Name: olivia
Message: How can we "fix" colours when tie-dying? 

Use the right dye with the right recipe. Avoid all-purpose dye. 

Choose your dye type correctly for your fabric; do not attempt to dye polyester, acrylic, or acetate with an ordinary dye, since these fibers require a special dye for synthetics which is called disperse dye. Cotton, linen, rayon, and silk are easy to set fiber reactive dye in.

If you use good tie-dye dye, that is, any cool water fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye, the way to fix the dye is with soda ash, a.k.a. washing soda or sodium carbonate. Follow the instructions on Hand Dyeing - How to Do It: basic recipe for Procion MX dyes on cellulose or silk. After applying the soda ash and the dye to the cotton or silk fabric, keep it damp, for the reaction to occur, for up to 24 hours at 70°F (21°C). Procion MX dyes can be purchased by mail-order or in Jacquard brand tie-dye kits, which can sometimes be found in local craft or sewing stores.

Instead of Procion MX dye, you may use Cibacron F dye or Drimarene K dye. If you can find Dylon Cold Water Dye, or Dylon Washing Machine Dye, or Dylon Permanent Dye, those are mostly Drimarene K dyes and will work. Use soda ash just as with Procion MX dye. Use warmer temperatures for these dyes, say 30°C overnight.

Avoid Dylon Multi Purpose dye, Tintex High Temp dye, and Rit dye, which are all-purpose dyes and therefore of inferior quality. These are hot water dyes and cannot be used properly at room temperature. To use this sort of dye, apply it by simmering your garment in the dye at 89°C (just under boiling temperature) for half an hour in a non-reactive pot. After rinsing the garment, to set the dye permanently, you must use a commercial dye fixative. Vinegar and salt are useless for this purpose; you must mail-order a good dye fixative. Brand names of this type of product include Retayne, Raycafix (in Canada), Batik Oetoro's Dyefix (in Australia), and Deka L fixative or Fixitol P in the UK. These products are sometimes available at your local quilting supply store, but usually must be purchased by mail; see my page listing Sources for Dye Supplies around the world.

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