Name: Rebecca
Message: I want to tie dye a mens white collard shirt and all that I have is food coloring. I wanted to know if it will work with food coloring. If you can do it then I was wondering if you know how to mix it. Would I just do it with water? I really have no idea how it works. I would really appreciate if you are able to help me. Thank you

No, it is impossible to dye cotton with food coloring. It will just wash out, no matter how you apply it. Food coloring can be used to dye wool, but never cotton!

What you need to do is buy some proper dye for cotton.

For dull-colored dye that gradually washes out in the laundry and requires simmering to fix the dye in the fabric, you can use all-purpose dye, which is avilable at any grocer or pharmacy.

For bright or intense colors that never bleed in the laundry and can be applied with squirt bottles, you should mail-order some fiber reactive dye from any of the companies listed on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page. Any of the tie-dye kits sold by any of the companies listed on that page will do very well; here is a direct link to a tie-dye kit at Fiberarts.com.

If you are lucky, perhaps you will be able to find a Tie Dye Kit made by Jacquard or Rainbow Rock in a local crafts store; avoid brands of tie-dye kits which contains all-purpose dye, which is far more trouble to use in tie-dyeing, and gives poor results. Dylon Cool Water dye is good fiber reactive dye, but avoid Dylon Multi-purpose dye, as it is just another brand of all-purpose dye. Buying dye by mail-order is usually much better than buying locally, because the prices are lower per amount of fabric to be dyed, the color selection is much wider, and the dye may be fresher.


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