A lab dip, or l/d for brief, is a teeny swatch of shade – we’re speaking just some inches –  that holds the key to matching colours. Regardless of its dimension, it has a really in-depth course of, and the easiest way to clarify what’s going on and why it’s vital is to stroll you thru the complete process – which I’ll do in only a minute. 

Consider the lab dip course of because the mini-dye course of that happens earlier than manufacturing. If the majority dye machines are like the huge Ben and Jerry’s manufacturing unit (sure, I went on the tour in Vermont), then a lab dip is like one thing made in an Simple Bake Oven (I begged for this for Christmas, anybody else?). Basically, the lab dip course of is proof that the mill has the capabilities to match the colour that the model wants (and imagine me, that is typically simpler stated than finished).

SO, IS A LAB DIP THE SAME AS A STRIKE OFF?

No. However, they’re comparable.

Each lab dips and strike offs are a part of the event course of as a approach to check if the material goes to come back out accurately in bulk. However, lab dips are strictly for strong dye materials, whereas strike offs are for print materials.

WATCH THE VIDEO!

Not within the temper to learn? Take a look at this fast 7-minute video of me at a dye home in Italy, breaking down the entire course of in individual.

HOW TO CHOOSE A COLOR STANDARD: PANTONE 

Step one within the lab dip course of is selecting a shade commonplace. A shade commonplace permits the designer or model, the mill, and dye home to all be on the identical web page. It’s a bodily reference of what the colour must be.

Now, let’s discuss how the Pantone color standard works. Pantone is the preferred color-matching system, and also you might need heard of it because of its notorious, “Colour of the 12 months.” When Pantone proclaims a shade, style manufacturers race out to dye every thing in that shade. It’s so well-known, even my sister and her non-fashion school mates would have a Pantone Colour of the 12 months get together, the place the theme revolved across the chosen shade – meals, drinks, costumes, you identify it. Pantone simplifies shade communication within the international provide chain. 

Pantone has a mess of colours (2161 to be actual), with every shade having a numerical code. There are even completely different quantity programs for various supplies. For instance, in case you are dyeing polyester, you’ll use a special shade system than for dyeing pure fibers like cotton and rayon. It’s because pure fibers, particularly in relation to vivid and neon colours, are loads tougher to dye. 

Again after I labored in quick style, one in all my first issues to unravel on the job was to determine why some dyed materials turned out scorching pink, whereas others seemed muted and pale. What was taking my boss months to determine, I knew the answer instantly: the intense materials had been polyester, and the dingy ones had been cotton. 

How did I do know? 

PANTONE!

Merely, the Pantone shade system doesn’t embody neons for cotton materials, as they’re virtually not possible to create utilizing the kind of dye that cotton wants. Fairly cool, proper?

A model sometimes buys Pantone’s huge guide of colours, often known as their “Colour Passport,” to pick colours they like for his or her designs. Each shade, whether or not for print, cloth, or hold tags, and even packaging, is assigned a Pantone shade code and put into the tech pack. The tech pack can then be despatched digitally, permitting the manufacturing unit to open up their Pantone guide and select their desired colours to match to. 

Now, you may marvel: Why can’t we use digital colours? Why can’t I simply use my pc or cellphone to decide on colours? Why do I want to purchase this passport when the colours can be found on-line? 

Nicely, matching colours on screens may be very troublesome, if not not possible. Completely different screens present colours otherwise relying on the dvices settings. And, shade appears completely different on display than it does on a bodily cloth. So, shade matching turns into very troublesome.

The great factor about Panton is that they supply dye formulation. A dye formulation is sort of a recipe, that when adopted ought to enable a dye home to dye a shade precisely. By Pantone sharing the dye formulation (most individuals maintain this prime secret) it provides dye homes a head begin in creating lab dips (learn: you possibly can work faster). Whereas Pantone is the largest shade system and doubtless essentially the most well-known, there are a number of different shade programs that you simply won’t have heard of earlier than.

