If you love to tie-die you are going to LOVE this tutorial for Ice Dyeing! This technique is done with ice, and can be used on any fabric the same as traditional tie-dyeing, although this technique produces a watercolor effect that I’ve not seen with regular tie-die. There is no tying with this method either. The results are dramatic and quite beautiful. You can even use snow in place of ice,
You can use Ice dyeing for clothing, pillows, towels, or any fabric you can think of that will pick up color nicely. It’s a simple process that doesn’t take long to complete. Though there is an 8 hour wait period for the dye to set once you’ve completed your part.
What you will need:
- tray
- tile setters
- soda ash
- ice cubes
- powdered dye
- dust mask
Instructions:
- Soak fabric for 15 minutes
- Lightly ring out
- Bunch the fabric on a tile setter
- Set on the tray to catch the drips
- Pile ice on top of bunched fabric
- Wearing a dust mask, sprinkle different colored powdered dye on the bunched fabric where you want the color applied. More dye will result in a darker color, less dye, a lighter color.
- After the ice has melted, cover for at least 8 hours
- While fabric is still bunched, rinse out in the sink till all excess dye is out
- Put fabric in the washing machine on warm setting with agitation and Synthrapol (at amazon)
- Dry in dryer or hanging on line
The result of the ice dyeing colors used in the photos above looks like this …
Leave a Reply