Five Words from Vanishing Fleece

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They’ll run fibers from multiple canisters together to further blend and unify what comes out the other end. It’s a crucial step that enables that chemical reaction to take place and for dye to attach to wool fibers through what’s called the “ionic process. ” A commonly-used mordant in yarn-dyeing is alum (aluminum sulfate). “Carbonizing is the process of treating wool with acids to remove vegetable matter. Nobody offers this in the United States anymore. ” In carbonization, the wool is immersed in sulphuric acid, which burns away the vegetable matter but doesn’t harm the wool fibers.

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