Finale
So, you’ve been patient and allowed your fabric plenty of time to cure and at long last
it is time to wash out your paste! Congratulations for making it this far.
Traditionally in Japan, the fabrics a this stage were taken to the river to be
washed. With natural dyes and rice-paste resist patterning, there was no worry
about pollution. This is a fun way to wash out your projects, especially when
working with children.
For most studio purposes, you’ll need a large vessel filled with water. A bathtub or horse trough will work
quite well. In a pinch, a top-loading washing machine will also work. Make sure
that the container is large enough to allow plenty of room for your fabric to
float freely without crowding.
Ease the cured fabric into the water and allow it to soak for twenty to thirty
minutes. You will find that most of your paste will dissolve away.
Swish the fabric gently under water and allow it to sit for another two to three
minutes. At this stage you will probably find the water discolored. However, if
you allow the water to sit for a bit, all of the color should settle out to the
bottom. This is the excess dye (such as that sitting on top of your paste) that
has washed out of the fabric and is non-watersoluble. If you have color bleeding out of the fabric and stainning the wash water, then
something went wrong during the dyeing process - no color should bleed out.
Pull the paste-free fabric from the water and place it into a top-loading
washing machine, spin cycle, to spin out the excess water. While this is
happening, refill your basin with fresh water. Rinse the damp cloth to remove
any last vestiges of paste. In my work I have found rinsing once to be plenty
if all has gone well.
Spin out the excess water. You are now ready to hang your fabric to dry, or, if
sufficiently cured, you may toss it into the dryer to dry.
Once dry, I recommend one last coat of soymilk to give the fabric that ‘new’ look.
Pat yourself on the back for a job well done!
copyright 1990, John Marshall
