Name: Melissa
Message: Hi, I love your website. I was wondering if it is possible to tie dye a small area on a white garment (ie: a circle of the front) and have the rest remain bright white. Is there a way to prevent the dye from coloring the white? Thanks for your help. Melissa

The best way would be to paint the dye on, carefully. Direct dye application allows you to color only those portions you wish to dye.

It is essential that you use the right kind of dye. A cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, can be fixed to the fabric without steaming, which makes it much easier to avoid staining the rest of the shirt. Avoid all-purpose dye at all costs.

A good way to avoid backstaining when you wash the excess dye out is to leave it for longer than is quite necessary to get the dye to set, then wash it first in cool water and then in hot water. The hot water wash may be repeated as many times as is necessary to remove the last bits of dye that have inadvertently transferred to the background during the first washing.

If you want a rainbow effect, with the colors bleeding into each other, you can use the dye unthickened. In this case great care must be taken to limit the amount of dye that you paint on, so that the rest of the garment does not become dyed. Thickened dye will behave more circumspectly, like a thicker fabric paint. You can use sodium alginate to thicken your dye. This can be purchased from the same source as your fiber reactive dye. Mail order is best for obtaining dye supplies, unless you happen to live close to one of the good mail order dye suppliers.

You will want to insert some dependable barrier, such as a plastic box, between the front and the back of the garment, if you do not wish the dye to bleed through to the back of the garment. An inexpensive large embroidery hoop can be very useful in stretching the area you wish to paint. You can use any sort of paintbrush you like, such as a foam paintbrush.

You should consider in advance whether you want to apply the soda ash as a presoak and line dry it before you apply the dye, or mix the soda ash with the dye and use it up within an hour or two, or apply an afterfix treatment by painting over your design with sodium silicate, which is a highly alkaline solution.

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