Love your website, it's very informative!!!!  Next weekend, about 10 or 12 women I work with (operating room nurses) are going camping.  We are going to tie dye on Saturday.  I purchased a Tulip one step dye kit, cold water dye because it seems easiest for camping.  We are going to use squirt bottles.
     I have two concerns.  First, there is no soda ash treatment required, or urea.  Just squirt and wrap in plastic for 4-6 hours.  Second, the temperature forecast is low- to mid-50's. Do you think there will be any problems?  Any advice would be great. Simple is best.

I was just looking at the Tulip one-step Tie Dye Kit in the crafts store yesterday. (Congratulations on avoiding the big-name-brand all-purpose dye tie dye kit, if your store carries it as well, as it is much harder to use and produces very much inferior results!) The Tulip One-Step kit contains good-quality fiber reactive dye, but the soda ash that is required is already mixed with the dye. This means that it is essential that it be kept absolutely dry until it is ready to use (seal the boxes in an extra ziplock bag if rain might get into your supplies), and it must be used quickly after the dye powder has been mixed with water. The dye and soda ash in Tulip One Step Dye will begin to react together immediately, as soon as they become wet; they must be applied to the fabric right away, because the dyes' reactivity will be used up within an hour, at room temperature. It is the dye itself, not the soda ash, that goes bad quickly. The brightest effects from the dye may be available only in the first ten or fifteen minutes after the water is added!

Be sure you have purchased enough kits for the size of your group. Each Tulip One Step Tie Dye kit claims to dye from eight to fourteen "projects" per kit, depending on which of their kits you choose {"Ultimate dyes make up to 14 projects per kit—Primary, Classic & Vibrant dye make up to 8 projects per kit"), but keep in mind that, as the kits appear to be being marketed to teenagers, they might dye half as many garments in adult sizes. It might be best to get twice as many kits as you expect to need, and use all of the dye. Tie-dyed clothing usually looks best with a lot of dye, although more shirts can be dyed if a lot of white is retained. When you apply the dye, be sure to probe deeply with a gloved finger into the folds of the fabric, to make sure that enough dye has penetrated. Usually beginners will not get enough dye into the folds and are a little disappointed at how much white they have in their end product. Insert the tip of the squirt bottle right down in between the folds of fabric.

Have everything ready to go before you mix the water into the dye+soda ash. The shirts should be prewashed before you leave on your trip. They should be 100% cotton, not polyester, as polyester will stay white, and they should not be stain-resistant, which would make them dye-resistant as well. (100% cotton white scrubs dye very nicely.) Do any tying before you add the water to the dye powder. Have the shirts laid out and ready to go, then add the water to the dye at the last possible moment.

The temperature will be a significant problem on this trip. "Cold" water dye, in the textile industry, means that the required temperatures are cool enough not to scald you; it does not mean truly cold. Procion MX type dyes, which is what are found in the Tulip dye kits, do not react much at temperatures below 70°F (21°C). The dye reactions will take far, far longer at 50°F than at 70°F, at least three times as long, and may not take place at all; the turquoise color in particular will be extremely pale at such low temperatures. You will need to do something to increase the temperature of the fabric while it is still wet with the dye. If you are car-camping at a site with an electrical outlet, you could bring an electric blanket or a heating pad; if it's a very sunny day, a closed car parked in the sun would be the perfect place to put your bagged garments to react. Closed black plastic garbage bags sometimes get fairly hot in the sun, if insulated from the cold ground. If you place the shirts near your campfire, be careful that the plastic bags do not get hot enough to melt. 70°F is adequate, but 100°F is an even better temperature for the dye reaction. At 70°F, it is best to leave the dye to react much longer than four hours; overnight is the usual. 

Since you will be not be at home or at work, you must think of everything you might need in advance. Take a box of latex or similar gloves, a roll of paper towels, and pitchers or bottles as a convenient source of water. Do not breathe the dye powder when mixing it with the water; wear a dust mask during this step. Take extra plastic bags, and be sure to wear clothing and shoes that will not be a loss if they become permanently stained with the dye. 

The shirts will look much lighter in color after they are washed out, so be sure that you apply enough dye to make them appear darker than the results you want. After the dyes have been allowed to react with the fabric, the last and very important step is washing out. I always do the initial washing in cool water, but after that I find that washing in hot water is the best way to remove the excess unwanted dye. I usually pop the shirts directly into the washer for one run with cold water and then two runs with detergent with the hottest water available. If the washing facilities at the camp site are inadequate, as seems likely, you can just take the carefully bagged damp dyed items home and wash them out there on the following day.

I would love to see a picture of your group in your matching shirts after you've returned from your outing.

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