Tie Dye 101

[sal_beli]

Okay,

I have been using the Tie Dye 101 DVD's instructions for making the premix solution.

Now, when I first decided to try tie dye, I went to Wal Mart and got a kit.  And up until I got this DVD, I had simply been mixing the dye with cold water and going to town.

Going back to that first Walmart dye job that I did; it has held up great to at least one wash per week since early December.

So, do you guys really use hot water, kelp, water softner, and urea?  Then, do you wait around for it all to cool before you can mix your dye?

Thanks,

[tiedyejudy]

I think you will find there are as many variations in the process of mixing and dyeing as there are dyers.  I didn't even start using thickener of any kind regularly until recently.  I had tried alginate several years ago, and didn't like it.  But I have been using superclear for about 18 months now, and really like the control it gives me.  I have always used urea, but after reading several opinions about it from various dyers, I have decided to try going without at least until summer, when the lack of humidity will have more of an impact.  I have never used water softener, but I am seriously considering giving it a try, as my water is VERY hard here!  Bottom line, there is no single set of hard and fast rules to dyeing.  For me, it's about having fun and seeing what happens when I try various things.  If I try something and don't like the results, then I try something else.  That's the beauty of having a forum like this... we get a lot of input from different experience levels.  

Judy

[sal_beli]

Thanks Judy,

I was kind of thinking that I should take any route that was pleasing to me, but since I am selling the shirts for my campout, I wanted to a bit more careful.

Again Thanks,

[steve]

Here's my process:

Mix 1/4 c of urea in a quart of hot water until dissolved.

Take 1 heaping tbs of alginate and mix it in enough isopropyl alcohol to make a thick slurry.

Mix the slurry into the urea water until smooth.

Set aside at least 1-2 hours.

Mix 1 tbs of dye per cup of solution. (except turquoise and black)

I usually mix a gallon at a time and keep it on hand. The alcohol makes the alginate come to full thickness much more quickly (4 hours or overnight without it), and it keeps the solution from going bad longer in warmer weather.

I only worry about temperature in terms of solubility. Solids dissolve more readily in warmer water solutions. With most dyes room temp works fine. Some other are particularly temperature sensitive. If I find it is not dissolving well, I take the jar of semi-mixed dye solution and put it in a container of warm water. Come back in 10 minutes and everything dissloves fine--except for boysenberry Violet MX-BR (This color is evil). Avoid temperatures above 105-110 as above those levels the dye starts reacting with the water.

As far as Urea goes--I don't suppose it makes a great difference, although I think it improves solubility somewhat. I don't think it is needed as a humectant when one wraps one's dyed goods for curing. But what the heck--50 pound sacks can be found at farm supply places for like $15.

Steve

[Kathy]

I follow a similar recipe to Steve, probably since the genesis of our shared practice comes from the same source(Fiber-arts forum).

Though I always use urea in my direct application dye solution, I rarely if ever use it in in my LWI. With LWI I think I am less concerned if a speck or 2 of dye goes undissolved b/c I like the randomness of it in the final result.

I leanred recently from my dad(biochemist) and subsequently Paula that the isopropyl alcohol acts to seperate/encapsulate the individual alginate granules thus preventing them from clumping together once they hit water. I can only speculate(not being a biochemist myself) that being able to keep seperated from the other granules allows the alginate to more efficiently absorb and swell in the waterm, hence a shortr period of time to wait for the mixture to be ready.

All this being said...give different things a try and do what you like and suits you best. There is no "right way"
Kathy

[twilight dancer]

i actually dont use urea at all.

i find salt in my soda ash soak (1/2 cup non iodized per gallon of water) makes the colros a bit brighter.

otherwise, i just mix up the powdered dye and plain h20 as my paint/dye solution. adding a small amount of alginate very slowly every 20 minutes so i can test its thickness.



i soak the stuff first and either keep it wet until i dye it, or dry it flat on a clothesline, then mist with a spray bottle of water when im ready to dye it.