Tie Dye Resists

[chazmo]

Hi, I was hoping that someone with more experience might be able to answer a queston for me. Is there anything that may be used as a resist on a t-shirt to block all dye in the tie dye process? Basically to have  a white design in the middle of a tie dyed shirt.

[ecilA]

There are several ways to approach it but I'd suggest the easiest is to isolate that section of fabric in a plastic bag, alternately you can use what we call "clear dye" (mostly water with just a touch of blue, remember blueing to make whites whiter?)  If possible, I prefer to use the bag as it keeps any stray drops or splatter from the area.  There are products that can be applied but I couldn't reccomend one that would completely block off that area, besides, isolating is one less product to purchase

[chazmo]

Thanks So much for the reply. I'm not sure if that would work for what I actually want. I would like to use a stencil to put on a consistant and distinct "image".

[ecilA]

well you could always try to use batik to achieve this and it may be exactly what you're looking for, I thought you wanted it totally clean and even with a soft wax you are likely to get a little bit of coloring in that white area.  there are other resists available though, check your favorite dye house for types and hopefully someone else will give you some feedback. 

[amethistle]

I made up a solution of sodium alginate thickener but without the dye in it, then applied it as if it were a dye along with my other dyes (which also had sodium alginate thickener).  I applied the no-dye solution first, then the thickened dyes.  It wasn't perfect, but worked pretty well.  I did it as one color in a spiral, so the resulting spiral had a white "color" in it.