Dyeing outdoors / quantity question

[lilah]

Hi Y'all,

Several years ago I made tie-dye shirts for some of my extended family. They were a big hit (although rather poor looking, since I had no clue what I was doing and there was no miraculous interweb to help me  ) and so two years ago we decided to make some more as a group. I loosely followed the instructions from Tom&Martine's Tie-Dye 101 DVD. Again, the shirts were a big hit. So now we're doing it again, but this time everyone in the whole family wants a piece of the action!!  We are looking at approximately 30 shirts, some of them in plus sizes, and a couple of longer, cover-up style tees.

Here are my questions:

How much dye will we need? I ordered an 8oz jar of each the primaries, and 2oz of mixing red, cobalt blue, grape, and golden yellow.

We will be dyeing outdoors, in the shade, but in SC in mid-July. Expecting at least 95-100 degree temps. Will this affect the dye? It will take hours for everyone to make their shirt, so I'm worried about dye demise after it is mixed. Is this a possibility?

If using bottled water, is distilled better than "filtered"? We are dyeing at a house with well water, so I know the mineral content is high and I neglected to order softener from Pro.

For time's sake should I mix the dyes the night before, as long as I store them in a cooler? Should I soda soak the night before, and for how long? We will dye the shirts wet, as I found that easier & more effective last time.

Suggestions?

I did look elsewhere on the forum for some of this stuff but I'm still a bit confused. Thanks in advance!

Lilah

[pburch]

How much dye will we need? I ordered an 8oz jar of each the primaries, and 2oz of mixing red, cobalt blue, grape, and golden yellow.

That should be enough to tie-dye about 190 shirts, using Michael Fowler's standard rate of six shirts per ounce of dye powder.

We will be dyeing outdoors, in the shade, but in SC in mid-July. Expecting at least 95-100 degree temps. Will this affect the dye? It will take hours for everyone to make their shirt, so I'm worried about dye demise after it is mixed. Is this a possibility?

Only if the dye has soda ash in it. If the dye is completely free of soda ash (if you're doing a soda ash presoak), then it should be good for several days at that temperature.

If using bottled water, is distilled better than "filtered"? We are dyeing at a house with well water, so I know the mineral content is high and I neglected to order softener from Pro.

Yes. Filtered water will probably still contain the calcium and magnesium that cause problems.

For time's sake should I mix the dyes the night before, as long as I store them in a cooler?

Yes, good idea. No need to chill them for overnight storage, just keep them inside the house.

Should I soda soak the night before, and for how long?

You need to soak the shirts long enough to get the soda ash thoroughly into them, like fifteen minutes. I don't see any real advantage to doing it the night before. Why not dump the shirts into the soda ash half an hour before you start to dye, and get everyone to wring out their own shirts as they get to them?

Wait, they want to tie their own shirts, don't they? I'd far rather tie shirts that are wet with plain water, and then soak them in soda ash. I hate tying with gloves on, because the ties always pull off the fingers of my gloves, and my skin cannot tolerate exposure to soda ash without gloves. So I'd say, have everyone tie their own shirts, dip them in soda ash for five minutes or more, squeeze them out, and then apply their dye.

Paula

[lilah]

Hi Paula,

I feel honored that my first post here was answered by you!!! You do seem to be an encyclopedic wealth of  information. Thanks so much for the insights.

Yes, everyone will be dying their own shirt. I'm with you on the soda ash/skin contact so we will try wetting, folding, tying, then soaking. 

I am as of yet unfamiliar with Michael Fowler's instructions, but have seen him mentioned often here. I will look for his DVD...

Do you think I need to order some metaphos for the wash out? I can use distilled for mixing & soaking. We will be double bagging the shirts, then leaving them out in the heat over night, so I don't know if I need to worry too much about the well water in the machine for the wash out. I hate to make another order just for that one item.

Thanks again Paula!! Happy dyeing!

Lilah