We receive questions often about our silk ribbon and silk
ribbon in general. Here we have compiled many of these most
common questions for you. Hope they help!
Yes,
our hand dyed silk ribbon is washable, but gentle
hand washing with a mild soap is recommended. There
will be some initial bleeding with very dark colors.
We recommend that you pre rinse dark colors in vinegar
before applying them to light colored clothing or
other washables.
No,
it is easy and fun to dye your own silk ribbon!
Silk accepts dye more readily and beautifully than
any other natural fibre. It is not allot different
than dying easter eggs. Helpful items include a
microwave or stove to heat the water, small glass
bowls to hold they dye (bowls should be reserved
for dye use only), vinegar and paper towels and
your dyes. Most of these are already in our homes.
There are lots of great silk dyes on the market
at different price ranges, so it is really a matter
of personal taste and what type of results you are
looking for. My personal favorite is Jacquard Acid
dyes. Acid dyes produce the most vibrant colors
with silk. Jacquard does not sell directly to the
public, but they have a store locater on their website
to help you find where to get their products: http://www.jacquardproducts.com/
Rit dye (found at most Drug, Discount and Craft
stores) also works nicely. Another great silk dye
for small quantity dying is Colorhue, sold by Things
Japanese. Colorhue is nice and convenient because
there is not heat required, they are a type of fiber
reactive dye that sets instantly.
Dyes can get expensive, so for an inexpensive method
that works great, try good old Kool Aid. It is also
an acid dye and believe it or not works great, especially
for small quantity dying. Below are a couple of
links for great sites with instructions on how to
dye using Kool Aid:
There
are several reasons for this. Chinese silk is generally
not as good a quality as Japanese silk. Not because
of inferiority in silk worms, but rather because of
the methods of handling, inconsistency, and because
standards have not been insisted upon by the Chinese
government. By contrast, Japanese silk production
has increased in quality and reputation over the years.
The government has carefully promoted the industry,
insisting on honesty, consistency and on scientific
care in handling the fibre. That is not to say that
chinese silk is not a good product, some of the finest
silk in the world comes from China, but Japanese silk
ribbon is generally a better product. A second reason
for the huge difference in price is the comparison
of the value of the japanese yen to the US dollar.
The third and final is the fact that there is only
one major silk mills in Japan that produces the this
silk ribbon your are familiar with packaged and sold
under the brand names YLI and United Ribbons. One
company has exclusive import/export rights to the
product in North America, which in turn eliminates
the possibility of any other companies importing the
ribbon, thus eliminating room for price negotiation.
It is also important to note that some sellers, particularly
on auction sites sell Chinese ribbon and ribbon products
marketed as being Japanese ribbon. If you are purchasing
silk ribbon that is marketed as Japanese ribbon, but
the price is considerably lower than what you expect,
this is a red flag that it probably is not.
This
is really a matter of personal preference. Japanese
silk ribbon has some very loyal users who will use
nothing else, and by contrast Chinese silk ribbon
has it's own loyal users who feel it is much
more affordable and suits their needs and budget perfectly
well. Our personal opinion is that Chinese ribbon
is very well suited for our projects and a good product
and value for the price. We do not see allot of difference
ourselves between the appearance and workability between
two until you start working with the wider ribbons,
13mm and 32mm especially, and to a smaller degree
7mm. The two wider sizes, 13mm and 32mm in the Chinese
ribbon also seem to have some type of softener added
that makes dying slightly more difficult thank the
Japanese. In conclusion, whether or not you should
spend the extra cost on Japanese ribbon for your project
is a matter of personal choice and if you are not
sure, try purchasing a small amount (say one yard)
of each from our natural white silk ribbon page, and
make your decision based on comparing the two in hand.
Yes,
rest assured that if we advertise a product as silk,
it really is silk. Occasionally we carry products
that are silk blends and we always specify that
content. We have been importing silk from china
for 12 years now and many of the silk products
we carry are made by the same companies that make
our silk ribbon. Silk has become a loosely used
term over the years and products are sometimes referred
to as being silk when they actually are polyester
or some other fibre. This is not to say that dishonesty
is necessarily involved, but in many cases is simply
unintentional Ignorance This is especially prevalent
on auction sites, so once again ask questions to
be sure you are getting what you are paying for.
