any reason to not microwave?

[km]

I'm wondering if there are any reasons to not microwave? Does it have any negative effects on the color or anything? Every dye-day feels like christmas eve when I was a little kid. I go nuts wanting to open my presents early!

[pburch]

You need to let the dye soak into the fabric for a little while before you microwave. Otherwise, you may experience "ring dyeing", which is what happens when just the outside of each fiber gets dyed, without the dye's having time to seep into the middle of the fiber. How much time is long enough depends on the weight of the fabric, because that reflects thickness of the fibers in it. Half an hour before microwaving is long enough, in my experience. I don't know how little time is too little. Ring dyed fabric shows wear very quickly, since the layer of dyed material on the outside of the fiber can be very thin.

Another major drawback comes if you let the fabric dry out in the microwave. Dry fabric will char and eventually catch on fire. I microwave fabric that is either sopping wet or submerged, and I always cover the container with plastic so that moisture is retained and so that I can see when the fabric gets hot, by the way the steam makes the plastic billow upwards.

Paula

[steve]

I sometimes microwave to move things along more quickly myself, but I also give the shirts time without the microwave.

Steve

[ktaltre]

I wrap my tie dye in newspaper and insert into plastic bags to microwave.
After microwaving, I let the piece sit until cool; sometimes I have a whole bag of pieces and just leave it all in the microwave for hours or overnight after zapping.
What Paula says about letting the dyed pieces sit for 30 minutes before microwaving is a good idea - I hadn't thought of that - Thanks Paula.
k. taltre