Pooped but learning

My Rachel Glee doll's hair wasn't dark enough. The viscose that I have only comes in certain shades, and I didn't have any that was the correct shade. Because I now live in a TINY town (which I love) I have no place to go to get emergency fixes for problems. Our local super Walmart had decided that only children do crafts, so they've destroyed that section of their store. I couldn't find any dye there that I could use. I tried using regular hair dye (I knew it wouldn't work, Viscose is NOT hair) -- epic fail. Exact same color but now smells funny.

One thing they did have at Walmart was this:

Sooooooo, I mixed up the colors of blue and red and orange, and a tablespoon of vinegar and started the experiment.

Inside the dye bath I have enough "red" viscose to create a new wig (with the thought that red hair plus brown/purpleish dye should make a darker brown hair). And also a weft of the brown hair that I used for the current wig. They soaked in this bath for over 10 minutes. Afterward, I rinsed them and placed them on the pyrex pan to go into a 250 degree oven to dry.

While I was at it, using the sponge brush, I soaked the current wig I had made for the Glee character Rachel. This one I did NOT rinse and put on the pyrex dish as well, and in the oven to dry.

From what I can see at this time (by peeking into the oven), the sections that I rinsed are right back to their original color. The wig is still pretty much the color it looks in this picture.

The egg dye kit doesn't say to rinse your eggs when you finish, but I didn't know if I should or not with the viscose. I have no high hopes for this experiment, and am very tired. Tomorrow hubby has said he'd take me to Joann's in the next town to get some acid dye which is supposed to work on viscose. (We'll see) but no matter how you look at it, I'm going to have to make another wig.

Results with be coming as they happen. :o)

I am surprised at the results. I thought there was no difference in the viscose where I rinsed it, but it turns out there is a difference. The piece on the left is the original, and the piece on the right is after soaking in the easter egg dye bath.

There is a difference here as well. The viscose on the top is the original and the lower one is what was in the bath. The difference is not as dramatic with the red viscose, but the color is more intense. I find it to be quite pretty.

And the color change on the wig (that I did not rinse the color out) is a definite difference. I can't lie this next to the original to show the comparison, but I will add the photo below of Rachel with her hair before her dye job and after.

The problem with this is that the dye didn't take evenly as seen in the picture above. The ends are darker.

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