Killer tye-die

Step 2 Mix the dyes

So, the tye-dye basics are like this:
you have some dyes that are water-soluble. If you just squirt them on a shirt, they'll wash off. However, if you treat the shirt with a fixer, it'll hold the dyes in place. In our case, urea is our fixer.
I really like mixing my dyes in ketchup-style squirt bottles, which makes for easy dying. However you choose to do it, add some warm water to a container, and then mix some dye powder in. I do it qualitatively--the more dye you add, the brighter the colors will be, although there is some saturation point. A good rule of thumb might be 1 tablespoon of dye for 8 ounces of water.
Anyway, put some dye into the water and mix it up. Then, go on to slep 3

Comments

[spingk]

Urea is not a fixer! What you should be doing is soaking the materials in soda ash (sodium bicarbonate.) You can buy this in most grocery stores under the name "Washing Soda" or in pool supply stores or online from the Dharma Trading Company. Urea is a good addition to a tie dyers supplies, but it acts to help the dye dissolve and help penetrate the fibers. The dyes you are using are called fiber reactive dyes because they actually become part of whatever fiber you are dying. However, they need a raised pH to react with the fiber. That's where the soda ash comes in. Mix 1 cup soda ash with 1 gallon of water and you'll have a solution with a pH of around 10.5. Soak cotton in the solution for around 15 minutes prior to dyeing. To dye silk you will need to use vinegar then heat set the dye in a microwave. I think you'll find that following these directions will help make your tie dye last longer and look better!