Tie-Dye Preparations
The time spent preparing and the nature of these preparations depend on the type of dyeing or discharge. I'm covering the major types, RIT, fiber-reactive, or vat dyes, and bleach or thiourea discharge.
- Discharge - Household Bleach
- ventilation
- Even in the dead of winter, I do my bleach discharge outside. During the bleaching reaction, chlorine gas is released. Don't be the guy who ends up in the emergency room because you thought you could bleach inside.
- clothing and protective gear
- No matter how careful you are, you're going to get bleach on your clothes, so wear work clothes. If you bleach outside in a well-ventilated area and approach from upwind, you can skip the respirator, but DO NOT skip the goggles. Use gloves to prevent skin irritation.
- neutralizing agents
- If you use bleach, you must neutralize it or the fibers of your fabric will be weakened or destroyed. I used to use vinegar, a cup or so per gallon of cold water, and then immediate washing with color-safe bleach, both of which neutralize bleach. Now I prefer Anti-Chlor from PRO Chemical, which only runs a bit over a buck a pound, and you only need a teaspoon per gallon to neutralize several pounds of fabric. Add 3 tsp Anti-Chlor to 3 gallons cold water in a plastic bucket, and after bleaching rinse the fabric in cold water to remove the majority of the bleach, then and swish in Anti-Chlor for a few minutes. The bleach smell of the fabric should disappear quickly. Otherwise your Anti-Chlor is exhausted - add a couple more teaspoons or make a fresh solution. I use this outdoors as well, as the bisulfite Anti-Chlor can also release toxic fumes.
- resists
- Covered on the next page.
- fabric prep
- Cotton fabric should generally be washed in a fairly harsh wash (I add borax) before use to remove the water-repellent lubricating sizing used when weaving fabric. I usually bleach wet fabric, but doing it dry has its own effects.
- squirt bottles
- I like to directly apply some of the bleach, and dip in dilute solutions as well. A squirt bottle with about 1 part bleach + 1 part water works great. Squeeze a bit around your resist, let it bleach for a few moments, then plunge into a bath of more dilute bleach in hot water (1 cup or more bleach/gallon). This will yield a lighter bleached area around the resists, and a gradient of lighter color blending into the less-intense background bleaching from the bath. Be careful about splashing when using squirt bottles (I say again: use goggles).
- Discharge - Thiox
- Thiox bath
- I make the heated bath by bringing 2-3 gallons of water to about 180° F (82° C) on the stove, and then pouring that into a plastic bucket containing 1 tsp Thiox (thiourea dioxide) and 1 tbsp soda ash (aka PRO Dye Activator, caustic potash, potassium carbonate) per gallon water. Carefully. Stir carefully. Once the bath becomes exhausted (takes longer to bleach the color), add more Thiox. Can be used a couple of times. I make a fresh bath daily.
- neutralizing solution
- For wool or silk, you need to neutralize the thiox immediately by first rinsing, then immersing in a solution of 1 cup vinegar per gallon of cold water for 15 minutes.
- other
- Discharge with Thiox is like using bleach, though household bleach will bleach a black cotton fabric brown-red-yellow, while Thiox will simply reduce the intensity, yielding gray. Take all the same precautions with Thiox that you would with bleach, though in my work bleach is more dangerous and is easier to catch a bad lungful of toxic gas from.
- RIT Dyeing
- fabric prep
- Besides the harsh wash (for cotton), I use a mordant (alum) to help the RIT dyes stick better. Dissolve a styptic pencil (looks like a big piece of chalk, used to stem bleeding from shaving nicks) in a gallon of water, bring to a boil, and simmer your cotton fabrics in the solution for 15 minutes or so. Let cool, wring out, and use directly (don't dry or wait too long).
- direct application
- Put the liquid dyes in squirt bottles and apply directly. No muss, no fuss.
- immersion dyeing
- Make your solution according to the instructions on the box. I let the dyeing go for as long as I can stand it (or overnight if I can), wring out, apply more resists, rinse, and immerse in the next dye color.
- other
- Lots of buckets, gloves, and a place to make a mess are required. RIT dyes stain damn near anything, unlike the fiber-reactive dyes that typically won't stain plastics or metal.
- Fiber-Reactive Dyes
- Activator solution
- In order to react with the fiber, the dye must be present in an alkali solution. There are two common alkali (basic) agents used, sodium carbonate (aka soda ash, sal soda, dye activator) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). For tie-dye using direct application, the usual method is to soak the fabric in a solution of 9 tbsp (a generous 1/2 cup) activator in 2 gallons of water, wring it out thoroughly, then apply dye. Another method is to add a couple of teaspoons of baking soda to each cup of dye solution used for direct application, and then steam the dyed fabric to insure the reaction goes to completion with the weaker alkali action of the baking soda. However, this also means your dye solutions are only good for one day (dye solutions without baking soda will last a week if refrigerated).
