How to Dye Burlap 4 easy steps

Dyed burlap is used in speakers for home decorating purposes , crafts for rustic weddings and events and ghille  suits.

Ninety percent of our sales are for use in the natural color. When customers wan to dye the burlap this is what we recommend 

Four easy Steps
Use fiber reactive dye available at most crafty hobby and fabric stores

1) Pre wash the jute in hot water- to get rid of natural oily finish and any natural dirt on it.

2) Mix the fiber reactive dye in warm water start by making a paste then slowly add warm/hot water to recommended level on package of dye.

3)Place burlap in tub and stir constantly while repeatedly immersing the burlap

4) remove and wash separately and run through the rinse cycle a few times.

The above is fast and easy. We recommend this for our medium weave 10 oz burlap. looser weaves and lighter weights  (we do not carry) may react differently so please check with your supplier
Test the dye on a spare piece of our burlap If you are making a finished product we recommend to sew it up first. It will ensure tyhat the item does not unravel and then dye the item as seen below.

Test the dye on a spare piece of our burlap


Our jute has been successfully dyed and  made into these bags below

 

 Picture of dyed burlap bags

A few common sense helpful notes an

Always wear gloves to keep your hands protected
Cover the dyeing area well to protect surrounding surfaces

Clean up any spills to prevent staining.

Discounts for rustic weddings and functions using our burlap

Pleae mention us on your blog or web site or post some pictures of the place mats table runners and table cloths and mention us and we will give you a 5% discount on your burlap purchase. If you wish we can also make mention of you in any of our forums and web sites. Please contact us at  promotions@nusso.com and we will automatically discount your order by 5% . you can see many rustic wedding and event ideas on our blog here. please feel free to visit or call us for more ideas.
Sorry that we can not offer you any sewing services however we do have may resources and sewers across Canada. Please contact us for that information.
If you are a sewer who will work to make place mats and table cloths. We will place you on our resource list.

Burlap Smell - How to Get Rid of Natural Burlap Smell

Burlap for rustic weddings was originally intended to be used, outdoors in barns in farm settings or in open air tents. Currently rustic weddings are celebrated indoors and in formal catering halls, as a result some event planners, florists celebrants and florists are concerned
about the older which of course is a natural burlap order
 
Burlap, being a natural, organic material sometimes has a smell or slight odor to it. Since is is stored in plastic for shipping and packaging, this smell can be stronger on the initial opening of the package. We get called about this issue maybe once a year or so with customers who are concerned that the smell may be toxic. Rest assured, the fabric is completely natural (i.e. nothing you wouldn't smell on a farm).

If you do a quick Goggle search on the web, you will encounter numerous suggestions on how to remove the natural burlap smell. You will find some sites suggest that you use Febreeze or other de-oderant type product. I am not a big fan of this solution as I don't think that's really a good way to get rid of the smell (where does the smell go??). Other solutions will suggest that you put it in the washing machine. I would be hesitant to wash the material as it can shed a little and may make a mess.

My suggestion is very simple: air out the burlap for a few days outside. This should get rid of most of the smell. If you are using it for a wedding, wipe it down with a damp cloth (no soaps necessary) in case the smell is not completely gone. As a last resort, a little bit of Febreeze won't hurt, but that should only be used in case you are very sensitive to the smell. The natural odor or burlap should not stop you from enjoying its benefit in a rustic wedding environment.

Wedding Aisle Runner and polyproplene fabric Q. & A.

  I'm looking to create aisle runners for weddings and I've been asked to source out some wider fabric.  Your polypropylene non-woven fabric, is it tear-resistant? Would several people be able to walk down it the wedding aisle runner without it tearing or puncturing?  I'm just wondering how durable this fabric is? ?  Aisle runners typically run between 25-75 feet long, so a lot of fabric is required. Any help and direction is very much appreciated.  Thanks!

Our quick reply - details will follow

it has been used as aisle runners definitely,
It will tear if not tacked down well.
It will last through one ceremony for sure.