NEELAM

Neelam is a well-liked shade system utilized in India, particularly by smaller artisan dye homes. There are loads fewer colours i the Neelam system. However, the benefit to those small dyers is that they’re A LOT cheaper. 

The opposite factor about Neelam is that they’re truly thread shade playing cards. Which means for all the colours you possibly can simply purchase matching threads. This makes the event and garment manufacturing course of very simple, as a result of stitching thread that matches is well out there. Once you select a Pantone shade, you’ll normally have to cusome dye your thread. And this not solely adverts on an additonal expense, however extra logistical work. 

CREATE YOUR OWN COLOR SYSTEM

If you understand me, you understand I really like a superb DIY money-saving startup fashion hack. Pantone Passports can price 1000’s, and shopping for a single shade will be $15 or extra. That provides up shortly, particularly for a small model. However right here’s a savvy tip – and, even huge companies use it, so that you gained’t look unprofessional should you do it too. What’s the trick? Free Dwelling Depot paint chips. 

Yup, your native ironmongery shop is an effective way to speak your colours. After the startup manufacturers I work with create their print and color designs, I counsel them to go to the ironmongery shop and choose up some free paint chips within the colours they like. Then, we match these paint chips again to the designs. As soon as we’ve chosen the right paint chips, we staple them proper on to the onerous copy of the tech pack. Then, the complete tech pack, full with paint chips, is then shipped to the manufacturing unit, the place they’ll use the chips to match the colours on the primary set of samples.

Now, it is true that this technique might contain a bit of additional money and time spent on delivery in comparison with investing in Pantone. Nevertheless, it nonetheless normally comes out considerably cheaper than utilizing Pantone, making it a superb cost-saving various. Plus, it is a tried-and-true approach utilized even by distinguished manufacturers, proving its effectiveness and reliability.

CREATING A LAB DIP DYE FORMULA

As soon as the lab dip reaches the mill, step one (if we arne’t given a Pantone dye formulation) is popping it right into a machine referred to as a photograph spectrometer to learn the colour. Have you ever ever seen these viral color-matching videos the place a painter chooses a random object and, utilizing simply crimson, blue, yellow, and white, and magically matches the precise shade of orange on a pumpkin on the grocery retailer? Nicely, a photograph spectrometer is principally the machine model of those folks. 

It reads the colour, breaks down the precise mixture of main colours that make it up, and even suggests the preliminary dye formulation (which dyes to make use of to match the colour). Now, like I stated, the good factor about utilizing Pantone is that they provide you all of this information – the colour breakdown and the dye formulation. And that’s a part of the rationale Panton is so costly; it offers a critical head begin to the lab dip course of. 

PREPARING THE FABRIC FOR DYE

Now that we’ve got the dye formulation, you’ll assume it’s time to begin dyeing the lab dips. However, there’s nonetheless another step we have to do in an effort to guarantee every thing comes out completely: the PFD, or Put together for Dye course of. The PFD is a material preparation course of that includes washing it with a gentle detergent and a really delicate bleach. This step is tremendous vital and, please by no means, ever skip it! 

REASON #1 TO NEVER SKIP THE PFD PROCESS

When materials are knit or woven on industrial machines (and even within the hand woven khadi course of), the yarns that type the material are coated in a substance referred to as sizing. Sizing is used as safety to strengthen the yarns and keep the general high quality of the material through the weaving or knitting course of. It may be eco-friendly, made out of supplies like cornstarch, or much less environmentally pleasant, made out of petroleum. No matter its composition, we have to take away sizing earlier than dyeing. That’s as a result of, dye molecules discover it difficult to penetrate the sizing and attain the fibers. If the sizing shouldn’t be correctly eliminated, the colour will wash proper off the material the primary time the client launders it.

