I decided to apply the dye with ice, so I piled on a bunch of ice before adding dye. The green fleece around the shirt is just meant to hold up the ice around the shirt so it gets plenty of liquid.
All steps:
Supplies
I decided to use just one color so I could create a swatch for the color “black ice” from Dharma. My shirt is 100% cotton in size medium.
Setup
I used a wire basket and a cooling rack above the plastic bin so that the item would drip off excess ice and dye.
Batching
It took about six hours for the ice to melt. I let it sit for about 18 more hours to fully set and this is what it looks like after the ice has melted.
Soda ash
This shirt was pre-soaked in soda, ash water in a repurposed bucket that used to be a kitty litter container. It was only hand wrung, so it was pretty wet before folding.
Application
I decided to apply the dye with ice, so I piled on a bunch of ice before adding dye. The green fleece around the shirt is just meant to hold up the ice around the shirt so it gets plenty of liquid.
Rinse
I threw the shirt into my utility sink and sprayed it with cold water until it ran mostly clear. Then I rinsed it with hot water and then sent it through the washing machine with some normal detergent.
Fold
I folded the shirt up at an angle. On that fold line, started rolling the fabric really tight in the center, but I let it roll looser on each end.
Incline
These days it’s common for people to do an incline set up when they’re using some variation of the rolled technique. I used some mega blocks to hold the basket up at about a 30° incline.
Result
The final shirt turned out pretty cool. I like the way the fold turned out, as well as this die color. Next time, I would like to add some black somewhere on the shirt just for a little extra contrast.