Ice Tie Dye
Learn how to ice tie dye to create a unique watercolor dye effect.
Ice tie dye is a different tie dye technique that makes beautiful and unpredictable results. Normally when tie dyeing you mix dye powder with water to create a liquid dye. You then pour this dye onto the clothing, one color at a time.
When you ice dye, however, you don't actually mix the the dye powder. Instead, you use the powder on its own and sprinkle each color over ice. As the ice melts, it mixes with the the powder and spreads into the clothing. The colors can also mix together, creating incredible marble and watercolor effects.
Start by soaking your shirt in a soda ash mixture. Mix 1 cup of soda ash with 1 gallon of water.
Even if you have a one step dye kit that doesn’t require the soda ash step, I always recommend doing it so that your colors will be the most vibrant.
Scrunch up the shirt as though you’re doing a crumple dye.
Secure the shirt with zip ties or rubber bands.
Place the shirt in the dish, but elevate it on some empty containers or a wire rack.
Cover the shirt with ice cubes. Then sprinkle the dye powder from the tie dye kit over it.
Here are my recommendations for the best tie dye kits. The ones in jars are best for ice dyeing since you can use a spoon to sprinkle the dye on.
Continue to add powdered dye in whichever colors you would like.
Let the ice melt and create the ice tie dye effect. The ice should melt within 12 hours, depending on the temperature and the amount of ice used. Even after it's melted, I recommend letting it sit for a full 24 hours.
Rinse out in the sink and then wash it in the washing machine. After running it through the to dryer, your ice tie dye shirt is ready wear!
The author may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.
Comments
Join the conversation