Name: Christine
Message: How much more dye would I need to purchase if I was doing sweatshirts instead of T-Shirts? I have a project where I am ordering T-shirts and sweatshirts but I am not sure if I will have enough dye. Because of space/chemical issues (Tye-dying in a dorm)I am purchasing kits that say they will dye up to 8 projects. I am afraid that I will not have enough money to buy enough dye. Would you say it was about double the amount of dye needed for a T-shirt?

It all depends on the weight of the cotton in a sweatshirt, versus the weight of the cotton in a t-shirt. You'll want about half an ounce of fiber-reactive dye per pound of cotton.

I would guess that a heavy-weight sweatshirt might weigh up to five times as much as a thin t-shirt! Then again, a thin sweatshirt might be only twice the weight of a good thick t-shirt. If you are tie-dyeing, you have the option of keeping a fair amount of the background white, in order to economize on dye.

It won't take much storage space if you mail-order several two-ounce jars of MX fiber reactive dye from a company such as Pro Chemical & Dye. They sell tie-dye kits as well as jars of dye. Dye tends to be much cheaper *per garment* purchased by mail-order from a dye supplier than when purchased from a local crafts store, but the initial expense may be greater. If ou buy your ingredients separately instead of as a kit, you also need to get urea and soda ash with your dye, since you probably don't want to store a large 5-pound container of soda ash from the swimming pool supply store, and don't forget gloves and squeeze bottles.