Picking up from where I last left off…
The tannin didn’t seem to help hold the color any darker than the plain soda ash addition. BUT I cooked it on high for about 20 minutes total in the microwave and THAT seems to have made a difference in how dark the color is after a rinse. The samples were quite wet in the micro and I did let the fabric dry after micro-ing it and before rinsing.
While at the Michigan League of Handweavers’ (MLH) biennial conference in Holland MI, I had several people who had taken earlier mudcloth workshops mention to me that their colors stayed so very well, especially when given months of time to sit and wait for the soy action.
I’ll have to let folks decide which method they want to use – a quick halo-making process or a long-term exact one.