Black tie dye

Black tie dye shirt

These shirts were dyed with 2 different dye colors, using ice.

The point of this graphic is not to say that one dye is better than the other. I want to show that they react at different rates, so the amount of water used matters.

Jet black can be easily rinsed out if you use too much liquid. This makes it great for getting a soft look, as long as you use a controlled amount of water. It can also be quite dark if you don’t dilute it too much, and give it enough time to fully set. I love jet black for getting a subtle shadow effect next to the white lines of my geode shirts.

Raven has more color components, and starts sticking as soon as it hits the fabric. In this example, raven provides really nice detail. Sometimes raven will cause speckling if sprinkled directly onto the item you’re dyeing. Apply over ice or on a paper towel if you don’t want speckles. Because it contains more colors, it’s fun for ice dye splits.