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Learn what soda ash does in tie dye and why it helps cotton shirts absorb color evenly. Includes a photo of the soda-ash presoak process. What does soda ash do before dyeing? It makes the fabric ready to grab color. The soda ash raises the pH so the dye will chemically bond to cotton instead of just washing out later. I soaked this lavender work shirt in soda ash water and wrung it out by hand. It’s 100% cotton with white screen print graphics that I’m planning to overdye. The white ink stays white because it’s a synthetic material. The soda ash step doesn’t look dramatic, but it makes a huge difference in how permanent the color will be. It’s called sodium carbonate , but in the tie dye world, people refer to it as soda ash. I usually mix one cup of soda ash per gallon of water and let the shirt get fully wet before squeezing it out. Some people like to spin out the excess soda ash and pour it back into the main soaking bucket. Corky Lorenz October 7, 2025 All Articles Soda ash Dye

A young hognose snake mistakes a paper towel for food. Here’s how vinegar helped it release the bite safely. What happens if a baby hognose snake bites a paper towel? It might try to eat it. A little vinegar on a q-tip can help the snake let go without harm. When I was visiting my friend and asking about his hognose snakes, which are about five months old now, he got one of them out to show me how voracious these baby snakes are. Now that they're fully in the routine of eating well, he was opening the container and showing me how they're basically ready to eat every time he gets them out. They're posturing as though they're going to strike, and anything in their way they're interpreting as a meal. He was holding a paper towel above the container, and this baby snake struck the paper towel and tried to eat it as though it were a mouse. He wanted to get the paper towel out of the snake's mouth without just pulling on it, because he didn't want the snake to rip off pieces and end up swallowing it. To do that, he used a q-tip soaked in vinegar and pushed it near the corners of the snake's mouth. His goal was that a really smelly or repulsive scent or taste would make the snake want to give up on the item and not try to eat it. That's how he got his snake to let go in the past when it bit his hand. He just slowly kept dipping the q-tip into the vinegar and then back onto the paper towel, and eventually the snake let go and didn’t consume it. It took several minutes, but he was patient, not trying to pull it out of the snake’s mouth, just using the disgusting taste of vinegar to get the snake to abandon the perceived meal. It was interesting to watch the way the snake was trying to envenomate the paper towel. I could see it moving its jaw side to side as if it was trying to make its jaw bigger to accommodate the whole paper towel. It was trying to eat that entire thing, ratcheting it in farther, and it just makes it seem like snakes will take on something way bigger than they can handle. It’s amazing what they can actually swallow because their anatomy will expand to accommodate a meal that’s bigger than their head. So if your snake tries to eat something that it shouldn’t, don’t panic. See if you can find something that’s safe but repulsive to help them let go of the item. Corky Lorenz October 31, 2025 Hognose Snakes All Articles

Fernwood Botanical Gardens is a public garden and nature preserve in Niles, Michigan. It includes trails, wooded areas, ponds, a conservatory, and seasonal exhibits. Fernwood Botanical Gardens in Niles, MI Fernwood is mix of trails, wildlife, and seasonal exhibits. It’s part garden, part forest, and part learning space for families and kids. I’m Corky Lorenz, a journalistic photographer in northern Indiana, and this is what I saw during my autumn visit to Fernwood. The view over the Big Pond with autumn leaves November 2, 2025 Model trains at Fernwood Botanical Gardens There are two different train displays at Fernwood. One is inside, in the building where you buy your tickets. The other is a short walk from the entrance, on the trail. November 2, 2025 Bird watching at Fernwood Botanical Gardens Follow the trail to the Sims Education Center. It's the grey building with plants on some parts of the roof. Inside, you'll find bird watching stations.

How to tie and dye geode style tie dye. Flowy watercolor tips. Supplies you need, and step by step guides for how I dye shirts. Tutorials & examples of tie dye methods Most of my experience is with geode tie , flowy ice dye , and what I call the "cold mist method." Below are links to more info about my process. I have YouTube videos and post on most platforms if you search for my name, Corky Lorenz. Most popular tie dye tutorials Geode tie dye How to get started with tying and applying dye for the stunning agate look. Flowy ice dye Tips for how to get long flowing lines with ice dye and polyester fleece. Glossary for Tie Dye Quick reference definitions for people new to tie dye and ice dye. Not all entries have images or full explanations, yet, since it's an ongoing project. Glaubers salt A chemical additive that slows how fast dye strikes, allowing for smoother blends. Funnel A cone-shaped tool used to pour dye or chemicals into narrow containers without spilling. Alginate This is a powder meant to be mixed with water and dye, to thicken the dye. Elastic A stretchy band used to bind fabric tightly. Creates strong resist lines. Cotton A plant-based fiber that bonds well with fiber reactive dye. Common in shirts and towels. Accordion Pleating fold for symmetry or stripes. Frequently asked questions about tie dye. 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. Do some colors need different amounts? Yes, some colors are way more potent than others! If you are ordering from Dharma, they will indicate which colors need difference ratios to be at full strength. Does the size of the ice matter? Crushed ice melts faster and spreads dye more softly. Big cubes melt slower and give stronger separation between colors. Both can work, it depends on the effect you want. Why is my shirt dull after rinsing? Dye that didn’t bond gets washed away. Dull results can come from under-batching, low soda ash, or not enough dye powder in the first place. Why does black split into other colors? Many black dyes are blends of other pigments. As the ice melts, the components separate, creating outlines of blue, red, or green. This is normal and often desirable. What’s the best fabric for ice dye? 100% cotton or rayon usually gives the best results. Cotton/poly blends can work but won’t absorb color evenly. Avoid anything labeled “colorfast.” Can you speed up the ice melting? You can, but it’s risky. Using heat or breaking up the ice early might reduce detail and cause uneven saturation. Slow melts usually give cleaner flowy lines. Where do you get your dye? I usually get my fiber reactive dye from Dharma Trading Co. They have many kinds of dye, so make sure you're looking at fiber reactive procion dye. Why do you use ice instead of bottles? I love the way ice slowly pushes dye through the fabric, by gravity, creating organic patterns. It looks more like something that would occur in nature. How do you keep the white areas white? It helps the item batch the full 24 hours so excess dye has time to exhaust. Then, rinse with cold water until it runs mostly clear. That helps the white areas stay clean. What is the cold mist method? The cold mist method is a process I use to layer color into dry, tied shirts using powdered dye and a misting nozzle, with cold water. How long does it have to batch? Procion dyes take about 24 hours to fully set, at room temp. If you use heat, you can speed up batch time. Blues usually turn out better with full batch time of 24 hours. Why don't pink geodes saturate well? Even with added effort, they tend to stay on the surface or miss areas under the sinew. I often black or orange to help reach the areas they miss. What does soda ash do? Soda ash is what makes the chemical reaction happen, that makes the color permanent on your shirt. How fast should the ice melt? If the ice melts too fast, like within an hour, you can lose detail and get washed out areas. Slow it down to get more even results. Why are my colors muddy? Overlapping complementary colors makes muddled colors. For example, red next to green will make a dark brown.

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

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