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Procion MX Dye

ideal for tie-dye

When mixed with soda ash, Procion dyes are permanent, colorfast, and very washable. You can easily create a palette of brilliant colors ranging from light pastels to deep, vibrant hues.

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Learn to Tie Dye

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Jacquard Tie Dye Kit

Dye up to 15 adult-size T-shirts, with vivid, electric colors that are so colorfast they can be washed with the daily laundry.

Usually, tie dye kits are for shirts. And, I know I probably shouldn't use the same amount for the soccer socks as I would for shirts. So, how much would you think I would use for them, and any other additional details I should think about while tie dying them? Oh, plus, could you mix two colors together to get a new tie dye color if the color you want doesn't come with the kit? Thanks!

You can use a good tie-dye kit on any natural fiber, such as cotton, linen, or bamboo, and also on rayon, since it is a cellulose fiber, and good tie dye kits contain fiber reactive dye. Unfortunately, soccer socks are usually made of synthetic fiber blends that are not suitable for dyeing with tie-dye dyes. (All purpose dyes such as Rit don't work on synthetic fibers, either.) If your socks are 10% spandex or nylon, and 90% cotton, you can dye them just like 100% cotton. Don't mix your dyes up any differently than you would for tie-dyeing shirts; a pound of cotton is a pound of cotton, whether it's in a shirt or in socks. Just follow the usual instructions. Be sure you have extra pairs of socks handy, or other cotton or rayon clothing you can tie-dye, so you don't waste the dye. You can dye several pairs of socks with the amount of dye you'd use for a single shirt.

If your socks are made of nylon or wool, you can dye them with tie-dye dyes if you substitute an acid, such as vinegar, for the soda ash dye fixative. Nylon and wool both require an acid instead of a base to dye. If your tie-dye kit does not have a soda ash as a separate pre-soak, but instead has the soda ash already mixed into the dye powder, then you can't use it for nylon at all. Surprisingly, all purpose dyes such as Rit, which work so poorly on cotton, are okay for use on nylon, if you add vinegar to your dyebath.

If your soccer socks are made of polyester, then you can't use any ordinary type of dye at all. Neither the Procion dyes in good tie-dye kits, nor all purpose dyes such as Rit, will color polyester at all. You can dye polyester by boiling it with a special polyester dye such as "iDye Poly" which is available by mail-order only, or you can use a good thin fabric paint that is designed to mimic dye, such as Dye-Na-Flow or Dharma Pigment Dyes. Or, you can make iron-on designs on paper with disperse dye fabric crayons, then iron them onto your synthetic-fiber socks.

The dyes in tie-dye kits are perfect for mixing together. Mix turquoise with yellow to make green, mix turquoise and red together to make purple, and mix red and yellow together to make orange. A little red mixed with turquoise makes royal blue, and blue added to orange makes brown. You can also order your tie-dye Procion dyes premixed in any color you like. Dharma Trading Company and PRO Chemical & Dye both sell a hundred different colors of Procion MX type dye, which is the very best type of dye for tie-dyeing. Their prices are very good, too, because each two-ounce jar of dye will dye twelve shirts, and the dye stays bright for years on your clothing. (Compare that to all-purpose dye, where each box of dye will dye only a single shirt, and then it fades almost immediately.)

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