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Saturation As you can see in this image, where I am unfolding the shirt, there’s a lot of white space remaining. If you pay attention when you’re unfolding and think about how you placed the dye, you can get a feel for how to do it differently in the future to get the saturation that you want. All steps: Preparation I am using a 100% cotton shirt that has been pre-soaked in soda ash water. The color I’m using is dark brown by Dharma Trading Co. Mega Blocks I wanted to dye this on an incline, so I used some mega blocks to prop the metal basket up on the cookie cooling rack. Mega blocks are awesome for tie-dye because they can be stacked and used for several purposes. Batching It took about six hours for the ice and the dye to melt through. It all collected in the bin under the cooling rack. Trying to get flow ice results does not work well unless you have drainage for the melt to drop off. Poly Fleece The shirt is inside out and facing down. I laid it on top of a large piece of polyester fleece. Then I used tall, scrunchies and shove the whole thing in a snug basket. PPE Usually, I wear a full painters mask to make sure that I’m not breathing in any of the fine dust from the dye. The dye can float in the air for a while, and you don’t wanna be breathing that in. Also, it’s a good idea to wear gloves because touching soda ash can irritate your skin. Saturation As you can see in this image, where I am unfolding the shirt, there’s a lot of white space remaining. If you pay attention when you’re unfolding and think about how you placed the dye, you can get a feel for how to do it differently in the future to get the saturation that you want. Ice When I’m ice dyeing a shirt, I usually add about the same height of ice as the height of the thing that is folded. I did not sprinkle on any extra soda ash with the ice and the dye. DOI I sprinkled about half a teaspoon of powdered dye over the middle section of the ice. If I could do it over again, I probably would’ve added more dye all over. Wash & Dry Here’s what the dark brown color looks like in the flowy ice dye style when the shirt is fully washed and dried. I love this color and will definitely use it again. I would like to try combining it with a dark color for more contrast. See all tutorials

Add your swatch here < Back to Color List see listing on Dharma's site Bright Red Grateful Add your swatch (Enter the same way each time) Submit Details you want to include? (optional) Yay! You'll be redirected soon

Ice dyed quilting cotton, DOI Swatch made with procion dye by See all colors Peach Dharma Jessthestitcher Ice dyed quilting cotton, DOI

Add your swatch here < Back to Color List see listing on Dharma's site Simply Grey ProChem Add your swatch (Enter the same way each time) Submit Details you want to include? (optional) Yay! You'll be redirected soon

Add your swatch here < Back to Color List see listing on Dharma's site Bright Green Dharma Dye Barry Dye Add your swatch (Enter the same way each time) Submit Details you want to include? (optional) Yay! You'll be redirected soon

‹ list home next › Can you reuse soda ash water? Soda ash water stays good forever. Just keep a lid on it so it won't evaporate. If you happen to put an item in there that releases dye, you can put a white item in to see if it will soak up the dye molecules.

Lazy mixing It's annoying to mix liquid dye and then funnel it into squirt bottles, which is why I usually just ice dye. But for this, you can just mix a second color in a wide mouth jar and stir it. No need for a squirt bottle transfer. 1/2tsp of fuchsia for the dark bottom color. All steps: Base color Decide on your first color, which needs to be light and bright. I decided to use 1 Tsp soft orange powdered dye. Mix in about a cup or two of warm water until the dye dissolves. Pour Dump in the second color at one end. It will naturally flow toward the other end, in a way that looks nice. 8oz of water seems to be a good amount of liquid to use for the second color. Too much water might dilute the color or overtake the whole design. Scrunch Place the shirt into the bin of dye and swish it around until it’s fully saturated in color. Then scrunch it loosely. This will make it so that there’s no white left on the shirt. Squish it Use a gloved hand to squish, wiggle and generally mess with the shirt. It's fun. It mixes the color a little so the gradient is smooth. There will still be subtle details even if you mess with it. Lazy mixing It's annoying to mix liquid dye and then funnel it into squirt bottles, which is why I usually just ice dye. But for this, you can just mix a second color in a wide mouth jar and stir it. No need for a squirt bottle transfer. 1/2tsp of fuchsia for the dark bottom color. Rinse & reveal Since the water was warm, I didn't wait the whole 24 hours for the color to batch. I guessed that it would be ok after 12 hours since the heat sped up the reaction of the dye bonding. Reds/oranges react faster than other colors, too. This shirt is very bright and makes me happy to look at. See all tutorials

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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. see on Amazon More supplies for ice dye: Poly Fleece Soda Ash Shirt blanks Mega Bloks Elastics Wire Rack Dharma Dye Shaker Mask Detail Bottles Magic Tracks Baskets Gloves Sinew

Add your swatch here < Back to Color List see listing on Dharma's site Deep Purple Grateful Add your swatch (Enter the same way each time) Submit Details you want to include? (optional) Yay! You'll be redirected soon