70 Shades of Grey - A study of Jacquard, Pro-Chem and Dharma's black & grey dyes

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This video shows how to do a color study of black dye at extremely pale shades to the deepest black shade. The questions I wanted to answer are:

-What does black look like at a pale shade and can we determine the base color it was milled from?

*All of the dye colors are grey at .005-.5% d.o.s. and some colors are warmer (more of a brown or golden yellow cast to them) or nuetral, or sloghtly blue tinged.

-Are there any blacks that function as a substitute for gray?

*all of them would work, depending on your personal preference for either a warm, yellowish grey (Dharma Toner Black and JacquardBlack), a true nuetral grey(Pro-Chem Black) or a blue grey (Dharma True Black)

-At which concentration does black look it's darkest?

For All Dharma and Jacquard, 4% d.o.s. is optically the same as 5%. Pro-Chem looked jet black at 3%


How does the pale black look next to the milled grey?

*Very similar, you could use any of the 4 black colors to get a nice, clean grey. Using pre-milled greys like Dharma Platinum, Jacquard Silver or Pro Chem Mouse Grey will give you the same effect, but you'd spend a lot more on grey dye oz for oz vs just using a tiny amount of black. Having grey dye is great for speckling, though.

-Who has the blackest black, who has the most concentrated black (darkest color per smallest amount of dye)?

*ProChem is jet black at 3%, meaning you can use less dye and get more skeins per batch, making it the clear "winner." Jacquard is the least concentrated and has a pronounced brown tone to it.

Below is a link to my google drive for photos of all the grey and black skeins to do your own comparison:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?i...

Dye colors used (all acid reactive on wool):
-Dharma True Black, Toner Black, Silver Grey
-Pro-Chem Charcoal and Black
-Jacquard Silver Grey and black

10 gram skeins of superwash merino
1% d.o.s. is 1 gram of dye
2% d.o.s. is 2 grams of dye
3% d.o.s. is 3 grams of dye
4% d.o.s. is 4 grams of dye
5% d.o.s. is 5 grams of dye

For a breakdown on how to measure dye and calculate percentages in metric, check out my Triad dyeing video:

   • Triad Dyeing & How to Calculate Dye V...  

Much love,
Nicole