Name: Sangeetha 

Message: Thanks for taking the time to answer my question, and for creating an amazing website. 
My question is: according to the Tie Dye 101 video, I am supposed to add 1 teaspoon kelp to the dye pre-mix solution, and when I did, the water turned an ugly green-brown color. But on the video, their dye pre-mix solution looks clear. Did I do something wrong? I bought regular powdered kelp from a healthfood store. I am afraid of making my dye solutions using this ugly-colored pre-mix solution and wonder if I should make it again, this time omitting the kelp. How important is the kelp?

It is not all that important. I almost always omit any thickener at all. I think that you should go ahead and remake your solutions without it this time. Adding thickener can be helpful in getting finer details in your more complex tie-dye designs, however, and it is essential for some styles of fabric painting.

When I do use thickener, I avoid the stuff from the health food store. I am afraid that what you have might contain additional ingredients or impurities, though it's probably all right to use. I prefer to use purified sodium alginate, which is sold by the better dye suppliers. You can buy it in pure form, in which case you should be sure to also use the water softener sodium hexametaphosphate, to prevent gelling. Alternatively, you can buy it in the form of ProChem's Print Paste mix, which contain urea, sodium alginate, and sodium hexametaphosphate, or you can buy Jacquard or Dharma's Superclear, which is sold in liquid form.

For more information, see "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners".

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