Hello all. This is my first post, and hopefully I can get some advice from you more experienced weavers.

I use a Macomber loom with flat steele heddles, and hand paint all of my threads with pretty standard acrylic paint.

Lately, I am developing a black line all the way across my threads where I shed (and advance) and shed again ect.

Has anyone experienced this before or can offer a solution to my problem?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Comments

Sat, 07/05/2014 - 17:19

mneligh

Does the paint wear off passing through the heddles and reed?  Could paint residue be accummulating on the back of the reed.  Since the reed returns to the same position for several rows, it would accumulate in one position until the warp is advanced.

If this is the problem,  the solution is to use dye, not paint.  I know, not necessarily what you were going for, and certainly more technically difficult than paint, except that there are tricks . . .  Having experimented with this sort of thing in an attempt to find a lazy way to do accurate ikat, I can suggest laying out the warp on a warping frame like you would on a Navajo loom, "painting" the warp with dye, and then warping it onto the loom directly from the top bar of the frame.  Properly applied dye isn't as prone to being scraped off as paint.  Dharma Trading has a great selection of dyes and related things.

Another solution is to use a fork-type beater so the residue does not build up on the back of the reed.  

Good luck!

Sat, 07/05/2014 - 23:27

sequel (not verified)

I agree about using dye instead of paint for your yarns.  If you are using a new reed and haven't cleaned it first, you may have some residual oils from manufacture on the reed.

Sun, 07/06/2014 - 04:16

[email protected]

Here is an image of the black marks. On this weave I was using four heddles, and you can see distinctly four lines across the surface. 

 

Regarding the other comments:

I have never noticed any of the paint rubbing off of the threads, on the reed, or in the heddles. Today I checked my heddles and reed (which is quite new) for greese or such, and no residue came off on my fingers or towel. 

Still remains a mystery...and more thoughts are certainly welcome. Thank you to everyone who has replied!

Sun, 07/06/2014 - 13:03

mneligh

Is the photo rotated?  Are the lines parallel to the warp, or the weft?  Reed residue would be parallel to the weft, across the warp.

Sun, 07/06/2014 - 15:14

[email protected]

The residue is across the weft, so I do think this rules out that the residue is coming from the reed. I still think it is coming from the heddles, just because it seems it only occurs at places I create a shed. Just not sure what is happening if the heddles are clean?

Sun, 07/06/2014 - 15:56

laurafry

Is it actual residue? Or a line made by uneven beating? Hard to tell without actually seeing the cloth. :( I would carry on and see how it looks after wet finishing. Laura
Sun, 07/06/2014 - 16:43

pammersw

Looks to me like uneven beating, which will probably wash out.