Why I Use Majic Carpet Dyes For Colours To Dye For

Here is something I wrote Oct 31, 2007 to The Old Welcome Mat on the topic of why I use Majic Carpet Dyes in my RHM column.

Hi All, I have several interesting things to say about dyes and dyeing.
I want you to realize I am speaking generally here and not personally.

It is a fine line I walk my friends when writing my column.
You've got all these dyes ... yet I am using the ones you don't have.

But you want to make those colours I made.

Let's use an analogy.

I am a chef.
I write recipes for public consumption.
Do I use the unlimited ingredients and equipment that spare no expense I have on hand in my restaurant kitchen or do I try to create recipes for things people can easily get inexpensively ? Like broccoli.

If I write a recipe for broccoli soup you think sounds tasty do you expect me to turn the recipe into several variations for you using ingredients you have ? Or do you just say well I have no broccoli today but I do have cauliflower ... I think I'll give that a try.

If you want to make the soup as I have you have to get broccoli. But you don't need it.

In the previous RHM dye column Recipes From the Dye Kitchen you got one or two recipes with their intrepretations in other dyes. I 'd rather concentrate on expansiveness, lots of methods, what about trying this ..... have you ever though of that ..... recipes are the least of it for me.

I can't possibly meet these needs people have. For $60 a person can start dyeing if they buy Majic Carpet. They have the BEST of several colours and can dye anything.

There are NO true conversions among the dyes. Because each colour sold is a formulation in itself it cannot be directly substituted with exact results.
To extrapolate, let's say it takes ( and it doesn't really ) 2 tsp. cushing copenhagen blue + 1/2 tsp Prochem black and 1/32 turquoise to make majic carpet turquoise.

Because of rates of absorpstion and the fillers used in some dyes, and the way they are mixed up if you use several of these conversions to follow a recipe you will not get what you want anyway.
Think about your dyes microscopically.
They are like a bowl of m& ms.
Each time you draw out a spoonful you will get a different number of each colour.
One time the selection might have more reds, the next more green. This affects the end result colours more than any other factor, that and we cannot truly measure accurately.

Using conversions will muddy results more if you have several converted recipes to make up a formula.

See how complex it is to even talk about, never mind do.


And while I'm on that topic of results what you see in the magazine is not what will come out of your pot anyway.

Let's get back to dyeing, although I have said this already in my articles quite a few times... SO WHAT if you don't don't have that yellow, just try another yellow.
Isn't it better to dye by eye ?
Instead of majic carpet yellow, use the yellow you like and have.


Spend the time to figure out what you want to know.

Instead of thinking about what can't be done, get out your dyes and see what can be done.
Instead of expecting someone else to meet your needs met them yourself.

Frankly it's not me who is keeping you from what you want because I'm using these dyes... it's you.

In my last column the idea was use one or two dyes over tan.
Can't you do that without me telling you exactly what to use ????

I'm writing this with a smile on my face....
Holy Dye Pot !!!!!

Just wondering.... , don't you think that it's time for rug hookers to stop expecting to be breast and spoon fed ?
There is no reason for you NOT to pick up your own spoon, all wool is good wool. Dye like you want to learn.

Own your dyeing my ladies.

Don't wait or complain, get in there and get busy. That's the only way forward.