Tie dye supplies

The main supplies you need to get started with tie dye are powered dye, soda ash, gloves and a cotton shirt.

Essentials

- procion dye

- soda ash

- gloves

- mask

- paper towels or rag

- bins

Optional

- dye bottles

- rubber bands

- artificial sinew

- measuring spoons

- magic tracks

Green polyester fleece folded on a light grey table

Poly Fleece

Synthetic fiber fabric meant to fold under thin fabrics for the flowy ice dye style. Typically folded with tall scrunches.

Soda Ash

This is what makes the color permanently bond to the fabric. Presoak your shirt in soda ash water before applying dye. Mix 1 cup of soda ash with 1 gallon of water.

A hand holding a folded shirt blank, for tie dye.

Shirt blanks

I like these for practicing flowy ice dye. They are slightly stiff, which helps with getting nice flowing details with tall scrunches.

Corky holding a red mega block up to the camera.

Mega Bloks

These are great for draping shirts over. When you ice dye, you get interesting results when you create dramatic peaks and valleys. These are a good alternative to using balls of foil (used to be popular). Just don't let kids play with them if they will put in their mouth.

Elastics

For sprials, scrunches, accordians! Some people have good results using elastics for geode tie dye, but I prefer to use sinew.

Corky holding a cookie cooling rack in a totally normal pose

Wire Rack

For ice dye drainage when you don't want the item sitting in excess dye water. Racks helps get better "flow" for the watercolor ice dye look.

A hand holding a small jar of yellow procion dye.

Jacquard Dye

Fiber reactive dye meant for cotton, rayon, hemp, and other natural fiber fabrics. I like using the Jacquard "Jet Black" color when ice dyeing.

Sinew

Thick, waxy thread, used to tie fabric before applying dye. It's often used to create lines by resisting the dye under the tied sections.

Shaker

I got one of these and like it for keeping some black dye at hand. Mixing with salt makes it sprinkle evenly.

Mask

Powered procion dye is very fine and floats in the air. It's best to wear a well fitting respirator to make sure you aren't breathing it in. I like the standard painter masks.

A hand holding a tie dye squirt bottle with a tiny metal nozzle.

Detail Bottles

These fine tip squirt bottles are good for liquid dyeing very intricate designs with lots of small sections. Usually people using these are doing detailed mandalas or geodes.

Magic Tracks

I enjoy using these connected in a circle, as an ice barrier. You can stack them into 2 layers if the ice is too tall for just one layer. Rinse and reuse. Some people find them at garage sales and thrift stores.

Corky holding a metal basket in front of her face.

Baskets

I got all my metal baskets from Meijer locally, but you can use any basket that looks like a shape you like. Coated metal is nice so it will last a while without rusting.

Gloves

Some people like to use shorter, disposable gloves to make it easier to do detail work. I have learned to like these for ease and not buying disposable gloves. They are great for rinsing dyed items out because they are tall.

white jar of powered procion dye with a sample of fabric dyed in that color.

Tie dye supplies

Essentials

Optional

Poly Fleece

Synthetic fiber fabric meant to fold under thin fabrics for the flowy ice dye style. Typically folded with tall scrunches.

Soda Ash

This is what makes the color permanently bond to the fabric. Presoak your shirt in soda ash water before applying dye. Mix 1 cup of soda ash with 1 gallon of water.

Shirt blanks

I like these for practicing flowy ice dye. They are slightly stiff, which helps with getting nice flowing details with tall scrunches.

Mega Bloks

These are great for draping shirts over. When you ice dye, you get interesting results when you create dramatic peaks and valleys. These are a good alternative to using balls of foil (used to be popular). Just don't let kids play with them if they will put in their mouth.

Elastics

For sprials, scrunches, accordians! Some people have good results using elastics for geode tie dye, but I prefer to use sinew.

Wire Rack

For ice dye drainage when you don't want the item sitting in excess dye water. Racks helps get better "flow" for the watercolor ice dye look.

Jacquard Dye

Fiber reactive dye meant for cotton, rayon, hemp, and other natural fiber fabrics. I like using the Jacquard "Jet Black" color when ice dyeing.

Sinew

Thick, waxy thread, used to tie fabric before applying dye. It's often used to create lines by resisting the dye under the tied sections.

Shaker

I got one of these and like it for keeping some black dye at hand. Mixing with salt makes it sprinkle evenly.

Mask

Powered procion dye is very fine and floats in the air. It's best to wear a well fitting respirator to make sure you aren't breathing it in. I like the standard painter masks.

Detail Bottles

These fine tip squirt bottles are good for liquid dyeing very intricate designs with lots of small sections. Usually people using these are doing detailed mandalas or geodes.

Magic Tracks

I enjoy using these connected in a circle, as an ice barrier. You can stack them into 2 layers if the ice is too tall for just one layer. Rinse and reuse. Some people find them at garage sales and thrift stores.

Baskets

I got all my metal baskets from Meijer locally, but you can use any basket that looks like a shape you like. Coated metal is nice so it will last a while without rusting.

Gloves

Some people like to use shorter, disposable gloves to make it easier to do detail work. I have learned to like these for ease and not buying disposable gloves. They are great for rinsing dyed items out because they are tall.

Dharma Dye

Fiber reactive dye meant for cotton, rayon, hemp, and other natural fiber fabrics. When used with soda ash, the color stays bright.