Making Tie-dye Shirts

Creative Kidstuff has a tie-dye kit you can get... They have a sale running this week-end for 25% off everything...Maybe worth looking into?

Any color t-shirt will work as long as the colors you use are darker then the shirt. I recommend that you wash the t-shirt seperate from the other things first.

Wal-mart has GREAT kits for tie dying...Minimal mess, instructions, and you can also get material markers and paints if you want to go a step further once they are dry. Also, it is a great place to buy some cheap white t-shirts (boys section). The kits even have tips to do different techniques for different outcomes. If you don't like the skirt bottle kind you can even get this dye rope kind that is cool. You use the dyed ropes to tie around the fabric instead of rubber bands. You will have a great time...just make sure if you tie with rubber bands to do it tightly so the die doesn't bleed into the area you want white.

Hi J.,

I teach classes on African tie dye, but the same rules apply. You will need some dye (RIT dye, liquid or powder), gloves, rubber bands and some bins to make the dye and place the clothes. If you put salt in the dye and set the clothes in the dye when it's really hot, it will set as soon as you take it out. It won't run in the future if you wash the clothes in cold water in the washing machine. White shirts and cotton fabrics work better than any others because they take the dye the best and show the vibrance of the colors. HTH.
Gloria

You can get kits at craft stores that come with everything you need. You just add water to the squirt bottles. I have used white t-shirts, but am sure light colors will work also. After dying you put them in a bag for the color to take, directions come with the kits, they usually have 3 different colors to use.

When we were kids we used the rit dye, but to set the shirt, we would always wash them in cold salt water in the washer. I am not sure what the salt does, but that is what we did.

There are lots of kits out there in crafts stores, plus plenty of instructions and tips on line -- so I thought I would share a couple of tips from my own tie-dying adventures.

* Buy a package of inexpensive men's handkerchiefs, or tear up an old white sheet into smaller squares, and use these to experiment with various rolling and tying patterns. I used this method once when I was making a tie-dyed backdrop for a skit, and I wanted to make sure I would like the pattern before I did it on the large backdrop. I still have a few of those handkerchiefs. They made great "sheets" for my daughter's Barbies!

* A fun method of reverse tie-dying is to use bleach on colored tee-shirts. Tie the colored tee-shirts as you would a white one, but then soak it in a bleach solution rather than in a dye. It's interesting how the bleach removes the color in "layers". The longer you leave it in the bleach, the whiter the exposed areas will become, but sometimes it's prettier to stop before it gets all the way to white, giving you a two-toned effect of the same color (in other words, the exposed parts of a red tee-shirt would bleed to pink). It's a fun twist on the idea.

* Be sure to use 100 percent cotton material. Polyester doesn't accept dye very well -- and it doesn't bleach well either.

Have fun!!!

N.

We do this at the summer camp I work at with all the kids in the zoology camp. We use Rit dye, large plastic tubs, rubber bands, and we pour salt in with the dye to set the dye into the t-shirts.

Hi J.

The instructions can be pretty long and there are many different types so I think the easiest way would be to give you the link to my full instructions. I have instructions for Tie Dye and Faux Tie Dye(just Sharpie markers and rubbing alcohol). I also have instructions on how to do 7 different patterns of Tie Dye. You can find the links to all of the instructions on the Tie Dye page.

http://yourfunfamily.com/Hobbies/tiedye.html

I hope this helps you out. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

M.

J., dyes can be found in the laundry aisle, t shirts any will work, light colors of course give you more brilliant colors, the darker the shirt of course the darker the colors turn out, t shirt , rubberbands, buckets of different dyes, or bowls, the directions on the dye box should give you the answers, of washing etc, if not when its all dry it should not bleed, but treat it like you would a brand new red shirt, just experiment, and have fun, create different designs by folding it different ways, and be creative, D. s

Durring the summer you can normally find kits in the craft section of Wal-Mart or other stores like that and any light color shirts work. The kits come iwth dye and stuff to mix with it so the colors odn't run.

Hi J.,

I have made tie-dye t-shirts using a kit from Michael's - it comes with dye, rubber bands & maybe also some stuff to soak the finished shirts in to help make them colorfast? It was a ton of fun, and the directions were easy to follow. I want to say the kits were less than $10, and they came in different color options.

Have fun!

They have tye-dye kits at Wal-Mart, and the best part is, after you do it, you can re-use the bottles again using Rit dye.
If you already have squeeze bottles, just add the dye and squirt onto a clean damp t-shirt. Make sure to wash the shirt first, or use an old T as new ones have sizing in them. WEAR GLOVES!!

We used Rit dye to do our tie-dye shirts. Light colors will work. We used rubber bands, string and we even tied the shirts in knots. Have a large tub handy and you are on your way. Our directions were to wash them in cold water at first to set they dye. You shouldn't have to worry about it running. Have fun!
I even have a kit that you can marbalize paper and other things, which is fun too. We did little clay pots for a Show Choir banquet and they turned out so cool.

Here are some other helpful tips when tye dyeing with little kids. Kids wear plastic gloves and a garbage bag to protect from stains, have plastic wrap ready when the shirt is done being dyed and wrap it up, let it sit for a day, then put it in the rinse cycle and then let dry completely before wearing it. Also, don't mix too many dark colors in the same spot because it will turn out brownish rather than a vivid color. We love tye dyeing and it is so much fun!! Good Luck-J.

My daughter was a hippie for halloween and we tie dyed a shirt for her. I found that white works best, but I have not tried a lot of different colors. I use Rit dye and pretty uch followed the directions for use. They do have tie dye kits (in our Walmart I found them in the craft section) that have a lot of colors and ideas. You will need the dye (might need rubbing alcohol or something else like that, so check the package when you buy it), rubber bands, rubber gloves (you have to rotate the clothes in the dye and a tub (I used my stainless steel kitchen sink though).
I usually wash the items seperate from my regular clothes and inside out the first time I wash them and haven't had any trouble with running so far.

We have found that white works the best, simply because all of the colors seem more bright. We bought a kit from Creative Kidstuff, but I think I have also seen them at Target. I think in the aisle with the crafty things.

I now Michael's craft store has kits you can buy with everything included. Have fun!