If I am going to tea-dye or even coffee - dye some material (musling in this case) how do I set it so it don't rinse out when it gets wet?

ReRe

You need to lower the pH. You can do that by getting soda ash from a pool supply store or from Wal-Mart. Brew the coffee or tea very strong and a little heat doesn't hurt! :D

Wow, I didn't know that. Thanks for the tip.

Thank you for the tip :D:D:D

You use the soda ash to prepare the fabric for the dye, right? And then just rinse the fabric well after dyeing to make sure all excess dye that the fabric could not absorb is washed away. PFD fabric (Prepared For Dyeing) is soaked in a soda ash solution, I think, so dye will be permanent.

What is Soda Ash?

Here's a FAQ on soda ash:

http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/sodaash.shtml

I have also used salt, baking soda, or vinegar to set coffee or tea, I have also used this to set tea/coffee when aging fabrics.

Gal

Gal --What is the ratio of salt, baking soda, or vinegar to water volume that you use?

I use this method for smaller amounts, have not tried it in big yardages.

For a bucket size, I would use 1/2 cup of vinegar, and 1/4 cup of salt. About 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Let them have a good soak, even over night, I have left mine for, but not necessary. There is a certain amount of washing out of the colour, I have found that coffee is the best for staining fabrics to give them that old aged look.

Gal