Stirring Your Vat

Q: Should I stir my ferrous vat every time before I use it?

A: I recommend letting your vat settle out at least an hour before dipping after the last time you’ve stirred. Stir when you finish a dye session. If you stir too close in time prior to dipping, the sediment will won’t have time to settle and you’ll get sediment on your piece, which is not ideal as it can tint your piece toward a ‘muddier’ indigo tone, but it can be rinsed off.

You can reference “Q: I am dyeing in a ferrous vat and got sediment from the bottom of the vat on my piece. Is that bad? What should I do?” to learn more about how sediment affects your piece and what you can do about it!

Also, when I stir it is usually for only 20-30 seconds and is only to get all the sediment up and moving around. There is no benefit to prolonged stirring, or stirring your vat when you aren’t preparing to dye in it, and in fact that is a great way to introduce oxygen into the vat which will weaken it.