How to ice dye

To ice dye, soak your shirt in soda ash, fold it tightly, cover it with a tall layer of ice, and sprinkle powdered dye over the top. As the ice melts, it carries the dye through the fabric and creates a flowing pattern,

Corky is using a metal spoon to sprinkle powdered Procion dye over the top of ice that is on a cotton T-shirt for ice

Folding for ice dye

A common way that people like to fold their T-shirt when ice dyeing is to just crumple it, to get organic watercolor results. I like to lay a piece of fabric called polyester fleece under my shirt before folding it in order to get smoother results with the dye flow.

Corky Lorenz

December 3, 2025