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How to find a leak in a swimming pool?
You are noticing that you are constantly topping up the level in the pool but the loss is much higher than you expect you would lose through evaporation or through use. You suspect that you have a leak. You can see water somewhere else but you are not sure whether it has come from the […]
Tracing Oil Leaks on Motor Bikes
A customer of FastColours has been restoring a1966 BSA C15. However he was plagued with one big problem – you’ve guessed it – Oil Leaks!! He didn’t know where the leaks were coming from or from what (the leaks get blown backwards when riding). It got to the point where he was unwilling to park […]
How do I colour a candle black?
You would think the most obvious thing would be to use a black dye but there is problem. We have wax soluble black dyes in the our range and will colour candle wax perfectly but you will notice they are not shown in the candle section. The reason is the black dye will stop the […]
What is the most important step when using Water Soluble Dyes?
The most thing to do is to ensure that the dye is dissolved properly!! Easy enough to do but it amazes me how many get this step wrong. Perhaps, many people are under the assumption that dyes will dissolve easily in cold water. This is often not the case. The method is straight-forward. To make […]
Staining of Fungi -Chrysocystidia
It always amazes me what uses FastColours dyes can have. Recently, I have sold samples of E131 Patent Blue V. The dye has been used for staining Fungi cells, specifically chrysocystidia. Previously Boots Disclosing Tablets were used. However, they have changed the dyes within the formulation and so no longer works. We offer the dye […]
Alternatives to the Southampton Six Dyes
The six dyes that are in the Southampton Six are: E102 Tartrazine E104 Quinoline Yellow E110 Sunset Yellow E122 Carmoisine (Azorubine) E124 Ponceau 4R E129 Allura Red AC There are natural dye alternatives that give a similar colour. These are: Duranat Curcumin (similar to E104 Quinoline Yellow) Duranat Beta Carotene (similar to E102 Tartrazine) Duranat […]
Food Dyes – E Numbers Bad, Natural Dyes Good?
If you talked to the man or woman in the street and asked them about e-numbers, the most likely answer is that they are food dyes that are bad for you especially children. This is a misconception. E-numbers are purity standards for product that can be added to food. It is not distinguish between synthetic, […]
How do you improve the colour fastness of reactive dyes on cotton?
In many ways the most important of the dyeing of cotton and cellusic fibres is the subsequent washing and fixing processes. Reactive dyes besides reacting with the cotton also reacts with water. It forms what is called hydrolysed dye. This needs to be removed to ensure good colour fastness. So how do you do it? […]
What is the difference between a pigment and a dye?
This certainly causes confusion. Some people when they talk about pigments they mean dyes and vice-versa. In essence, a dye is a colouring compound that is soluble in something whereas a pigment is a colouring compound that is not soluble in anything. For example, a dye can be soluble in water or it can soluble […]
What dye should I use for detecting a fuel leak?
If you need to detect a leak involving diesel, petrol or oil, the dye to use is Bestoil Green FYG This dye is used in ppm (parts per million). If you dissolve 5 grammes in 1000 litres it would give you 5 ppm. At this strength you would be able to see the colour by […]