Jacquard Red Label Silk Colors are concentrated economical liquid dyes for silk painting that produce rich, transparent colors that allow the translucent nature of the fabric to shine through.
Red Label Silk Colors are true dyes, not thinned pigments, so they do not stiffen the silk or cover the luster. All 20 colors may be blended together into an infinite range of vivid colors or diluted with water for pastels. These dyes are lightfast, odorless, non-toxic, contain no alcohol and can be hand washed or dry-cleaned. Now that the U.S. dollar has lost value lately and the French dyes have increased steadily in price, these dyes are more and more attractive. Folks who use them love them. You don't have as much color selection as with the French dyes, but they are infinitely inter-mixable!
These dyes are what are known as "Remazol" fiber reactive type dyes. They are not as strong as Dharma Procion type Fiber Reactive or Procion Liquid H dyes, they are formulated for silk and wool, and they require heat to "fix". They are roughly twice as concentrated as the Green Label Silk Color dyes. If you get any bleeding when steaming some colors, it means you should dilute them a little.
Red Label Silk Colors can be set only by steaming! They cannot be set with Jacquard Dyeset Fixative concentrate like the Green Label Silk Dyes. The difference between Red label and Green label Jacquard Silk Color is mainly depth of color, although they are also chemically different. Red label dyes produce much more vivid colors because they are more concentrated. Dilute with water or a 50/50 water and alcohol mixture (dries faster) to make less intense colors or pastels. But they MUST BE STEAM SET! The more dilute Green Label, being chemically different, will fix with either steaming or Jacquard's Dyeset Fixative, so are great for beginners or those who don't want to steam.