Thread: Ice Dyed Fabric
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Old 03-22-2015, 02:20 PM
  #24  
dmarie
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Originally Posted by melodyr View Post
We were discussing snow dyed fabric on another thread and some folks were sad because they didn't have snow. Well, that's no problem. I use ice from my refrigerator all the time with great results. Here's a quick tutorial.

I use professional fiber-reactive dyes. some asked about using Rit from the grocery store and I do not know whether it will work with this process. You can try it and report back, but professional dyes are inexpensive and surprisingly easy to use. I get mine from Dharma Trading and Pro Chemicals and they are fantastic to work with. Be sure to get the fiber reactive because these vendors have many many different dyes that are for a number of uses.

Materials needed:
Fiber reactive dyes
A rack or grate (I use a vinyl covered wire shelf extender that you can get in any big box store...you get 3 different sizes for about $5)
Soda ash (a little goes a long way and you can get it from either of these vendors)
Cotton material that has been washed. I use Kona Cotton bolt ends that Hancocks of Paducah sells at a discount.

Dissolve about 2 tablespoons of soda ash in a container of warm water (2 quarts) and soak your fabric for about 5 minutes. You can save this afterwards or soak more fabric and let it dry. It doesn't go bad and the fabric that you soaked and dried t use later just needs to be dampened when you're ready to use it. Roll your fabric in a towel to get most of the drippiness wicked away. Scrunch it up on your rack. I did this over my sink, but you can put it in a pan to catch the drips too.
I noticed you did this over your sink. Does it stain it? If so how to you get it out? Thanks I really want to try it.
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