Tie-Dye
You will need:
A white cotton T-shirt, bandana, or other item that you would like to dye. 100% Cotton works best!
Squirt Bottles (reusable ketchup/mustard bottles work great!. And if you buy a tie-dye kit at the craft store,
they will already have squirt bottles in the kit.)
Fiber reactive dye. (Tie-Dye kits come with the dyes, or you can find them by the color in craft stores).
*(Optional) Soda Ash (a.k.a. sodium carbonate- this helps the dye stick to the fabric better and will help your
colors to be brighter).
Rubber bands
Rubber gloves (You can find these in the kitchen or first aid sections at your local store – be sure to look for
non-latex gloves if there are latex allergies in your family!)
*(Optional) Plastic Tablecloth/Garbage bags (if you are dying inside)
Prep Your Stuff
*(Optional) Pre-wash and dry the garment (This is a good idea if your item is new)
*(Optional) Lay out your tablecloth if dying indoors (or cut open your garbage bags and lay them out).
*(Optional) Soak in Soda Ash: mix soda ash with water (1 cup per gallon). Soak garment for 15 minutes, then
wring out tightly.
Tie your shirt/bandana/socks/pillowcase/etc! (see below)
Tying Methods
All you have to remember is that wherever you gather the fabric tightly, the chances are not great that you’ll get
much dye to those areas. This is a good thing, it’s what give you your designs! So tie your rubber bands or strings
tightly. Then add plenty of dye to your shirt/bandana and trust your bands to do their job!
Stripes: Gather your shirt up like you’re folding a paper fan. You can twist it for lots of white wrinkles if you like!
Tie rubber bands/strings tightly every couple of inches or so, all the way down your cloth. Remember, you will
have a stripe wherever the band is, so tie as many as you like! And the stripes will go whichever direction your
band goes, so give it some thought before you start folding if you care about having horizontal or vertical
stripes.
Lots of Circles: For lots of circles, pinch up fabric about 2-3”, and tie it off tightly with a thick rubber band or
string. If you want to get fancy, insert a large marble or Styrofoam ball before tying your band.
Sunburst: Find the center of your shirt/item and tie off a pinch of fabric as instructed above, right from the
center. From there, tie additional bands as you did with the stripes, all the way down your shirt/garment,
however close or far apart you like.
Spiral: For a spiral design, simply pinch up a section in the middle of the shirt and twist it.
Keep twisting, but keep your shirt/garment flat on the table, until you have a nice circle (you
might have to tuck the ends in). Use three rubber bands/strings to keep your item together,
criss-crossing them so that your shirt/garment looks like a pizza with six slices.
Tie-Dye (continued)
Prepare the Dye
Be sure to prepare your dye according to the directions that it comes with. This is very important, and will be vital
to the success of your project! Aside from this, you can NOT mess this up! The rest is easy peasy!
Dye Your Stuff!
Do you have your super-cool gloves on? This is the fun part! Be sure you wear old clothes, because this stuff is
NOT coming out! This is where you can let the ar-TEEST in you come out (that’s the fancy-schmancy way of
saying artist). J You can squirt the dye in patterns, sections, or go all willy-nilly and squirt it wherever you like!
If you are doing the Spiral design, I suggest you dye each section of your “pizza” an alternating color. Whatever
you do, don’t be stingy with the dye, and be sure to flip it over and do each side! When you’re all done, put your
masterpiece in a sealed baggie, or tie it up by itself in a plastic grocery bag, and set it aside…
The Hard Part…
Okay, here’s the hard part. You now have to wait. I’m talking at least 8 hours! I know, I know, it’s soooo hard!
But you can do it! Don’t get impatient, because it will be worth it, I promise! If you’re doing this in the morning,
stick it out on the porch and head to the pool! Go to the park, or visit the nearest beach or marina! If you’re doing
it in the afternoon or evening, it will be ready for you when you wake up in the morning, and you can have colorful dreams about your work of art! But whatever you do, w…a…i…t…
Rinsing…and Rinsing…and Rinsing
Before taking out your rubber bands/strings, rinse your masterpiece under cold water until the water runs clear.
Squeeze it, twist it, and rinse, rinse, RINSE! When the water runs clear, take out your rubber bands or strings,
hold up your work of art (over the sink, of course!), and admire your work! THEN…rinse it some more! Rinse,
rinse, rinse, under cold water, until the water runs clear again. When you’ve finished rinsing in the sink, and the
water is clear, you are ready to put it in the washing machine! And it wouldn’t hurt to run it through a couple of
times.
Well? How does it look? Beautiful, isn’t it! I hope you had fun!