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Process notes for tie dye and ice dye

For those also obsessed with ice dye and color, here are some notes to browse. Most of my experience is with geode tie dye, cold mist, and flowy ice dye. I have many videos on YouTube and other platforms, if you search for my name "Corky Lorenz."

Hand-dyed wool yarn in vibrant turquoise, colored with acid dye from Dharma Trading Company during a home dyeing project.

Can you dye wool yarn with acid dye?

Yes. Acid dyes bond beautifully to wool, producing vibrant, saturated colors, especially the fluorescent shades from Dharma Trading Company, which seem to glow under natural light.

Corky is pouring orange dye from mason jar into a bin with a shirt being dyed.

How do you get really bright color with tie dye?

The most important elements of bright tie dye color are: using natural fiber shirts, presoaking in soda ash, using enough dye, and letting it fully set.

A shirt hanging on a white wall that is dyed in the geode tie dye style.

What is geode tie dye?

It’s a style of tie dye that ends up resembling a sliced agate or geode. Artificial sinew is wrapped around fabric and pulled tight to resist dye and create lines.

Corky is scrunching a shirt on top of polyester fleece, to ice dye.

What is the flowy poly fleece method in tie dye?

This is a technique meant to produce a smooth watercolor look on thin fabrics. It’s done by placing polyester fleece behind the thin fabric before bunching.

A shirt is soaking in a bin of hot dark dye water to batch and set the colors.

What is a hot soak in tie dye, and how does it speed batching?

A hot soak is a shortcut for ice dyers who want to see their results faster. Instead of waiting 24 hours at room temp, you soak the item in hot water to set the dye faster.

A shirt and artificial sinew are on a white table, with the shirt in the process of being tied.

How to tie crisp lines in the geode tie dye style?

Getting crisp lines without blotchiness requires making the ties really tight and properly spaced.

Corky Lorenz wringing out a lavender cotton shirt after soaking it in soda-ash solution for tie-dye preparation.

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.

A person is holding a jar of tie-dye powder

Where do you get your dye?

Most of my dye is from Dharma Trading Co, but I also like Jacquard Products. There are several more small shops to get powered dye from.

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