Essential Tie Dye Supplies
There are many applications for budding tie dyers to show off their new craft skills, but having the right tie dye supplies helps to get you started off on the right foot. Here’s a description of all the tie dye supplies you need:
Procion MX Dyes:
Procion MX Fiber Reactive Cold Water Dye
Tools for the mixing process:
First you should wear a plastic apron to protect your clothing from accidental staining.
When mixing your dyes and pre-soaking solutions you’ll need the following tie dye supplies:
– long handled plastic or metal mixing spoons or tongs
– plastic or metal measuring spoons
– squeeze bottles for your different color dyes
Empty Squeeze Bottles (Pack of 12)
– measuring cups
– and funnels (for mess free filling of dye bottles).
To enhance the vibrancy and help improve the retention of dye color quality over time you should add soda ash, cooking salt, Dharma dye fixative and/or urea in the suggested amounts to your dye colors.
You’ll need – Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate)
Jacquard Soda Ash Dye Fixer
To thicken your dye for greater control of the ‘spread’ of the dye colors you can also add a:
Jacquard Sodium Alginate 2 oz. SH
thickener. (Optional)
Urea (helps dye dissolve and retains moisture) It attracts moisture from the air, keeping the fiber damp longer allowing a greater reaction time for the dye. Urea is used with sodium alginate thickener when printing, painting or directly applying to Procion Dye to fiber or is added to Procion dye for super intense color.
You’ll also need: wet towels or newspaper to line your flat bottomed basin, bucket or even a clean litter tray to place dye and squirt bottles while pouring and mixing dyes – unless you are using a plastic tarp or a drop sheets to protect your surfaces from unwanted dye and chemicals.
Safety equipment:
Safety equipment is necessary to prevent inhalation or skin/mucus membrane exposure to dyes or other tie dye chemicals that may be mildly carcinogenic, can cause lung ailments and/or can cause damage to the skin (in the case of soda ash).
Tie dye supplies you should also have include:
– a good quality dust mask – Use your dust mask when measuring out dye powder !
– clear work goggles to prevent airborne powder and/or dye, chemical splashes from getting into your eyes – and good quality disposable rubber gloves.
Contamination and stain prevention:
During the entire process of dyeing, from preparing your articles for dyeing and mixing the dyes, to rinsing and washing the excess dye from your freshly dyed items, you should wear gloves to prevent your hands from coming in contact with the caustic soda ash to becoming stained by the dyes.
Tie Dye Supplies – Articles for Tie Dying
In your quest to create your own tie dyed masterpieces, one of the most important considerations when obtaining tie dye supplies is to select your articles for tie dying.
For best, immediate results, especially for beginners, these should be a white, pure cotton or silk articles, and can include:
– clothes
– pillow cases
– lengths of fabric
– sheets
– table cloths
– or any other kind of item that can be dyed
Another tie dyeing option is to take old cotton or silk clothes you may have and dye them as a freshening up technique.
Tools for the dyeing process
To prepare your articles for dyeing you’ll need to hold the folded, scrunched or spiraled items in place by tying with flat sinew, dental floss or rubber bands.
Plastibands
Plastibands are a better alternative to rubber bands. They are made of a latex free material that is stronger than rubber and it will not deteriorate. These are great for any need from tie dyeing and batik to use in the office.
When applying the dye you should use squirt bottles or, if you’ve chosen to dip-dye you will need a shallow pan or bucket to hold the dyeing liquids and another to place the dye dampened items. Also have on hand plastic or ziploc bags to batch up your dyed articles and to keep them damp while the dye sets.
Finishing your project:
To finish your dyed projects and help them retain the quality of the dye colors, enhancing light and wash fastness, you may want to use a washing liquid called Synthrapol. Jacquard Synthapol 6 oz.
To restore the natural pre-dyed feel of your cloth you can use Milsoft liquid textile softener.
Cleaning up:
To remove any unwanted dye stains that might have occurred on your work surfaces or anything else, you can wipe them down with cotton rags and light bleach solution. To remove dye from fabric you can use Dharma’s Dyehouse Color Remover. And to remove dye stains from your hands you can use Reduran Hand Cleaner.
To help make your tie dyeing session trouble free, make sure you’ve got all your tie dye supplies ready and available in your work area before you get started with the actual tie dyeing process.
Procion Dyes for a Professional Look
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