Tie Dye

Discussion in 'Fiber Arts' started by badwolf, Mar 23, 2006.

  1. badwolf

    badwolf Member

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    That urge to tie dye is hitting me once again.

    I've had some mishaps before with lousy dye. This time I'd like to get something that will actually work.

    Anyone know of any brands of fabric dye that are good for quality tie dying? And where I might be able to find it?

    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. wild.flower

    wild.flower Member

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    Over half of my clothes are tie dyed, lol. xD www.dharmatrading.com <-- That website is great. All their dyes and garments and fabrics are great.
     
  3. cerridwen

    cerridwen in stitches

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    I just use regular clothing dye, it always seems to work for me...
     
  4. badwolf

    badwolf Member

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    Any particular brand?
     
  5. Rasta Zombie

    Rasta Zombie Member

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    I have a bunch of my pants tie dyed....But hanes works good. And for dye....Any kind....
     
  6. drumminmama

    drumminmama Super Moderator Lifetime Supporter

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    there is only ONE dye to use in North America on cotton and hemp, and that is Procion MX, an aniline dye used with cold water.

    Three main outlets for it are:
    Dharma trading: Pros: helpful staff, carries a wide selection of whites/blanks, catalog and site have good tutorials
    cons: stoner staff gets stuff wrong, color is too variable in dye lots
    Ruppert Gibbon and Spyder (also called Jacquard)
    Pros: great info/ products for silk, professional staff, know their stuff well
    Cons: expensive, color chart for PMX is small

    Pro Chemical and Dye (Prochem)
    Pros: best selection, quickest service
    Cons: Mint is now only available in a 55 gal drum. Mint lasts forever in a 4 oz jar.

    Jacquard's kit looks like this: http://www.dickblick.com/zz013/01/
    Rainbow Rock is an aniline kit, too.

    My RIT Rant:
    RIT, a hot water dye, is a waste of your water, garment and time. It's ONLY redeeming feature is it dyes polyester. It is neither light nor colorfast in the wash, so it is best on items that will be washed very little and live in the shade.
    Friends don't let friends use RIT.

    Deka and other aniline dyes are adequate.
    JAcquard sells a Tie-dye kit

    other discussions on dye:
    http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123512

    http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108225

    http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112900

    http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108783
    http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112585
     
  7. drumminmama

    drumminmama Super Moderator Lifetime Supporter

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    in all fairness to dharma, their Better Black truly is the best for cotton on the market!
     
  8. FreakerSoup

    FreakerSoup Stranger

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    There's a type of dye called azo dyes. They aren't a brand, more of a category, and I think they're pretty high-quality.
     
  9. badwolf

    badwolf Member

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    Wow thanks for the information.
    Once I make a bit of money, I'm off to get some dye and cotton t-shirts.
     
  10. peacelovebarefeet

    peacelovebarefeet BuRniN oNe...

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    RIT has always worked for me--I've never had a problem with it. But, Dumminmama has probably dyed a shitload more garments than me, so I'd go with her advice.
     
  11. drumminmama

    drumminmama Super Moderator Lifetime Supporter

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    been with paul 11 years.
    40 shirts/batch for 9 of those years (plus tapestries and special order dresses like my avatar dress). A batch takes about a week, so 52 weeks/ yr, nine years is: 468 weeks by 40 shirts is 18,720.
    Nine thousand pairs of socks (roughly), a couple hunded baby ctothes/ blanket pieces, and 15 stage sets, most 3 pieces.
     
  12. peacelovebarefeet

    peacelovebarefeet BuRniN oNe...

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    Wow. I'm IMPRESSED.
     
  13. drumminmama

    drumminmama Super Moderator Lifetime Supporter

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    if you saw how long it takes me to work out math, you'd be really impressed. Yes, I used a calculator, but I think it was still 20 minutes or math.
    Paul's sort of retiring because we know a few women who have lost breasts to Procion.
    that and the stitch technique is hard on the hands. He's lobbying me to get to work on the how to book and story boards for a DVD.
     
  14. tculi

    tculi Senior Member

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    ive gotten my tie dying stuff from joanns fabrics but im not sure if theyre all over the place
     
  15. drumminmama

    drumminmama Super Moderator Lifetime Supporter

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    joanns sells the Jacquard kit (or can get ir for you)
     
  16. hippiestead

    hippiestead Ms.Cinnamon

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    Rit is a last resort in our opinion unless you like the washed out color look.

    Just the same, a friend of our did some almost bright Rit dyes that held the color. She said she used boiling water to dye; then dumped the clothes in icy cold water
     
  17. drumminmama

    drumminmama Super Moderator Lifetime Supporter

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    even knowing the chemistry of this, it doesn't make long term sense.
    How will they hold up, and WHY should people settle for washed out grungy dyes?
    Resist dye CAN be an art form. We should treat it as such. To do less is a McDonald'sization of it, and the culture.

    [​IMG]
     
  18. badwolf

    badwolf Member

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    I managed to get some dye for 40 cents per colour.

    Unforutnately, I got hot water dye called Dylon, which I did a bit of research on after I purchased 3 colours and the reviews weren't so hot. The instructions are kind of iffy. It requires a ton of salt apparently in order to set the colour? How does salt set colour? I'd like to know before I go out and buy a couple pounds of table salt. Or am I thinking of the wrong type of salt?
     
  19. drumminmama

    drumminmama Super Moderator Lifetime Supporter

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    ooo, I don't think I'd waste the garment on those. Save them for overdyeing curtains or something.
    But the salt works as an activator for the dye. I'm not great with acid dyes, but I know soda ash ( for analine dyes) causes the chemicals in the dye to "awaken" and it is a super-wet ingredient that allows dye to get through the surface tension of water.
    salts make cool, mostly uncontrolable designs when used after the dye is placed, too.
    The instructions probably do mean table salt. non iodized is best.
    Dylon is basically another forumlation like RIT.
     
  20. mamaboogie

    mamaboogie anarchist

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    I personally like the look you get with Rit dye on unbleached cotton. No, it's not your typical vibrant tiedye, but I think it's beautiful. and it only gains in character as it fades.

    here are some of the babyslings I made using Rit dye:
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    no, they don't get washed that often, but after five years of babywearing two kids (yes, even in the sun), and laundering (kids are messy critters), they are still very nice and I get comments on them everywhere we go.
     

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