The difference between dyes and paints is that dyes, when set, actually chemically bond with the fiber. As a result, the 'hand' of the fiber is unchanged. Silk maintains it's natural silkiness. On the other hand, paints are pigments suspended in a medium; when applied, they sit on top of the fibers, and as a result, they do change the feel of the fiber. The silk will lose some of its silkiness with paints. Transparent dyes and transparent "flowable" silk paints work best on white silks. To paint on black silks requires an opaque paint such as Setacolor Opaque or Lumiere/Neopaque which will leave the silk stiff. These kinds of paints do best as highlights and accents rather than used on large areas.

We have a variety of silk dyes, and paints; they all work well and have devoted fans. We recommend experimenting in the beginning to find the products that work for you. The following list of products are all considered to be transparent and work best on white silks.

Type 1: Steam-fix liquid dyes - That must be fixed by steaming are: Dupont, Jacquard Red Label. The Jacquard Silk colors (Green label) can be steamed for brightest color but can also be set with a chemical fixative*. Steaming silk dyes yields the brightest, most vivid and most wash fast results. Dyes leave no 'feel' on the silk and the color is very transparent. White is not an option when working with dyes. White is only available as a paint. The Dupont silk dyes are imported and contain some alcohol.

Type 2: Flowable Silk Paints - Very thin, almost like a dye consistency, waterbased, and easy to work with. They are fixed by ironing with a hot iron or a 'No-Heat' additive. Colors may not be as bright as the dyes listed above. They can leave a very faint 'hand' on the silk. We recommend that beginners start with the paints first as they are easy to use and set and require no chemical fixatives. They can also be used for other types of fabric - not just silk. SetaSilk and Dye-na-Flow are the flowable silk paints that we offer. 

Type 3: Powdered Acid Dyes - These dyes are the recommended choice for solid dyeing silk, wool and nylon, but they can also be used for silk painting. They are dissolved in hot water to a 4-8% dye-water solution. Most colors will remain stable in solution for long periods of time. The painted silk requires steam-setting, producing very brilliant colors. See our instructions for Acid Dyes.

Type 4: Dharma Fiber Reactive Powder MX Dyes - This is our cold-water dye powder, everyone's choice for dyeing cotton. It can also be used on silk and there are artists out there that get beautiful results with them. The advantages of the MX dyes are: they are very economical, have an extensive color selection, can be set without steaming (see our cold batch method) for good results or with steaming for great results, and leave no feel on the fabric. The disadvantages are: some colors produce unexpected results on silk, it's impossible to get a true black, they don't flow as easily as the silk liquid dyes, the dye-water solution only lasts about a week, and salt effects are not as dramatic.

Type 5: A Pigment 'Dye' System - A paint that leaves very little feel, and can be used for many surface design techniques so in that respect, it's dye-like. Dilute with water, paint on, spray on, or use for faux tie-dye, air dry for 24 hours and heat-set 15-20 minutes in a home dryer or two minutes with an iron set to the silk setting. This paint leaves an almost undetectable feel on the silk and will fade with washing to a nice stonewashed effect - see Tumble Tie-Dyes, can also be done with diluted Fabric Paint like Versatex Printing Ink

* Jacquard Silk Colors can be fixed using a liquid fixative. They are used either by submerging the painted silk into the fixative or painting the fixative onto the painted silk. When using the fixatives, colors are not as bright as when set by steam. They also leave no 'feel' on the silk. We offer Jacquard Dyeset Concentrate.