kellen46

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.

watterstide

Thanks for the info!
my mom, who is english and still lives there, tea dyed a carpet in her bedroom. it was wool and different colors of "creams",sort of marbled looking. ..it turned out beautiful!

CarrieAnne

Thanks!

Matilda

THank you. Your colors are pretty.

FortMyers

If you use the method with the ziplock bags how to we modify the dye formula? This may be a stupid question but I cant get I want to dye fabrics but I am afraid of making a huge mess of my kitchen.

Psychomomquilter

how about other stuff to dye with?
our ancestors were very invetive way 100 or so years ago!

even people living in the depression used makeshift coloring.....

but am going to try the tea and coffee, like antique look!

Matilda

You can use leaves, flowers, bark, etc. to dye too.

There is also a pound method. For example you lay a leaf inside a fold of your fabric and pound it until the fluid is release and it leaves a leaf print.

kellen46

This is a low water dye method and it is not all that messy. I can usually clean up any splashes in the sink right away. I do have a bunch of Dollar Tree cat litter boxes that I put the full bags into just in case there is a leak. I then leave them to incubate on the back porch, but I have a very small kitchen. Until you plunge in and do you will never know how easy and mess free this can be. I like the crystalline patterning so I usually put a yard in one gallon bag. My dye stuffs are contained in two smallish totes and stored away until use. I don't find it a problem, but if you are hesitant then wait till summer and do your dyeing outside. All you need is Hot water to mix your fixer solution and that is mess free and done in a gallon jug.

Suzi P

I did this a while back, and it was so much fun! Of course, I live in the South, so I just went out on the deck and made a big ol' mess!

kittykatz2001

I bought some 108" wide muslin from Hobby Lobby once but it was about 6 years ago. Even got it on sale. I didn't know it was hard to get.