is at the kitchen sink (BAAAADDDD KITTTY!!!) and I've since been informed that anymore dyeing of the counter tops may result in dying.

[wildrose]

Ray, you have my sympathy and complete understanding. In one of our houses, I was reduced to staining on top of the washer/dryer, and it got REALLY colorful.

I have a great set up now, with a bench at standing height that I use for staining (it's separate from my usual workbench). Still, it is mostly covered in stain/dye. I consider it character! Anyhow, it can lead to experience like yours: mess on clean projects. So what I usually do is use old clothes/rags to lay down under the piece. Then again, most of what I do is smaller pieces.

[pete]

2 things that may help. One is that I buy a roll of clear shelf liner and cover the slab. Easy to replace, doesn't absorb dye etc. Also, glue rubs of easily.

Second- I clean my brushes in a cap or two o reducer(thinner). I pour the dirty dye into another bottle. After a few jobs I have a bottle of really interesting dye that I use to clean the marble. Doesn't leave it colored

pete

[terrahyd]

my dipper don't drip.............doc............

[UKRay]

Lots of really good ideas and one or two that are definitely worth a try. Many thanks people.

Mike, I just looked at my leather receipts and did the sums - this past year I have dyed slightly more than a thousand square foot of leather by hand, mostly in the form of small items like pouches, belts, hair barrettes, bracers and bags - it is hard to be careful ALL the time but I do try!

If anyone else has any thoughts on ways to keep work clean then I'd be very pleased to hear 'em.

Thanks for all your contributions.

Ray

[Kevin]

I'm a Kraft paper kind of guy, I've thought about rosin paper, but that might be too expensive. Seems like I've read or heard about somebody that uses a window shade attatched to the end of the bench. I personally am afraid of newspapers, both because of the ink and I always seem to find something interesting to read that I missed the first time around.

Kevin

[barra]

Ray. Ultimately I would like to have a dedicated dye bench but space at the moment does not allow. A coulpe of things I do or have done.

1. I use an old plastic shower screen and lay it on the bench and lay my paper or similar on top of this.

2. I dye on a sheet of glass as it cleans up easily (presently using perspex)

made a dye/spray booth out of an old box and screwed bulldog clips around the tops on the inside. I then clip my sheets of paper to the bulldogs.

I decanter my dyes into small jars and only pour in small amounts at a time. If I do have a spill it is not a gallon of dye or so I have knocked over.

http://www.trojanhorseantiques.com/CoffeeMugPartners.jpg

The small jars I put inside a travel mug like the pic as the wide base makes it very stable.

Barra

[CitizenKate]

As you can see from this photo, when I go to work play at my bench, sometimes the color really flies. Not much I can do about the stuff that hits the wall - heheh!

But here is something I came up with that helps keep some of the mess off the bench. It's a blotter I make out of the 25"x18" sheets of newsprint I buy for shipping material. I take about 15 sheets of it, staple it together along one edge, to make a kind of blotter. It's thick enough to stop a dye spill. Then when it gets covered with dye or stain smudges or spills, I just tear off a sheet or two, and the blotter is clean and ready for the next job. When it gets down to about 5 sheets, I add more to it.

Kate

[celticleather]

I use 1mm thick greyboard, in A1 size. It's cheap, very absorbent, and made from recycled paper. When one side gets mucky, I just turn it over and use the other side. It's also useful for making templates.

[UKRay]

Okay, the clean-up decision has been made. A combination of Kate's newsprint paper blotter and Terry's grey board ought to do the trick. I have covered the filthy bench with two sheets of greyboard I have had stashed away for the past five years (where on earth can I get some more from, Terry?) and invested in £15 worth of bright new and very clean looking newsprint paper from a packaging company on eBay. I'll make myself a few pads and see how I get on.

For what it is worth, I thought almost the ideas (apart from Mike's - LOL) had merit but these were the easiest for me to implement.

Thanks for all the great ideas, folks. I'm in with a chance now...

Ray