Discharging black chenille scarves

This is an example of using discharge paste which takes the dye out of fibers/fabrics. It's much safer to use than bleach and has very little fumes. This is a picture of one of my handmade silkscreens made using my Gocco machine which will burn small silkscreens. The pink around the edge is duct tape (quack, quack) to protect the cardboard frame from moisture. The discharge paste itself is the consistency of a thick pudding which is easy to work with - I applied it with the foam brush.

After the discharge paste is totally dry I press it with an iron (steam setting) and it magically pulls the dye out of the handwoven chenille scarf. The color that comes out depends on how a fiber was dyed - blacks can be anywhere from golds, to rusts, to deep reds. It's a surprise each time I use this process which is why I always sample before actually discharging a scarf.

These are pictures of sections of each of the scarves. The one on the left is the color the black discharges to. The one on the right I added Jacquard textile paints to the discharge paste so as it discharged the color would be absorbed into the fiber.

So, adding this to the other black chenille scarves posted earlier I now have 5 scarves to twist fringe on........will eventually get to it...........