How do I tie dye?

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It's really difficult. It was a highly technical offshoot of the tartan dye industry. :-)
Just tie string around your shirt and dye. Any clothes dye will do. As for where, inside, outside just not in the bath.

Ciaron Murphy
- Great Britain

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A. I'm pretty sure its done with aqueous dyes, I don't think you need to be outside to do it. Why don't you look around the web and ask some nice hippies?

Jake Koch
G. J. Nikolas &Co.,Inc.

Bellwood, Illinois

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A. Hey! Jake, not all tie-dye is done by hippies! ;) Tie-dyed things have come back into fashion... now I can drag out my clothes from the seventies... (ooops...ok there WERE a few tie-dyed things in there, but--- PEACE, man!)

Seriously.... I suggest you go to the Google search engine on the web and type in the word "shibori". There will be many sites listed . You can read up on the different techniques used in various parts of the world. Some of those sites will give you information on dyes. For my own projects, I have used Tintex or RIT ⇦ on eBay or Rit Dye [affil link]. You can also use Procion dyes ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] . All of these dyes will work on a cotton t-shirt. Read the directions that come with the dye. Use rubber gloves ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] and eye protection. Never use measuring implements or containers that will be used for food. Doing it outside is necessary if you are a messy person.

You can tie with string, use rubber bands, knot the shirt, etc. There are many techniques that will work.

Good luck!

Ronna Erickson
- Amherst, Massachusetts

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I have done a few shirts in my time and store bought dyes are just fine. Try any method you want to, as it gets better and easier with practice to get good results. Try soaking the freshly dyed clothes in a salt bath with cold water for a half hour or so, this will help wash away excess dye and prevent the dye from bleeding out in the future.

Good luck!

Jeff Swayze
- Kelowna, B.C., Canada

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I'm not a hippie.

H.I.P.P.I.E. = hairy. indolent. poor. parsimonious. ignorant and easy going ... or = happy, indolent, pleasant, peculiar, interesting and exuberant. Take your choice ... probably with a dawg attached.

By the way, that was a lousy photo of you ... I was just dye-ing to tell you that!

t.t.f.n. Freeman

Freeman Newton [deceased]
(It is our sad duty to advise that Freeman passed away
April 21, 2012. R.I.P. old friend).

Thanks for entertaining me while I was trying to learn the best method for tie-dyeing my own stuff!

Cheryl K [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Mcloud, Oklahoma

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A. I've recently started to tie dye. I've found using Soda Ash to presoak the shirts for 20 minutes helps the color stay vibrant. We did our projects outside, because of being 1st timers. I've found that putting plastic table cloth on the table and putting 3 sheets of paper towels under the shirt helped absorb the bleeding dye. When ready to turn over, use 3 clean sheets of paper towels. After tie dying the shirt & placing it into a plastic bag for approx. 4 hours or longer made the color bolder.
We've tye dyed: t-shirts, pillow cases, towels, scrunchies, anything we can think of.....

Remember to follow the instructions from the dye package.
Have Fun!

Vicky D [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Joliet, Illinois

A. You can see if a local library has the above-referenced Shibori book, Janel. Or maybe Amazon's "search inside" feature will let you see enough of it to find that answer. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
(Ted can offer longterm or instant help)
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey