I have used Presist before when I dabbled in painting, wh/ I might try again but who knows! Yeah, definately not useful for immersion methods. But for direct application, say with a brush or even precise bottle application you could always activate the dye rather than soakig your item.
I might als suggest thickening your dye to give yourself more control over its flow.
For direct application with tie-dyeing I use 1/2 tsp
sodium alginate per cup of chem water. For application with a paint brush you might want it a little thicker.
Kathy