Cleaning up my act on the dye bench

[celticleather]

Greyboard can be bought from http://www.roberthor...ined-greyboard/. Or (cheaper option!) talk to your local printer. It's often used in the packaging for printing plates.

[UKRay]

Thanks, Terry. I'll give them a call - after I've had a chat with the printer!

Ray

[BradB]

I just use newspaper or old magazines, I have used kitchen garbage bags (don't throw away when you are done, let them dry and you can use them in the kitchen). If you have the room you could just make a dedicated dying area, that is my hope some day!

Let us know what your final solution is!!!!

[BearMan]

Hi Ray, & All,

What I use, I actually have to buy,,, but I feel it's worth it. What I use is, the Puppy Training Pads, they are about 20" square, & are waterproof on the back, & Very absorbant on the top. I've been pretty lucky lately, & have been able to use the same one for the last several projects. They cost about $8.00, for 15 of them. When you are done with them, either throw them away, or re-use them. They have saved my bench a couple times, from spillage. Although, I do use a dye bottle holder, to support the bottle while open.

I hope this helps some,,, Ed the"BearMan"

[dirtclod]

I use cardboard sometimes and it's free. Other times i use a piece of plywood from a old drawer i took apart. Both work fine.

John

[budd4766]

I just put an old shower curtain on my table.

[UKRay]

Feedback:

The newsprint packing paper pads are plenty big enough and work really well for absorbing the mess from 'wet' dyeing and edge staining and the greyboard really does soak up the odd dribble of dye that escapes when I'm busy.

The downside: The absorbent newsprint paper is quite soft and inclined to screw itself into a ball if I'm burnishing the surface of the item - Yes Mike, I should probably rub more carefully - so I now burnish on the, much stiffer, greyboard before applying a finish coat...

Apart from that there isn't a downside. As a bit of paper becomes impossibly grubby I screw it up and use it for fire lighting. Job done!

Thanks again Kate and Terry - and all the others who contributed.

Ray

[frank207]

hi,

I have a 2'x 2' piece of thick glass and use newspaper on top of that. When done I throw out the paper and if the glass gets dye on it I wipe off with some alcohol. I don't do alot of dyeing yet but this seems to work for me so far.

Frank

[JohnD]

When I was looking for a slab for tooling, the lady at the granite counter place directed me to their junk pile so I ended up with a couple of decent sized (about 2'x3') pieces. I use one of those to dye on with a few pieces of the local free paper. Like with the glass, any dye that gets on it just wipes off with some acetone or alcohol. And the best part is, it cost me nothing.

John

Edited December 24, 2009 by JohnD