The Origami Forum

hello i recently tried dyeing paper with fabric dye and i liked the result (i tried it with large sheets of bond paper)

my question is, if i mix white glue on the water with the dye will this change the outcome of the paper, not the color, but the foldability will it make it easier to shape?

John Montroll cites watered-down white glue as a helpful additive in wet-folding. He says that it gives the paper extra strength.

My only worry is that it could discolor the dyes because it is white. You could try methyl-cellulose or the clear type of school glue.

Try it out and see how it goes!

My only worry is that it could discolor the dyes because it is white. You could try methyl-cellulose or the clear type of school glue.

I'm not sure if this is related, so hopefully I will not be hijacking this thread too much if it isn't.

I recently have been having problems making tissue foil from pink tissue paper. I'm using white glue, but it seems to completely destroy the color. Red tissue paper doesn't have this problem at all, so I'm not sure what's goin on. Sometimes a bit of red dye escapes into the excess glue at the edges, but I don't even see that happen with the pink - the color just dissappears completely. Would this be what you mean by the white glue discoloring the dyes?

That's a fascinating problem, never had this happen but I will try it.
Was it a light pink (like on pigs) or a dark pink (like on roses)?

It is a light pink. Pig pink is a good description.

The red works so well it's strange, but of course it is a nice deep red. With the same brand of paper, I have trouble with white tissue still looking metallic when using only a single layer (a problem even before the glue), but it shows up white with a second layer. When I have tried a second layer with the pink, it looks the virtually the same as the white still.

Have you tried using spray adhesive? It shouldn't have the same problem and will probably be a lot easier to use as well.