Rusting fabric

Not a lot of weaving progress to report this week yet, except that two samples that I took off the loom are curing in their respective mediums. The grey is sitting wet in-between an old rusted iron and iron plate (below), and the purple logwood is being over-printed with more logwood chips.  I’ll share the finished pieces next week.

For those of you who have never rusted fabric before, it is the simplest technique ever…

1. wet your fabric and
2. wrap or press it with rusty objects.  Be sure to make sure there is ample contact with the rusted object, so if you’re randomly putting object in your fabric you can wrap it tight with yarn or elastics, or put a weight on top of it.
3. to quicken the process you can add a small amount of vinegar into the water bath which you wet your fabric in (1Tbs per liter).

TIPS:

• You want your fabric to stay damp, so if there is risk that your fabric will dry in 24 hours wrap it in plastic wrap, or put it in an airtight plastic bag. It should take no more than 24 hours for the rust to transfer onto your fabric.
•  If you’re using a fine fabric like silk be sure to check your fabric after 12 hours and then repeatedly thereafter since rust can make the fabric decompose.  Once the rust has transferred you can wash it and hang it in full sunlight since it is very light and wash fast.

Janna Maria Vallee

UPDATE: see the finished rusted wool in this post

rusting hand-woven wool