Tuesday, January 18, 2011

New From Kandi Corp! DeColourant and DeColourant Plus : Color Remover and Color Replacer For Cloth and Paper

Those of you who have been reading my blog for some time know what an inveterate gadget girl I am - and you also know how much I love trying new products. I was very fortunate to have been given an opportunity to try two new products from KandiCorp called DeColourant and DeColourant Plus. These formulas are for use in both removing, and removing and replacing, colors on natural fabrics and papers - an alternative to using bleach.
DeColourant  is available in(from left to right:
  • Mist- great to use for creating cloud effects
  • Paste- I found this to be the best for use with  stencils and stamps
  • DeColourant Plus ( 2 bottles)- this product both removes and replaces color and it is available in a plethora of great colors. My packet contained lemon yellow and neon orange (the person who chose the colors must have bee psychic eh?!)
These are the product highlights from the promotional flyers:
  • Ready To Use- Non Messy Formula
  • More Color Removed From Natural Fabrics
  • Precision Fine Line Detail
  • Will Not Stiffen Fabric
  • Will Not Weaken Fabric
  • Pleasant Citrus Scent
  • Safe For Children

I decided that I would try the products on a Moda marble in black, a linen in green and a dark green paper. Next I chose a stencil (I ultimately used only the sunflower) and a few foam stamps.
The paste product is a very creamy texture and worked, IMHO, the best for both stencils and stamps. It did, indeed, provide good line detail. I tried the mist with the stencil and ended up with a blob - but it worked well as an overall spray to simulate clouds.The product  is applied and then allowed it to dry. thoroughly. Next step: you iron - and that's how you remove the color. The simple directions say that using steam removes even more color - and it did.

Below you can see the fabrics and paper right after I finished ironing the color out. Before washing the hand of the fabric is a bit stiff - rather t=like dried soda soaked fabric. Once washed, however, the hand is as soft as ever. That's a very good quality of this product. Additionally, this product also can be activated by the sun - so you can use it to sun print  paper, fabric, tee shirts and more.

Below: 
You can easily see that the best effect was achieved when I used the paste with a stencil (left). The paste used on a foam stamp was less precise, but wasn't bad either. On the bottom left was the mist with a stencil - it created a lovely blob. I suspect better results might be achieved if the fabric was dampened slightly to allow the stencil to 'grip' the cloth a bit better. The bottom right was a very light application of the mist on stamp - and you can see that not much happened....
 A close up of the sunflower stencil applied with paste using a stencil.
 Close up of the stencil on linen - not quite as crisp detail - let alone the singed fabric! 
I used an old iron on the linen setting but that I had forgotten 
that this particular iron had the nasty habit of getting very hot!
The foam stamp used with the paste on linen... still not as crisp as on cotton. It could well have been operator error though. I think there is a bit of a learning curve with this. As with any paint on a stamp one needs to learn the best combination of product, pressure and fabric.
To my nose this product smells rather ammonia-y with a hint of citrus. It is not as nasty as bleach but it IS something that I think you should use either outdoors or with very good ventilation. As you might expect when the dry cloth is ironed it creates a cloud - and that, most decidedly, needs a good breeze to blow the residue out of the air.  I have asthma and I didn't go into a paroxysm of coughing or need a rescue inhaler when I used this indoors - but I DID have a fan on high with a back door open to provide some ventilation when I ironed. I think it pays to be cautious. I do believe that this wouldn't be as harmful to fabrics as bleach - even with bleach neutralizer. I believe it has been proven that bleach discharged cloth will continue to degrade at a higher rate over time than untreated cloth will. In that respect alone I think this is an excellent alternative to bleach discharging.

Below: 
using the spray DeColourant on the black Moda Marble. The discharge is comparable to bleach I think...along with the interesting color changes that can occur. Yes, I think this is a great application for creating sky textures.
Below: 
Now, this is the very cool DeColourant Plus in action. I used foam stamps. The top photo is Lemon Yellow on Moda and the bottom is the Neon Orange.I do enjoy the way the product both removes and adds color in one fell swoop. It works quite well - and is a very interesting concept.
Below:
This photo of the Neon Orange is a bit washed out. What can I say. It's POURING rain and really dark and dank out doors- but it worked okay with my happy light for lighting!
Below:
Ah! Here's the results on paper. The black bit of paper on the left was discharged with bleach. The dark green paper on the right was discharged with the paste DeColourant and the sunflower stencil. Excellent results!
I think this is a good product and an excellent alternative to discharging with bleach. I think that adequate ventilation is a necessity. I like using the paste very much - it does indeed allow for fine detail and is easy to apply with a brush. I love the concept of being able to both remove color - and replace it - in one application. What a cool idea. All in all I think this product provides a lot of very interesting possibilities and is well trying. It works like a charm on paper - and should have wide appeal not only to textile artist but also to mixed media artists and journal-ers. It is available in mist, paste, many colors, and very handy sets of colors that are available as pastes or mists!.Thanks Kandi Corp for developing this excellent new alternative to using caustic bleach!





















note:
This product was provided to me by the manufacturer for the purpose of an honest review. No other remuneration was provided.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Marie! This post was very helpful!

Ruth said...

Thanks for the review. I'd been considering this product - I'll have to try it out.

Sandy said...

Thanks for the review. I have a bottle but haven't used any yet. I don't like bleach but do like the discharged effect.

Jeannie said...

Thanks for the review Marie. I picked some up at Shibori Dragon and I have been waiting for warmer weather to try it outside. Perhaps I'll just open some windows. Your samples are wonderful.

Casino Bonus