Tie Dye: How To Tie Dye & Tips
Tie Dye: How To Tie Dye &Tips – Are you ready to dive into tie dying? Get ready to add vibrant colors to your t-shirts, socks, canvas tennis shoes, totes… or other cotton fabric items. See how easy it is to use a kit and get great results!
Tie dye is a fun craft that can produce unique eye-catching results! Don’t worry it’s not as messy as you might think! We are here to help you by sharing our best tie dye how to tips! Designed to make it easy for everyone, excited kids, creative teens, and adults.
Tie Dye
Recently, my oldest daughter and granddaughters came to visit. Any time during the summer is the perfect time to tie dye and do this craft but it is also fun to do in the fall and spring during nice weather. Of course, if you have the space you can do this indoors in the winter months.
They loved wearing their finished dyed shirts to the beach and hiking. We loved the memories we made with them while crafting and dying the t-shirts, tank tops, and socks. Let me share how easy it is to do this at home!
Supervision is required when doing this craft with children. With that being said, it is a lot easier and less messy to do with a little preplanning.
How To Tie Dye
Get a Tie Dye Craft Kit!
Let the fun begin by using convenient tie dye kits (including those fantastic ones with design patterns already included). Get ready to transform your own things into a colorful tie-dyed work of art.
This craft can be a fun end of summer activity too! Or as a weekend activity while the weather is mild.
Tie Dye Kit
Dying cottons vs. blends?
- 100% cotton is best.
- I have also used 80% cotton 20% polyester, with good results. But, they might not stand up (holding dye in fabric) with time/washing over and over again.
- Remember to get and use quality, cotton fabrics.
- You can also dye cotton canvas, rayon (a lighter fabric great for scarves, soft garments), linen (shirts, dresses, tablecloths and napkins), and hemp (T-shirts, bags, heavier garments).
- Avoid fabric blends: Synthetic fabrics: 50%/50% blends, blends, nylon, polyester, Lycra, spandex, animal fibers (wool..). The dyes will not bond to them and wash out quickly.
- Use the more expensive fabrics after your skill level has improved.
Things You Can Tie Dye
- T-shirts (kids) T-shirts (teens/adults) (100% cotton is best) I have also used 80% cotton 20% polyester, with great results. White and light-colored t-shirts and fabrics will have the dye show up the best! But remember to get and use quality, cotton fabrics.
- White Socks (kids), White Socks (teen size)
- Cotton Sweatshirts (crewneck) Cotton Sweatshirt (hoodie)
- Canvas Tennis Shoes
- White Cotton Tote Bags
- Canvas Bags
- Canvas or Cotton Zipper Bags
- Cotton Fabric
- Beach Towels to Tie Dye
- Plain White Baseball Cap for Tie Dye
Do you need to prewash the fabric before dying?
Yes! I recommend prewashing T-shirts and fabrics, then drying them. This will take out any sizing and chemicals that is from the manufacture process. Thus, making the dye saturation have better absorption and results.
Note: If your tie-dye kit includes soda ash (sodium carbonate) or requires you to pre-soak the fabric in a soda ash solution, washing the shirt first ensures the soda ash can effectively bind to the fabric fibers, which is essential for the dye to chemically bond and become permanent. (Resource reference: Google)
What supplies do you need to tie dye?
- plastic table cover
- plastic water pitcher or measuring cup
- dye squeeze bottles
- rubber bands
- plastic bags (to keep them in while dye is processing)
- soda ash,
- dye, measuring cups, and bucket (If you don’t get an all-in-one dye kit or the kit comes with soda ash dye.)
- And the items you will be dying (listed in the previous list)
I recommend getting a kit for tie dying. And then replenishing it as needed.
Where can you buy a good tie dye kit?
I purchased this dye kit on Amazon (I highly recommend it! NONTOXIC One-Step Dyes that only require regular tap water to activate the vibrant colors. All Tulip One-Step Dyes are nontoxic and safe for crafters of any age or experience level.).
Or check to see if they are in stock at your local hobby store.
What to wear when tie dying?
Even if you don’t get dye on what you wear, wear an oversized t-shirt or apron over your clothes. Or wear clothes you don’t care about in case there is a mishap.
Prepare your table/surface for doing the tie dye craft.
- Some kits will come with the plastic tablecloth. Others won’t. If you need a good solution is to cut (open and lay out) an extra-large garbage bag to protect your table. Or grab the recommended plastic tablecloth off the list.
- Use tape or something to weight the plastic covering to the table. This way if the wind blows your surface is still protected.
Next, prepare the dye in the bottles: It is easy and should be done by an adult. How to mix the dyes correctly?
- Read through the instructions of your kit prior to starting!
- The dye is already in the tie dye kit’s bottles (in some kits). You add water to them.
- Use a pitcher or plastic measuring cup to add the water.
- The less water you use the more intense the dye color will be (this can vary by fabric and how long you let the dye set too).
- You can fill the water to close to the top or there may be a max line (depending on your dye kit).
Tie Dye Tips!
If you are doing the project with kids keep the number to a minimum. Example 1-3 kids per adult.
- Take account of the kids ages.
- This is a fun craft for kids (with supervision), teens, and adults.
- Are they old enough to take turns? If so, they can play nearby or watch the craft activity until it is their turn.
- Take account of the available workspace you have to use. Don’t overcrowd the area, you will need arm room to work and twist your fabrics into designs. And pour/squirt the dye onto the fabric.
- Make sure the kids know they must wear the gloves the entire time they are working with the dyes and squeezing from the dye bottle (the younger ones need help being told when they have saturated the t-shirts enough, they get excited!).
- Keep paper towels or wipes handy.
- Make sure the surface of plastic cloth is wiped clean for each new dye project. You can easily wipe it with paper towels or wipes as needed.
How Long to Let the Dye Set?
You will get that information on the instructions sheet for the dyes from the kit. Typically, it is 6-8 hours minimum to 24 hours or overnight. The longer the better!
When the time is right, rinse the dyed t-shirts (or other items) in cold water (NO SOAP) until they run clear. Squeezing and rinsing, repeating until all the dye has run through the fabric.
Next, wash and dry the dyed shirts and they are ready to wear! I use laundry soap and cold water. Hang dry or dry in the dryer on a low/medium setting. Again, in the instructions are recommendations for washing to keep the projects vibrant.
Happy Crafting and Tie Dying!
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