What is a hot soak in tie dye, and how does it speed batching?
A hot soak is a shortcut for ice dyers who want to see their results faster. Instead of waiting 24 hours at room temp, you soak the item in hot water to set the dye faster.
I started doing it while testing geode style shirts because I wanted a faster feedback loop: tie it, dye it, rinse it, study it, repeat.
A hot soak reduces batch time down from a full day to about an hour.
How to do it:
Place the shirt in a bin of very hot water (not boiling).
Leave it for about an hour.
Then rinse normally.
If you’re worried about color loss, you can put the item in a plastic bag before soaking so dye doesn’t bleed off, but skip the bag when your piece has light or pastel areas next to dark ones. The pooled dye can touch lighter sections and cause blotches.
When the piece is mostly dark or a single color, bagging works fine.
And sometimes I leave it loose on purpose. The tiny bit of dye that washes away can create soft, radiant streaks that look like light rays.
Use this trick only on 100% cotton or other sturdy naturals.
The hot water can distort bamboo velour or polyester blends, especially if the fabric is tied tight in a geode fold because the heat and tension can warp the fibers.
Also, if you are using a turquoise based blues, you might lose some vibrancy when speeding up batch time with heat. Usually, I'm not bothered by that, especially if my goal is to quickly test tying and dyeing techniques.
Corky Lorenz
October 10, 2025