Comments on: Troubleshooting a Hydros Indigo Vat

By: vic

vic — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 21:46:00 +0000

In reply to Phoebe Wilding. They're basically the same. Speak to your dye supplier for help :)

By: Phoebe Wilding

Phoebe Wilding — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 02:30:50 +0000

Oh man!! Can anyone’s please tell me the difference between a hydro and thiox vat? I’m currently working with thiox, soda ash indigo ratio and regularaly run into issues no matter how hard I’ve tried to make friends and ‘get to know the indigo’. I have had a few successful sessions in the past.
I need to be dyeing pretty regularly but my vat never wants to keep its flower for more than a day or two and after the first few sessions appears to imbalance pretty quickly.
My raw silk yarn didn’t appear to fully take the dye as it appears more like washed denim.
Would love some helpful tips!

Thanks from NZ

By: Anne Leon

Anne Leon — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 21:00:46 +0000

Thanks for your simple and great advice ! Just wondering how long a hydros vat can last? Sometimes I get 2 or 3 days at the most … Adding hydros when I probably needed to add soda ash has given the shibori a “cracked” look! And quite light in some places . Can I revive it?

By: Jacqui

Jacqui — Tue, 03 May 2016 02:57:37 +0000

I had this exact problem 2 days ago. Ur story has helped me immensely. Thanks and indigo wishes ?

By: Papergluebamboo

Papergluebamboo — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 19:09:45 +0000

In reply to vic. Vic Hi! Hope your journey in Japan is rolling out beautifully - thanks for the response. Your absolutely right about the ratio's, managed to keep it fed for about a month following your?Liles test. and since December have had some spectacular results! Yesterday fed the ( same) vat yet another new stock solution. Im using Soda Ash/ Thiox/ indigo combo. Having similar woes today, and believe my Thiox might be damp therefore the reduction of the indigo is not happening as well as it ought to. Enjoy Nippon! Best George a.k.a papergluebamboo

By: vic

vic — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 21:45:32 +0000

In reply to Adriana.

Hi Adriana,

There isn’t really a hard and fast rule on how much hydros to add, I guess it depends on how “dead” your vat was. If it had been resting for a few weeks, I’d actually not bother, mostly because they start to really whiff!

If you’ve done the test and added soda ash and that hasn’t worked, then add a few teaspoons of hydros as well. The hydros amount depends on how much water is in your vat. Think about how many you added to start it. If it is completely gone, add that much again. If it just needs a lift, and 1/4 of that amount and so on. It’s impossible to really give quantities, especially without seeing the vat. As you go along you’ll find natural dyes are not an exact science. It’s a good life lesson! Good luck :)

By: Adriana

Adriana — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 20:33:53 +0000

Hi Vic! First time trying to bring back muy vat. I’m sort of stuck. Any hint about how mucho to add? I have done your test and needs soda ash, but by now I have added quite a lot and the vat is still dead.
Love your work and your blog

By: vic

vic — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 09:09:44 +0000

In reply to Papergluebamboo.

hi, for some reason i didnt see this post!

I’m not sure what type of vat you are running, but a thiox vat is similar to a hydros vat. it sounds like you don’t have your ratio’s right from the start if nothing is happening in the beginning. so perhaps go back to your recipe, and check your scales and see if you’ve got the right amount of each ingredient going in?

By: Papergluebamboo

Papergluebamboo — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 01:41:18 +0000

I’m having horrid woes currently with my vat. Purchased a new stainless steal pot too in order to heat it up. Added thiox it shifted slightly, but the next day returned to it’s same sullen dark blue with a tinge of dark green to it. So I hit it up with lye and turned up the heat once more. A brief change in its ghastly shade of dark blue to dark green but it wouldn’t or rather didn’t fix completely to the cloth, which was prepped… I’ll try tomorrow with both lye and thiox in separate jars to see which way I’m meant to take it….thank you for sharing! Onward indigo soldiers! Any other pointers greatly received!

By: vic

vic — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:40:20 +0000

In reply to Nat. That would be absolutely amazing! I would love to do that. I've been devouring your blog all night, your work is so very very inspiring! I also realised that I was commenting on a post that was 2 years old, so I'm sure there is a lot you could teach me about indigo as well! I will send you an email very soon and we can organise a meet up, there is always so much to learn :)