dye thickener

[yuki-onna]

Just wondering what is the easiest product for thickening up dyes?

[pburch]

Either sodium alginate or Superclear, purchased from your mail-order dye supplier.

Here's a link to an FAQ page I wrote on Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners.

Paula

[yuki-onna]

Thanks for that Paula, have you heard of DR-33, is it any good for what i am after, my usual supplier is closed and this is all i can find atm

[pburch]

Batik Oetoro says that DR-33 is guar gum. Guar gum is mentioned on my page about thickeners, down near the bottom of the page. It's not as good for thickening cotton dyes because it reacts with the dye, which will waste some of the dye.

Both Batik Oetoro and Kraftkolour sell Manutex, which is a brand name for sodium alginate. That would be more suitable. The "F" formula is usually used on very thin fabrics such as silk; the "RS" formula is the type more commonly used for tie-dyeing. Batik Oetoro and Kraftkolour both sell by mail-order, if they're not located near you.

Paula

[HippieMomOf5]

I know this is an old post but I was trying to decide if I should try the thickener.  I don't mind the run on my tie dye because I think it makes it unique, but in my spirals, I feel like the middle gets a little muddy...  would this help?  Or are there other tips that might help?

[pburch]

I usually don't use thickener, but a lot of tie-dyers do, and like it. It does help prevent colors from running together. Carefully selecting colors so that you never put purple next to yellow, or red next to green, or blue next to orange, also helps a lot. You should try it sometime and see how you like it.

You can order either sodium alginate or Superclear from Dharma Trading Company or another dye supplier, next time you order dyes.

-Paula

[Releaf]

I don't use thickeners, probably because the guy who taught me how to do tie-dye never used them.  I'm pretty careful about what colors I put next to each other and then I can't wait to see how they've blended together.  That seems like the whole point of tie-dye, for me.  With practice, you'll use less dye in the centers of your spirals, but sometimes even the muddy blend looks really good in a rainbow spiral -- gives it a Nautilus effect.
I just recently tried the stained glass effect of putting black over the rainbow spirals and I did thicken the black for that one technique.  I used sodium alginate and it worked just fine.  It kept the black from running all over the rainbow.

For all my other patterns, I prefer to work without thickener.

[tiedyejudy]

I know this is an old post but I was trying to decide if I should try the thickener.  I don't mind the run on my tie dye because I think it makes it unique, but in my spirals, I feel like the middle gets a little muddy...  would this help?  Or are there other tips that might help?

Not trying to do any shameless promoting here, but I have a two-part demo on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tiedyejudy&aq=f
It demonstrates a method I have used to help keep the center of the spiral from getting muddy.  It's a little different from other methods I have tried... maybe it will help you too!
Happy Dyeing,
Judy

[HippieMomOf5]

Thank you so much for the video Judy!!  I am definitely going to try a few things I saw you do that I don't do currently...  And it was so cool to see a face and hear a voice to go along with your posts!!    The shirt turned out amazing too!

My Dharma order is due here tomorrow and I'm so excited!  I plan on dying a few diaper flats to "practice" with my new colors before I do some shirts!  Hopefully the baby's molars will cut through so I can actually get something done too!! 

[HippieMomOf5]

Yayyy my dyes showed up TODAY!!   

[digitalcanvasimages]

 I plan on dying a few diaper flats to "practice" with my new colors before I do some shirts!  Hopefully the baby's molars will cut through so I can actually get something done too!! 

I practice on washcloths and dish towels. I've got a very pretty collection!