Is Dharma Pigment Dye really as good for tie-dyeing as Procion MX dye?

No fabric paint can be as good as high quality dye, but it can still be quite good in itself. As Dharma Trading Company says, "It gives results completely different from the usual tie-dye." Whether this is good or bad depends on what your aims are.

Dharma Pigment Dye is actually not a dye at all. It is a fabric paint, which means that it is a combination of a pigment that has no affinity for the fabric, with a gluelike binder to stick it on. It has failed to attract the same degree of enthusiasm among serious dyers that fiber reactive dyes have - people who have used good fiber reactive dye on cotton tend to be fanatical about how wonderful it is, compared to other forms of dyeing! - but it has its uses. As a general rule, the people who like pigment 'dyes' best are those who have not yet used high quality fiber reactive dye.

There is certainly a place for pigment 'dyeing', particularly if you are dyeing/painting tapestries, which do not need to feel as nice or last through as many washings as tie-dyed clothing, or if you prefer an aged look, or if you are coloring synthetics. Michael Fowler, in his wonderful 'Art of Tie Dye' DVD, makes extensive use of acrylic fabric paints, such as Liquitex, for 'tie-dyeing' mandala tapestries. He sticks to Procion MX type dyes for cotton clothing, however, due to their superiority for that purpose.

The advantages of fabric paints, such as Dharma Pigment 'Dye', include the fact that they are pre-mixed, and, unlike Procion MX type fiber reactive dye, will not go bad quickly in water. They can also be used on a wider range of fibers, since there is no need for a special affinity between the coloring and the fiber, as there is with dye. They are much more convenient to use than the dyes that can work on polyester, which are much more difficult to use than the cool water dyes that can be used on cotton and other plant fibers. (Another often-cited advantage is the claim that fabric paints are non-toxic, but there is rarely any documentation presented to support this claim; it is best to assume that any art material is toxic unless MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) information or the ACMI non toxic seal makes it clear that it is not.)

The disadvantages of all fabric paints include a small but perceptible change in the softness of the fabric, and a tendency to color only the very surface of the fiber, which then wears off more quickly than good dye, since dye penetrates throughout the fiber. If you look in clothing catalogs, you will note that the garments advertised as being 'pigment dyed' are also described as looking old and broken-in very quickly. Dharma says, with their Pigment Dye system, 'On cotton and rayon, especially if you don't heat-set, you get a cool distressed or "stonewashed" look after washing, which is a soft faded look.' This is great if it's what you want, but is very different from the brilliant look tie-dyers generally desire. Some dyers complain about the limited color possibilities of the Pigment Dye system, as opposed to fiber reactive dye which will allow you to mix ANY color, bright or subtle.

Whether the pigment 'dyes' are truly easier to use than Procion MX dyes is certainly debatable, and a matter of opinion. Garments that are dyed with Procion MX dyes do not require heat-setting! Another potential issue is the cleanup problem: the glue in the paint is said to cause it to stain everything badly, including your bottles, eyedroppers, plastic buckets and tables, sidewalks - anything that you get it on - so be sure to wash it off of surfaces before it dries. MX dye will permanently stain fabric and grout, but rinses off easily from plastic, metal, or glass objects.

In conclusion, it might be fun to try a pigment 'dye' system in addition to dyeing other items with high-quality dye, to see what it's like or to get different effects, but it would be a great shame to skip the good dye altogether, and only try the pigments.