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I have been making tie dyed shirts all summer to help make money for school. I have only sold a few to my friends but I'd like to actually make money, not chump change,LOL.
I am making the shirts this year with rain water that I have collected in huge garbage barrels. That way I don't use water that I'd have to pay for and it is helping the environment. Not to mention the colors are so much, brighter than using tap water. I havn't uploaded any pictures of them yet, but I will be soon...as soon as my mother learns to use the internet, LOL.
I think the rain water is a good selling point, so in that I still have to use some tap water to rinse them but they are all dyed in the actual collected water.

Hi all,
I suppose this is a cross-over question. I don't have time to wait for different dyes. Here is the premise.

- presoak raw silk peice in pure vinegar for thrity minutes. Remove. Drain.

- use Procion MX dye powder in a 2/3 Superclear 320N & 1/3 water, adding dye after the two liquids have been mixed. This recipe is recommened in the 'how to' pages of Dharma Products.

- apply the thickend dye paste/solution to the areas to be coloured.

- wrap the wet, dyed silk peice in newsprint and place in sealed tupperware type microwave safe container.

- nuke the results for two minutes on high setting. A short relaxation period of thirty seconds between two one minute bursts.

One of the Sponsored Links for organic dyes here caught my eye as from time to time I'm asked about organics, both fabric/garments and dyes, and I was wondering about whether to venture in that direction.

Anyone used these?
http://www.organicdye.com/dyes.asp

Thanks,
Deb

I'd like to create some stencils with freezer paper and iron them on to my (pre-dyed lwi) shirt and then sponge on thickened dye. I read somewhere that you can't or shouldn't iron fabric that has been soaked in soda ash and dried (i don't know if it destroys the fabric or the iron or both, or if it's just plain wrong). Anyway, I'd rather work with my stencils and iron while not wearing those pesky gloves.

So, it seems like I need to mix my dyes with soda ash and quickly paint them on before they go bad (an hour, right?). How much soda ash should I add to a cup of dye? Does it make a difference how the dye is thickened? I have both alginate and superclear.

I've just got the idea that we usually tend to link certain fold with certain way of dye application. But it's not the only way how interesting design could happen.
Have you ever thought about other possibilities?

Looks like Jacquard is discontinuing their line of Procion H hot-water fiber reactive dyes (see Which Procion H dyes are pure unmixed colors, and which mixtures?), and replacing them with Remazol type dyes (see Vinyl Sulfone Fiber Reactive Dyes). They are calling the new line of Remazol type dyes—properly known by the generic name of vinyl sulfone dyes—by the brand name "Vinyl Sulphon", using a "ph" instead of "f", as in the British spelling (i.e. vinyl sulphone), and omitting the "e". This might be to make it a more unique brand name, or it might be a sign of what supplier they are starting out with. (The widely-used name "Remazol" is presumably not available because it is a trademark owned by Dystar; then again, the same is true of Procion, a name we see used by many retailers. Who knows how all that works out!)

I've found note on this chemical here:

http://www.dyeman.com/Procion.html

Sounds like a medium, that causes color shifts. Has anyone tried this?

I don't know how many of you have seen Arimatsu Narumi Shibori DVD by Yoshiko Wadda. I've got it yesterday. Since I know her book, I've seen mostly what I have expected. The greatest surprise was how they did itajime from whole bolt 37cmx12m piece of fabric and they have to use special stand to tie the borads correctly. I like the idea of having nails on sides of itajime boards!

hi all
this is my first post
i hope im in the right place lol
i want to start tie dying
and some one gave me a few tubs of "hydrodye"
but i have no idea if i can dye or tie dye clothes with it
does anyone have any idea
thanx
jax

I've been trying to get better at making shapes and doing mandalas and whatnot. is there anyway to make a 6 pointed start instead of 8? I have been trying to make a jewish star but it comes out very oddly shaped and not perfect on all sides when on a onesie. is there a way to fold the fabric like making a mandala instead of drawing out a half of a star and folding it accordingly? I would really like to start making advanced shapes like a guitar or those really amazing greatful dead bears...how do you make them?! Do you make a stencil yourself from trial and error or is there a folding technique similar to the mandalas?