REASON #2 TO MAKE SURE YOUR FABRIC IS PFD

The PFD course of creates a clean canvas for the applying of shade. In its uncooked, unprocessed state, materials sometimes have a slight yellowish tint. That is particularly vital to be aware of if you find yourself dying lighter colours. As an illustration, if you wish to dye the material a light-weight blue, however it has a yellowish base, the ensuing shade may find yourself trying somewhat inexperienced (blue and yellow make inexperienced) because of the affect of the underlying yellowish hue. To make sure that the colours specific themselves as meant based mostly on the dye formulation, the semi-bleach course of is essential for reaching a pleasant white base to work with.

Now, some folks go overboard with the semi-bleaching course of, believing the whiter the material, the higher. Because of this, they find yourself utilizing one thing referred to as optical brighteners. Optical brighteners are what make your whites tremendous vivid. Whereas they’re nice for white clothes, they’re horrible for the dyeing course of. Materials handled with optical brighteners after which dyed end in a remaining cloth that seems splochy and lacks uniform shade. So, at all times keep away from optical brighteners to make sure a profitable dyeing course of.

MIXING THE DYE FORMULA

A dye lab may have completely different beakers of main colours prepared to make use of. Then, relying on the dye recipe, particular portions of every main shade might be mixed. So, the dye recipe may name for five drops of blue 1, 2 drops of blue 2, 3 drops of crimson, and three drops of yellow. All of those shade elements might be meticulously mixed and blended in a separate beaker.

DYEING THE LAB DIP

It is time for the dyeing course of to start. Now that the material is prepared, and we’ve got a customized shade combine – it is showtime, child! 

Step one that many individuals don’t find out about however is likely one of the secrets and techniques to getting a superb uniform dye, is wetting out the material. Principally, we dampen the material with plain outdated water. And, similar to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you don’t need the material to be too moist or too dry. As soon as the material swatch (about 6”x6”) is prepared, we put it  right into a small metallic beaker. Subsequent, we fastidiously pour within the dye recipe and securely screw on the highest. Lastly, we place the metallic beaker right into a machine that can shake and warmth it up. 

Each warmth and motion are crucial elements within the dyeing course of. 

The motion is vital as a result of it is going to create a uniform dye. Have you ever ever dyed an Easter egg, and the underside of the egg is darker than the highest? That’s as a result of the dye is heavier than water and tends to sink changing into extra concentrated on the backside. So should you simply let materials sit in a dye bathtub, the dyes will sink, and the material won’t come out the identical shade all through. So, to keep away from uneven coloring, we guarantee the material is constantly shifting through the dyeing course of. 

Warmth can be vital as a result of it opens up the fibers, permitting the dye to penetrate them extra successfully. You may consider warmth through the dye course of like steam in a facail. The warmth will assist to open up the fibers pores permitting the dye molecules to penetrate deeper (which means the colour will get caught in there, and gained’t fade). 

DRYING AND CHECKING THE FABRIC

The primary shade verify happens after about 20-Half-hour of dyeing. At this level, we cease the machine, and thoroughly take away the lab dips to dr. Taking a look at a moist cloth will be very deceiving as a result of they have a tendency to look loads darker than the precise shade. So, at all times make sure that to do your shade assessments on completely dry textiles. 

Within the video above you possibly can see the particular little devise we use to shortly dry the material. 

As soon as the material is dry, the mill will examine the lab dip to the unique shade commonplace. They are going to then make a number of tweaks to the dye recipe, and take a look at once more. The mill will generally do a number of trials earlier than displaying the client, as a result of once they current the lab dips to the model, they wish to make sure that they’re matching virtually completely. 

ANALYZING COLORS IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT

Have you ever heard of a lightbox? Right here is one thing fascinating about colours: They will look completely different in several mild. Generally a shade that matches completely within the lab won’t match in any respect in pure dye mild. The technical time period for this phenomenon is a metameric match (which we wish to keep away from). To stop this confusion from taking place and to make sure shade consistency, lap dip swatches are analyzed in a lightbox. Because the identify suggests, a lightbox is a field outfitted with various kinds of mild sources, reminiscent of UV, outside, incandescent, and fluorescent. The lab dip is checked beneath every setting to make sure it matches all lighting situations.

