Name: cee jay

Message: Hello. I'm hoping you can help me. I am new to batik and tie dye etc but have been a professional artist for over 30 years so I am determined to master my challenging problem. Please tell me how to make a large gradation dye from the bottom of the tshirt (for example) up to lighter at the top. Just one large sweeping gradation. I reallllly appreciate your help. WIll stand by for your email response. Thankyou so much. ; )

I find that this is easier to get a smooth gradation when I apply the dye fixative (soda ash) after applying the dye to the fabric, rather than before. This allows the dye to spread and smooth out before it attaches permanently to the fabric.

Get a number of plastic squirt bottles, or else some sort of dye pots plus large foam brushes, and mix your strongest dye concentration (using a fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye), then put half of this into the next bottle and dilute it with an equal quantity of water (or urea + water), mix that up, then take half of that to put in the next bottle, etc. Then squirt or brush horizontal stripes of the dye until the gradation is as you want it, but much darker since the dye will be lighter after washing out. Then fix the dye by painting on sodium silicate (water glass) solution, which is a product sold as AfterFix, ProFix, etc., from good dye suppliers, or a strong solution of soda ash in water (1 cup or 250 ml of soda ash, per gallon or 4 liters). Adding as much salt as can dissolve to the soda ash solution will help to prevent the dye from running much, if that is an issue. Then keep the shirt moist and warm long enough for the dye reaction to complete, 24 hours at 70 degrees F. (21 C.) or perhaps 4 hours at 90 degrees F. Urea mixed into the dye and dilution water will help to keep the fabric moist, or you can wrap it in plastic if necessary.

Mickie Lawlor's book "Sky Dyes" contains information on gradiants and similar effects, but it focuses on fabric paints rather than dyes.