Hello - was just wondering if anyone out there has been doing much screen printing or block printing with procion dyes?? If so, please please please post some pictures and talk about ur technique, mistakes, experiences etc.

Smile

Hello,

I have recently moved from Asia to the USA. I brought some wonderful textiles from India, Thailand, and Cambodia that are woven with purples in one direction and oranges in the other, so they sort of shimmer in shades of purple, orange, and pinks. They are marvellous fabrics and colors.

Anyway, what do you put with that in the bedroom? The fabrics I have are good for scarves on the tops of dressers and end tables, or maybe wall hangings, and I also have some throw pillows.

I bought an old white bedspread at goodwill. It feels like 100% cotton. It was only $4 so if it doesn't work out I am not crushed. I am thinking about dying it using Procion dye with the low water immersion process in a trash can lined with a plastic trash bag. I would like to use purple and orange dyes. I thought about putting the orange in the bottom, adding the spread, and then pouring the purple on top, and then after a while adding the soda etc according to the process described on this website. It would be nice if pinks came out at the place where the orange and purple joined, or if they kept their own intensity, but browns or muddy colors would be not so cool.

I'm not sure if you'd even consider this a form of dyeing at all, but I thought I should ask anyway.

Does anyone here have any experience with this type of sun printing? I'm wondering if there's any information as to how permanent or lightfast these prints would be. I'm also wondering what effect the chemicals in question would have on the life of natural fibers.

~Darlene

Hello. It has been ages since I contributed to the forum!! Had a few babies:)

Have been reading alot about procion dyes and the environment in order to make my business more eco friendly. Very interestig journey!! At one stage I was considering switching to Drimarine-K dyes as the washout is supposedly less, but they need higher temps to react, so this counteracted the washout benefits anyway.

I called both the main dye suppliers here in Australia to see what they had to say and recieved very different answers. Basically, from all the information provided I have learnt that reducing washout can be improved by having as much dye react to the fabric as possible, using hi-tec or synthrapol in the washout and soaking the batch a little in warm/hot water after the first initial cold rinse. One of the dye suppliers here states that using Resist salt L in the chemical water will enable more dye to react with the fabric. This dye supplier is pretty adament that it reduces wash-out and that most 'Americans' haven't heard of it and rarely use it. I was just wondering if anyone had anything to comment - does it enable more dye to react with fabric?? What is in it? - The dye supplier didn't have the ingredients listed for this Resist salt L. Is it safe?

Anyone ever tie-dyed (or otherwise dyed) lunch bags? Because my kids aren't allowed "character" lunch boxes at their school, and they take lunch every day, we have fabric-painted a nylon lunch bag/box each year.

I just saw that Dharma has cotton lunch bags and was wondering if anyone here has ever done anything with them? Can you scrunch or pleat them, or will I need to do more of a dropper/painting on them?

I've been experimenting lately with shibori-wrapped silk on a pole and direct application of dye. ( A few poor photos are on my blog: http://www.vashtisilks.com/blogger.html .) I've been using procion mx dyes activated with soda ash, because I don't have a way to steam these pieces.

In perusing the ProChem site I ran across instructions for doing this with ammonium sulfate (http://www.prochemical.com/directions/MX_DirectApplication.htm). This is attractive to me because (a) no steaming and (b) silk prefers acid. I can't batch silk in soda ash very long as I don't want to injure the fibers.

I ordered a quantity of silk mesh stole sized scarf blanks for a commission that eventually fell through. It was too late to return them so I am selling them below cost of buying from Thai Silks at eBay. If anyone is interested

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=170236719514

On dyeing viscose yarn with naphthol dyes ( using caustic soda )the yarn strength weakens.
Can you guide me the any other method to dye maroon colour on viscose yarn with naphthol dyes or with any other dye ? so that viscose yarn strength remains intact.

Hey everyone-

This is my first post on this site, so hello all!

Anyway, for days I have been scanning the web for a site that could give step by step instructions on how to tie dye a Steal Your Face (The Grateful Dead Logo) on to a T-Shirt.

I want to make 12 for a team I am on.

If any of you expirienced dyers out there can help me out with this one I would be very Grateful!!

If you would like to email me directly about this one, my email is edup@ufl.edu

Thanks in advance!