Thickening dye already mixed

[steve]

I just ran 60 kids through tie-dyeing today with our town's summer rec program. I mixed up big batches of dye without thickening.

Now I have a bunch of premixed dye that I'd much rather use thickened. Is there any reason I can't thicken it after the fact? I use alginate. Any experiences?

Steve

[mysticmountainsmama]

I use red with 1/4 tsp/cup to make xtra thick red by adding another 1/4 tsp per cup of alginate. I put it in to a separate jar then shake and leave it out over night in the fridge and by the next day its perfect for hearts. I'm not doing 'activated' so I guess you add the soda ash the 2nd day? At first it's really gritty and lumpy but what a difference a day makes. can you mix the soda ash into premade dye?

[Anna]

I've actually been playing with this, because I have dye (not as much as you) that I didn't put enough alginate in the chemical water.  The only problem I've been having is dissolving the alginate, I've been reading about rubbing alcohol, so that's my next step.  However, when I added alginate and strained out the clumps the dye was thickened, just not enough for me.  I'd just been eyeballing the amounts, basically I covered the surface of the dye,and shook to dissolve.