THE ART OF COLOR ANALYSIS

Not everybody can do that job. Working with colours requires a eager eye and a pointy notion. Sadly, shade is a younger (wo)mans sport. As we get older, our skill to understand colours might alter, and we are likely to see them with a slight yellowish tint. This alteration in shade notion emphasizes the significance of getting well-trained professionals who can precisely analyze colours.

Colour specialists are should go a sequence of shade checks yearly. These checks include ombre blocks that should be lined up from one shade to a different. It’s not so simple as transitioning from main colours like crimson to purple to blue. As a substitute, think about aligning completely different shades, like going from lime inexperienced to highlighter yellow. These checks are fairly difficult, and the typical individual would discover them troublesome to go. At FIT (Trend Institute of Expertise), we had been subjected to all of those checks, and even at 21, with youth on my facet, I could not obtain an ideal rating each time.

So, be sure to have somebody properly certified in your workforce that’s commenting on lab dips, and shade approvals.  

CUSTOMER LAB DIP SUBMISSION FOR APPROVALS AND REVISIONS 

After creating about 3-4 lab dips, every utilizing barely completely different dye recipes, we ship the swatches to the client for evaluation. Some prospects might imagine all the colours look the identical and marvel why they acquired 4 duplicates. However, bear in mind, to a extremely skilled eye, these lab dips are all truly fairly completely different. The client will select the lab dip they like essentially the most, and it will develop into the official formulation for his or her bulk manufacturing order. 

However, what if the client doesn’t like every of the lab dips? Nicely, then the method might want to occur once more. However typically, bear in mind this, if the manufacturing unit isn’t in a position to hit the colour within the first spherical, they may not be the manufacturing unit for you. 

ADVANCED COLOR DEVELOPMENT AND LAB DIP TIPS

TIP 1

Here is a useful tip on being a superb buyer (your factories and mills will actually admire this). Give your factories a giant piece of shade commonplace to work with. Typically a model or purchaser sends a microscopic cuttings of colours to match, and this makes it troublesome for the machines to learn the colours precisely and for the mill to do in-person shade matching. At all times attempt to ship at the least a 3”x 3” shade commonplace to make their lives simpler. Belief me, as your pleasant manufacturing unit consultant; it’s the little issues that make your provide chain companions love you. 

TIP 2

Cloth tip: At all times have your lab dips made on the very same cloth that you simply plan to make use of in manufacturing. And after I say actual, I imply actual. Completely different materials, relying on their weights, building, and even yarn density, will take up the dyes otherwise and create materials that look completely completely different. To ensure that your bulk matches your lab dip approval, be sure to are utilizing the right materials. If you happen to take nothing else away from this whole article, please let it’s this. As a result of, this error may find yourself costing you 1000’s of {dollars}.

TIP 3

Tip for shade evaluation: Use pictures first. Delivery lab dips and samples will be costly. Nothing hits you tougher than opening up a long-awaited bundle from a manufacturing unit and being completely upset in what they despatched. So, I wish to have my manufacturing unit ship me pictures however you want to do that in a really particular approach.

As beforehand mentioned, some colours in sure lights {photograph} completely otherwise. I as soon as had this teal shade I used to be engaged on matching in India, and when the dye home despatched me a photograph, I used to be like, “What is that this? It appears completely brown.” They assured me that they had matched the colour, however I didn’t imagine them, so I used this trick. To assist determine if the colour is definitely matching to the usual, I at all times have them take 1 side-by-side photograph with the colour commonplace and the lab dip proper subsequent to one another.  Within the above India instance, I used to be in a position to see that they had been certainly matching. By seeing the pictures of the lab dips earlier than delivery, it provides the model a possibility to have them remake them earlier than they spend time and money on delivery.

READY FOR BULK

With the dye recipe accepted, it is time to proceed to the majority dyeing course of.

MORE RESOURCES

Need to study extra about bulk cloth dying try these articles…

1. WORK WITH THE DYE HOUSE FEATURED IN THIS VIDEO
2. Pigment dyes and prints
3. Textile printing machines
4. DIY indigo dye