Tie Dye Suggestions for kids?

Question

I have a Girl Scout troop with 15 girls ages 7-13. (We generally break into age groups at meetings and do different activities.) We will all be tie-dyeing shirts this coming weekend, and I want to be sure to get some good results. All the tie-dye the kids bring home from camp or whatever are all pastel and blotchy. Will adding salt to bright dye colors be enough to get some bright results? I'd prefer to use Rit dye or something instead of having to get involved with alum and mordants and all that... but I want it to be worth their time, too.... Advice?

Answer 1

Hi, I know what you mean about the shirts coming home all pastel and blobby. Anything dip-dyed (in a big tub of water + Rit dye) will be pale. The blotchiness comes from the colors running together.

I made tie dye shirts for my husband and myself using a kit similar to this: http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=gc0496 The colors were fantastic. The kits are a little pricey but If you use a coupon they're not too bad, plus they've got several colors in one kit.

You take a prewashed shirt, soak it in a solution that opens up the pores of the cotton (I think it's lye; perhaps the leaders' job). Then you tie the shirt. Now in GS camp they do the random rubber band thing. We know how that turns out, right? In the kits they have directions for making spiral tie-dyes. Pretty cool. YOu pinch a piece of shirt in the middle of the shirt and very tightly coil the whole shirt up. It looks like a giant cinnamon bun.. You secure the thing with three rubber bands that criss-cross so it looks like it's cut into pie wedges. You'd have 6 wedges. Now the dye is mixed in squeeze bottles. You squirt yellow on wedges #1, 2, and 3, then fushia on wedges #3, 4, and 5 then blue on wedges #5, 6, and 1. Saturate completely. Turn the cinnamon bun over and apply dyes to other side as well. The yellow and fushia mix to make orange, the blue and fushia to make purple, yellow and blue to make green so you just need those 3 dyes. (Colors and shapes Try-It!). You then need to leave the dyes in to soak for a certain period of time (send home in zip loc with directions for parents on sitting time, rinsing, washing, etc).

Anyway, for sake of safety, cleanliness and speed, consider this: You presoak and twist/bind the shirts and the girls squirt the dyes on. At least for the 7-10 year olds. THe older girls might be able to twist their own or come up with their own design.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, no matter what you do with Rit dye, you will eventually get washed-out, blotchy shirts because Rit uses a combination of acid dyes (which only bonds on animal fibers and nylon) and direct dyes (which is a surface dye that washes out a little with each wash.) The salt helps some (weight of salt should equal half the weight of the dry fabric) but the vinegar doesn't do anything on cotton because it isn't an animal fiber.

If you decide to use the Rit rather than a fiber-reactive dye that can be used in squirt bottles make sure you have some Retayne on hand to wash the dyed shirts with so they won't bleed all over everything when the girls take them home to wash them.

Gather one large pot for each color dye. Check Salvation Army or someplace for these since they cannot be used for cooking after dying. The dyes are not safe for human consumption. Follow the package instructions to mix the dye.

The dye bath must be kept at a low simmer as the fabric is dipped, and held, in it for up to 20 minutes. After each color is dyed, rinse the shirt until the water runs clear and move on to the next color, turning the shirt to get a previously un-dyed area. Overdying colors is just like mixing paint. Over-dyes of red+yellow+blue (or any combination of those) will give you brown. You can tie the shirts and drop them in a single color dye bath for the allotted time, remove and rinse them, re-tie them and drop them in a second color, but again, be careful with the color mixing so they don't all come out brown.

Or you can use something like Procion fiber reactive dyes that can be applied with the squirt bottles and give vibrant, wash-fast colors.

Answer 3

I have had fairly good luck with cold water dyes and liquid RIT. I have never used salt, but adding a dash or 2 of white vinegar to the rinse water will help in setting the dye.. The best way to get bright colors, I have found is to boil the material in the dye bath. Of course it's not very safe with children around. Be sure the girls wear old clothes and rubber gloves, not the flimsy plastic variety, but the heavy rubber kind. Also the t-shirts need to be prewashed and dried without fabric softener. 100% cotton takes the dye best. Good luck and take photos!

Answer 4

Prior to dying, write the girls name on the shirt tag or at the inside waist hem with permanent marker.

After dying the shirts, let them air dry completely for a few days, unband them and then heat dry them in a commercial dryer on the highest setting prior to washing. This will help the die set in the fabric.

Answer 5

Well try permanent dye ( your choice of kind ) and put them in a pan of boiling water then let it cool and tie the shirts with rubber bands then dye the shirt different colors and let it dry then walla it's all done.

Answer 6

Scouting for all Seasons has some wonderful suggestions for dying t-shirts, all sorts of different ways.