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Manutex/thickeners... How do they look?

I've been intensively tie dying for a couple years now (I actually tie dyed more shirts last year than there are days in the year), and I like where I'm at, and what I'm doing. Of course, I'm always looking to stretch and expand upon my technique.

Can anyone point me at some pictures of tie dyes that used thickeners to achieve whatever desirable effect they do? I'm not really looking for a "how to" or advice (I like to figure some of that on my own), just some examples of what it does, and maybe something that would compare the end result of with and without.

Thanks.

By MrMike at 2010-02-28 14:19 | Tie dyeing | login or register to post comments | previous forum topic | next forum topic

tie-dye thickeners

(Manutex is a brand name for sodium alginate. You can add a little to reduce the tendency of the dye to spread on the fabric, or a lot to turn the dye into a thick paint.)

You can see some pictures of Michael Fowler's work here on the forum, in a post I made on September 24, 2006. He always used sodium alginate thickener in his tie-dye recipe. (His recipe's given on my page Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners.)

Have you tried the thickener yet, yourself? In tie dyeing, it reduces the amount that the colors bleed together, so it's not desirable for rainbow effects, but it's excellent for getting very crisp resist designs or for using adjacent colors that otherwise would combine into a muddy brown, such as red next to green or orange next to blue.

-Paula

By pburch at Fri, 2010-03-05 10:03 | login or register to post comments

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