I plan on tub dye batiking a few cotton shirts. Once I pre-soak in the soda ash, do I rinse it out before dyeing?

Name: Sara

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Country or region: New Hampshire, US

Message: Hi! First, thank you so much for all the hard work you put into your site. It is amazing and has been super helpful - thank you! I went through your FAQs and came up with some questions I didn't see. I plan on tub dye batiking a few cotton shirts in a 4 gallon pot. Once I pre-soak in the soda ash, do I want to rinse all of that out before I immerse in die? Or do I want the residue to be on there? Also, I have the dyes and soda ash but did not yet get the urea or synthropol. Do you recommend I wait till I have those or do you think I can get started without those two things in the first couple of batches? Thank you so much! Sara

(You're using Procion MX dye, right? None of this will make any sense if you're using all-purpose dye, but all-purpose dye is no good for batik, anyway, since it requires hot water that can melt the wax.)

Since you're tub-dyeing your batiked fabric in a large volume of water, you should not add the soda ash fixative beforehand as a pre-soak. Pre-soaking in soda ash is done when you're going to be applying the dye directly to soda-soaked fabric, as in tie-dyeing or dye-painting. For immersion-dyeing, you will add soda ash as a fixative only after you have added the dye.

As a separate matter, you can boost the action of the detergent that you use to prewash your shirts by adding some soda ash, but that soda ash gets rinsed out and does not count as a fixative. At that stage, it's only a cleaner. It has nothing to do with the soda ash that you will add to fix the dye. Be sure to prewash your shirts in hot water before you start your project, using detergent and extra soda ash, and rinse as usual. Always dry your fabric completely before applying wax. A little dampness will resist the wax.

Dyeing in a large volume of water, as in your four-gallon pot, is done when you want a single solid color, exactly the same across the entire piece. It is more trouble than other methods of dyeing, because an hour's worth of stirring is required, but it's the only way to get a perfectly solid color. (I usually prefer to use the low water immersion method when batiking, producing a somewhat variegated color; low water immersion is much less work, and looks more interesting. See "How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing".)

To do high-water-ratio immersion dyeing, as you are planning to do, you need fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye; a large quantity of salt; and the fabric you're going to dye. You do not need to use urea for immersion-dyeing, because the dyeing is completed after an hour of stirring the fabric with the dye and salt; urea is used to maintain moisture in tie-dyed clothing overnight, so the reaction can continue longer, but there's no need for it in immersion dyeing, since there is plenty of water present. Some people like to use urea when they dissolve their dye, on the theory that the dye will become slightly more soluble, but it's not necessary. See my FAQ page, "What is urea for? Is it necessary?".

You don't have to use Synthrapol, although it is a very good detergent; any laundry detergent will do for the washing-out step after you're done dyeing, as long as you use hot enough water. (See my FAQ page, "What is Synthrapol?".) When you go to boil out your batik wax, a drop of liquid castile soap (such as Dr. Bronner's) or some Ivory soap would be a better choice, though a drop of hand dishwashing soap will do.

When you use a large amount of water, though, you really must use salt, a lot of salt. Salt is not needed for tie-dyeing, dye-painting, or low-water-volume immersion dyeing, but it is needed to make up for the large amount of water in your four-gallon pot. The problem is that, when you dilute the dye a lot, most of it has trouble even finding the fiber it's supposed to be bonding to. You end up wasting most of your dye. Adding salt takes care of this problem. You can go buy your salt at the grocery store (you're unlikely to have enough on hand already unless you bought it for dyeing). It doesn't really matter whether you use non-iodized salt, it turns out. I like to use pickling salt, which is, as it happens, non-iodized, and free of additives, and comes in relatively inexpensive four-pound boxes at the grocery store. If you measure your salt by weight, rather than volume, it doesn't matter whether you use kosher salt; if you measure by the cupful, you will have to use a larger quantity, since kosher salt has a lower density than granulated salt. For dyeing one pound of cotton in three gallons of water (in your four-gallon pot), you will need three cups of granulated salt, or four cups of Morton brand kosher salt, or six cups of Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt. See "Do I need to use salt, in dyeing?".

If your water is hard, you'll get better results if you add the water softener known as sodium hexametaphosphate, but that's hard to find locally. You can do without it this time, and buy some with your next dye order.

Here are instructions for tub dyeing (high-water-ratio immersion dyeing) one pound of fabric in three gallons of water:

1. First dissolve your dye in room-temperature water (wear a dust mask while working with dye powder). Start by "pasting up" with a very small amount of water; when you have mixed the dye powder into a smooth paste, add more water, for a total of about two cups of water, and stir until the dye is completely dissolved. Filter out any tiny lumps by pouring it through the toe of a nylon stocking, which you can hold in a funnel.

2. Dissolve one-third of a cup of soda ash in two cups of mildly warm water (it dissolves best in water around body temperature, not in hot water or cold water).

2. Fill your bucket or pot with two gallons plus three quarts of warm water, about 100°F (or about 40°C). There must be plenty of room in your bucket at the top, to avoid splashing. The usual container to choose is a five-gallon plastic bucket, since no stovetop heating will be required.

3. Dissolve your salt in the water in your bucket or pot, stirring as long as necessary, using a long-handled spoon or stick. Use three cups of granulated salt, or four cups of Morton brand kosher salt, or six cups of Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt.

4. When the salt is dissolved, add your dye to the salt water and stir.

5. Add your fabric to the bucket, and stir for fifteen to twenty minutes. In this stage, the dye is soaking into the fabric, but it has not yet bonded to the fabric since there is no soda ash.

6. Add about one-third of your soda ash and continue to stir for five minutes.

7. Add another third of your soda ash and stir for five more minutes.

8. Add the last of your soda ash to the dyebath.

9. Continue to stir for an hour. (You can cut this down to stirring for only half an hour if you are not concerned with getting as intense a color.)

10. Dump out the dye and drain your shirts, then wash them in cool water.

11. Repeat your waxing after allowing the fabric to dry thoroughly, or, if you are done, you can proceed to remove the wax.

If you use low water immersion dyeing, instead, using a much smaller container, you will be able to skip all of that tiresome stirring. This is a good idea only if you think that some variation in color will work well with the design you are batiking, of course. You need to use a lot of water, and a lot of stirring, if you want completely even solid colors.

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I plan on tub dye batiking a few cotton shirts. Once I pre-soak in the soda ash, do I rinse it out before dyeing?

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