Why Isn't My Cloth Dyeing? (Science Fair Project 2018-2019)

Experimental Design

Statement of problem: What is the relationship between the naturality of a cloth and the amount of dye it absorbs?

Hypothesis: As the naturality of the cloth increases, the color value will increase

Independent variable: type of cloth; cotton, wool, polyester, and nylon

Dependent Variable: color saturation; amount of dye the cloth absorbs

Constants: the type of water used (tap, bottled, ect.), temperature of the water, black and white color scale, time in dye, black powder RIT dye, dying procedure, time in rinsing

Materials (for each type of cloth and for 50 trials):
1. 1/3 packet (10.63g) Rit powder Fabric dye (Black)
2. 1 cm by 1 cm cloth squares, either cotton, wool, polyester, or nylon (50)
3. 5 gallon(18.9271 liters) bucket

4. Rubber gloves
5. A stirring stick
6. A small, plastic disposable container (1 liter)
7. 48.8889 degrees Celsius water (100 degrees fahrenheit)

8. 4.92892 ml of Legacy of Clean dish detergent

9. Color scale

Procedure:
1. Gather the materials.
2. Cut the cloth into 50 3cm x 3cm squares.
3. Fill a 18.9271 liters(5 gallons) bucket with 3.78541 liters (1 gallon) of 49 degrees Celsius water (120 degrees fahrenheit).

4. Pre-dissolve 1/3 (10.63g) packet of RIT powder Fabric dye (Black) in 500 ml of 48.8889 degrees Celsius water in the disposable container and stir

5. Pour the Rit dye from the disposable container into the bucket of untouched water.
6. Add 14.7868mL (1 tsp) of Tide detergent to bucket mixture.
7. Add all 50 cloth pieces into the bucket that now has the dye in it.
8. Stir the bucket with the squares in it with a stick for 30 minutes.
9. Remove the cloth squares from the bucket and rinse them in 49 degrees Celsius water for 1 minute and then 10 degrees Celsius water for 5 minutes or until the water runs clear.

10. Compare to color scale

11. Record data
12. Repeat steps 1-11 with all cloth types.

Data:

(In the actual data table, the trial numbers will be from 1 to 50)

Trial

                   Color value

    Wool

   Cotton

   Nylon

   Polyester

1

2

3

4

5+

(Graph is of average)

(this is an actual table we made in google docs)