Name: Tricia

Message: My children brought home tie dye shirts from camp. The leader said to soak them in salt water or vinegar before washing them or they would lose their colour. I did read on your site about soda ash but I don't want to purchase the product as it is a one time use. Can you recommend a way to set them using home based ingredients such as the vinegar or salt. If so how long do I soak them in it and do I dilute it with water?

Soaking in vinegar or salt will not help to fix dyes in cotton t-shirts. The dyes will run just as badly if you do try either or both of these household products as dye fixatives.

Soda ash, or washing soda, is an inexpensive product with many household uses, including as a laundry booster, but it will not help with all-purpose dye. It should already have been used when the dyes were applied if they were a higher quality type of dye. For tie-dyeing, soda ash should be applied BEFORE the dye, but only if a better type of dye than all-purpose dye was used.

If the shirts were dyed properly with a good tie-dye kit, containing a fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, and soda ash, then there is no need for you to set the dye, because the dye will already have been set. Good kits include the Jacquard tie-dye kit and the Tulip brand tie-dye kit; Dylon Permanent or Dylon Cold Water dye can also be used. Avoid the use of the Rit brand tie-dye kit, because it contains all-purpose dye.

If the shirts were dyed with a poor quality dye, such as all-purpose dye, then nothing can be done to set the dye except to purchase Retayne or a similar commercial dye fixative. All-purpose dye cannot be rendered permanent on cotton by any home treatment. It must be fixed with Retayne or another commercial dye fixative to keep it from running in the laundry.

If your childen's shirts were dyed with all-purpose dye, but not fixed with Retayne, then you should wash them, by hand, as infrequently as possible, separately from one another or any other garment, in cool water. They will inevitably run in the wash, but using cool water will help to reduce the running of the dye. Do not use warm water to wash anything that has been dyed with all-purpose dye.

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[Updated June 8, 2008.]