- thickened urea water
- In order to open up the fibers to the dye in direct application, a wetting/chaotropic agent such as urea is required in the dye solution. To make urea water, I use a generous cup of urea per 1/2 gallon of very warm water along with 1 tsp Metaphos if my water is hard. I make the solution in a 64 oz capacity plastic juice jug, which seals well and is easy to shake. To thicken the urea water, I use a beaker with a stir bar and stir on an electric stir plate vigorously, adding 1 tsp PRO Thick SH (alginate) by sprinkling it slowly over the stirred solution. Alternately, you can add a little bit of the alginate to a quart of urea water in a two-quart (64 oz) bottle, shake to make sure the grains of alginate don't clump, repeat adding and shaking until you've added 2 tsp. Then leave overnight to hydrate the alginate, and shake until clear. I found 1 tsp alginate per pint of urea water makes a perfect thickness for direct dye application when used as 3 parts thickened to 1 part unthickened with dye (see below).
- dye solution
- I typically make a relatively strong dye solution for direct application (3-4 tsp dye/cup) by dissolving the dye in a pint plastic bottle (Gatorade bottles work great) with 2 oz (1/4 cup) unthickened urea water by shaking periodically for several minutes. I then add 6 oz (3/4 cup) thickened urea water and shake. Kept refrigerated, the dye stays good for about a week. Decant into squirt bottles for use.
- other
- --An old towel ripped into quarters and made damp makes great rags to sop up spills and dry dye powder.
- --Comfortable gloves are necessary, and use work clothes to avoid permanent stains.
- --Your work surface should be a large table with non-porous top (I use a 4' x 8' sheet of 3/4" CD plywood on sawhorses covered with 6 mil plastic).
- --You need good lighting (I use inexpensive aluminum reflector work lights).
- --Use plastic gallon Ziploc bags to put your dyed materials in to fix dye (overnight). Also good for overdyeing, since you can squirt on an overdye color (dark blue, black, etc) in the bag and shake-n-bake.
- --A bucket of cold water nearby is useful for rinsing your hands &etc., and a nearby laundry sink is great (I do my dyeing near the washing machine and laundry sink).
- --A steamer (I use a large Chinese steamer set in aluminum) can be used to set dyes quickly. At my tie-dye parties I have a propane burner heating a large aluminum pot with a gallon or so of water and capped with the steamer to steam dyes so they can be rinsed and admired quickly (rather than requiring an overnight cure to set the dye). Wrap the dyed materials in newspapers to steam to keep dye from dripping on other projects. Carefully watch the water level, as the big burners can boil off the water and burn through the aluminum pot faster than you think.
- Vat Dyes
- dye bath - pro vat dyes
- I usually directly add 2 tbsp lye (potassium hydroxide) directly to 2 1/2 gallons of room temperature water slowly, and stir to dissolve, then repeat with 2 1/2 tsp Thiox. I slurry the dye powder (1 tbsp/gallon, 2 tbsp/gallon for black) in a couple of cups of water and then add that to the lye and Thiox solution. I do it all in a big stainless steel pot with lid, which I can then put on the stove and heat to 140° C (60° C) to reduce the dye. You want to absolutely minimize the amount of oxygen that gets in the bath once it's reduced, so stir gently and don't let the fabric drip back into the bath during removal.
- dye bath - pre-reduced indigo
- Made similarly, but not heated so this can be done in a plastic bucket with tight-fitting lid. Add 2 tbsp Thiox and 3 tbsp pre-reduced indigo and stir gently OUTSIDE, as ammonia is released during the reduction. Dissolve about a cup of activator (potassium carbonate) in two cups of hot water, and slowly add to the dye bath. Stir in a circle with a long stir-stick, first one direction, then in the opposite, dragging the stick along the outside to bring the foamy "flower" to a clump in the middle. Cover and let settle, should be clear yellowish green when ready. See more on this process from PRO Chemical.
Other Prep
The basics are covered above, but do be aware that while modern dyes are a lot safer that you're still working with caustics, agents that can release toxic gases, and heated solutions. Take your time preparing so that during your workflow you don't have to think too much about safety - you've already taken care of that by careful prep. Be aware during your work, take breaks to increase creativity and insure safety.
Finally, think ergonomic and efficient. Set up your dyebaths, discharge baths, rinsing station, and workspace so that you can move from area to area without dripping, splashing, tripping over cords or buckets, or ending up standing with a dripping project wishing you had a third hand to manipulate what you want to work with next. Set up your space so you aren't stooping over your work, think proper posture when working, take breaks to avoid strain. Your back will thank you.