Details 

Typically wedding aisle runners for weddings come in many  widths and designs. the  polypropylene is plain white 60 inches wide, typically runners are between 36 and 60 inches wide. and priced in January  2012 at 60 cents a linear meter d for full 100 meter rolls, some short cuts are available the price is slightly higher. It is an inexpensive and cheap alternative to the high priced choices.


How do I roll out the aisle runner?
Fabric rolled up on a cardboard tube.  You can put a cord through the tube and on to the cord and pull the runner down the aisle.see picture below its quite clear and easy

unrolling white aisle polypropylene fabric at wedding

What is polypropylene fabric? - We use it primarily to make our decorative cushion insert shells and airline pillows. That is exactly how the fabric feels it is durable, will  not fall apart if gets a little wet.
Yes it can be used outdoors however if on the ground without a base heels will go through, Indoor and on a solid base you will have no problem with heels.
It can be stenciled or painted with monograms and other wedding motifs

We recommend securing the fabric to the floor or ground.use tacks or two sided tape.

That would depend on where your aisle runner is being used and the conditions. Things to consider: outdoors or indoors, weather (winds), unstable surfaces. If you feel that the aisle runner needs to be secured here are some helpful ways to keep it in place:and catching a breeze, floral arrangements can and other decorative items can weigh down the edges white wedding  aisle runner

Interesting chat transcript - re cheesecloth

((18:37:03)  Visitor Do you carry poly webbing disposable cheese cloth?
(18:37:20)  Customer Service our cheesecloth is cotton
(18:37:30)  Customer Service so i would guess not
(18:38:31)  Visitor Do you have any recommendations how best to sterilize your cheese cloth prior to usage?
(18:38:51)  Customer Service i would say bleach
(18:39:51)  Visitor Thanks. What mesh size would you recommend for draining yogurt?
(18:40:21)  Customer Service not sure... for wine they use #40, yogurt you may be able to get away with less
(18:40:37)  Customer Service you would be best off making your way down to Toronto to see the different grades
(18:41:03)  [Visitor page reloaded. New URL: http://www.nusso.com/fabric/ ]
(18:41:05)  [Visitor page reloaded. New URL: http://www.nusso.com/fabric/cheesecloth.htm ]
(18:42:51)  Visitor What is the minimum quantity we could purchase in order to determine what mesh would provide optimum whey draining rates?
(18:43:13)  Customer Service one box is the minimum?
(18:45:02)  Visitor Another question on sterilization...Could we use steam after washing?
(18:45:57)  [Visitor page reloaded. New URL: http://www.nusso.com/fabric/cheesecloth.htm ]
(18:46:30)  Customer Service not sure really.
(18:46:47)  Customer Service we just sell the stuff :)
(18:48:16)  Visitor No problem. Thanks for your assistance. We will let you know if we will be trying cotton cheesecloth in our evaluation process.
(18:48:32)  Customer Service take care

The Challenge of Selling Broadcloth Online

We have been selling broadcloth for over 50 years. While sales have declined over the years due to a shrinking of the industry, we have maintained many customers over the years. These customers know the colours that we at  Nusso Textiles Ltd. carry, which makes re-ordering very simple and effective. Most of our new clients are those that find us on the internet, which presents a unique challenge to sell to these customers. First, it is impossible to properly depict the colours on the web. Even if we were to create the pantone correct colours in PhotoShop, the representation on each and every screen is slightly different. The colour you see on your screen may change even based on the angle you are looking at the screen, let alone from one screen to the next. Second, the broadcloth colours themselves change with each dye lot. There is no way to guarantee that the colour you ordered two years ago will remain the same exact colour now.

So how do we sell braodcloth to new customers? Well, the short answer is that we explain the concerns described above and we reiterate that we can't match colours exactly and that we can only supply general colours where the exact colour doesn't matter too much. Many clients, especially those operating general fabric stores are tremendous partners using this approach to selling broadcloth. Since they are re-selling the fabric to consumers who can see the colour, much of the issues described above are avoided.

I frequently get requests from clients to send pictures of the broadcloth that is in stock so they can choose from those colours. In future, I will direct them to this post in order to explain why that is not effective or representative of what we actually have.