Originally Posted by watterstide
i love tea dyed muslin, but they don't carry it wide.
i have wanted to try this,using unbleached muslin, in the washing machine with larger pieces,i think i will now! thanks for the tutorial!
should the piece be washed first,to get any chemicals out of it, that came from the company?
Just remember if you are going to use fiber reactive dyes the fabric must sit in the dye bath for at least 5-6hours or better yet 24 hours. I would recommend this rather than the washing machine. get a plastic tub, I use kitty litter trays from the dollar tree, big enough to fully hold your yardage. I like a crystalline effect so I scrumple, if you don't want that you will have to stir the dye bath. If you are doing more than five yards then get a big bucket. Check with a dye formula but I use one quarter cup salt, four tablespoons washing soda, to a gallon of water. Also you will need 1-2 teaspoons of dye. A low dye bath will do about 3-4 yards of fabric, a more comprehensive all over dye will need more liquid. You can lighten colors by adding more plain water. Mix your liquids in your container. Wet your cloth....I just run it through a rinse cycle in the washer. add your fabric, scrunch down, leave or if you want an even tone, stir it and make sure no fabric pokes up over the water. Leave for 24 hours. Now if you have only one color going you can dump out the extra liquid, not down the drain but out on the grass, it won't hurt it. Put the fabric in the washer and run through a full cycle, once done run again with some retayne, dry in the dryer. If you are using more than one color you will have to rinse and rinse in the sink before the washer to get out most of the extra dye and prevent accidental mud. I hope this is clearer....than say mud....A book with good dye formulas is very helpful.