Tie-Dying -- How do I prevent the dye from fading onto the white areas?

Question

My girlfriend and I tie-dyed for the first time the other day. We bought two kits by "Tulip" and tie-dyed 10 shirts. We let them sit for about 12-13 hours, even though it only said to let it set in for 6-8 hours. then, we untied them, hung them up, sprayed them off, and let them dry. When they had dried, all of the white areas had been faded on. One thing we didn't do was pre-wash them. They were 100% cotton, and we didn't shrink them, and they weren't preshrunk. Was that our mistake? Or should we wash them in something specific beforehand? Thanks.

Answer 1

You might want to get one t-shirt and try doing it exactly the way it says, i've made mistakes thinkin ehh it could use a lil more of this or ill wait a lil longer when if i had followed the instructions they would have came out fine. Or try the soda ash which makes the dye permanent and washfast. You will be soaking your shirt in a soda ash fixer solution first. Soda ash is just dense sodium carbonate, nothing complicated. This is somewhat caustic, so keep it out of your eyes, and away from kids and pets! If that dont help heres links. ^_^

http://www.ehow.com/how_1000420_wash-tie...

http://www.artsandmusicpa.com/popculture...

http://www.funroom.com/summer/tiedye.htm...

http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyelog/B106...

Answer 2

I made tons of tye-dye shirts when I was younger and we always let them soak in vinegar for 20 minutes, then rinsed them out with a hose before we hit the washing machine.  I'm not certain which of those steps kept the white off of the undyed areas, but it did work.

Answer 3

Yes, you need to prewash (scour) cotton fabrics first unless they say PFD (prepared for dyeing).  Typically this is done with a specific detergent like synthrapol, and often includes washing soda/soda ash/sodium carbonate, a mordant for fiber-reactive dyes. (I don't know what sort of dyes were in your kit.)

The "fading" is actually dye transfer caused by having so much excess dye in the fabric that didn't bind to the fibers.  Typically, you'd wash the shirts after dyeing in a good detergent like synthrapol.

Try washing the shirts on a long cycle with a good detergent and something like Shout Color Catchers in the wash.  You may reduce the amount of discoloration.

If you want to try again, try the instructions at Dharma Trading:

http://www.dharmatrading.com  They also have various resists if there are portions of fabrics you must keep white.

Answer 4

theres is this salt stuff mede specificly for that that you can buy at most arts and craft stores or anywher that sells fabric dyes or you can put wax on the area you dont want color on