Name: Jen
Message: Hi - I am having a party in a few weeks for my twin 6 (almost 7) year old sons.  We are having this party in a park.  They want to tie dye shirts at the party as a party favor. (Only one color per shirt - I really don't want to deal with the squirt bottles!)  I figured I could just get some huge plastic buckets full of warm water and bring it to the park - then I'll have the kids tie and I will dye.  What I am wondering is what steps can I do before hand to help move the process along?  Would it make more sense to dump them in the tub and let them soak??  Or could I dip them briefly and then bag them up and send them home??  I know I want a cold dye and I'm wondering if it would make it easier to use the kind that already has the soda ash mix in so I don't need to soak them before hand, and then, I am assuming, the kids wouldn't need to wear gloves while they were tying, correct?  (Since there would be no soda ash on the shirts before hand and I will be the one doing the dyeing.)   anyway, I have read a bunch of the questions and answers on your site (MOST helpful) but I was hoping I could pick your brain a little more specifically - Thanks,Jen

The dye you want to use would definitely be a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. This dye does not require any heat setting at all, though warmer temperatures work more quickly. Don't use cold water; use water that is at least 70°F, or a little warmer if possible. (Don't use an all-purpose dye such as Rit or Tintex, as they are hot water dyes.)

I would not want to have the shirts presoaked in soda ash for the kids to tie. I think it is best for them to tie dry shirts. I always tie my shirts either dry or moistened with plain water, then drop them in a bucket of soda ash to presoak. You can do the same, or you can add the soda ash directly to the dye (or use the kits that have soda ash already added to the dye) immediately before use.

If you are using dye that does not have soda ash mixed in already, I would advise you to mix the dye with water in advance. It would be easier to carry quart jars of dye concentrate, something with a good screw-on lid, than to carry large volumes of dye in a bucket, but it takes a little bit of trouble to get the dye dissolved, something you don't need to be messing with at a party. You can mix the dye with cool or room-temperature dye up to one week in advance, if it does not have soda ash in it. Keep the dye at room temperature or colder until you are ready to use it. Refrigeration is fine. If you use dye that is premixed with soda ash, DO NOT mix the dye in advance. Dye + water + soda ash = immediate dye reaction. Once the dye has been mixed with soda ash and water, it will be used up quickly.

You will need soda ash to set the dye. This is fairly easy to dissolve in water, so you don't necessarily have to predissolve it before the party. Do not add the soda ash to the dye until you are ready to add the shirts, or even after you have put the shirts in, because the dye will be active for probably no more than one hour after you add the fabric.

Salt is optional; it is normally required for immersion dyeing, but you could use just enough dye and water to thoroughly soak the tied shirts, rather than a large excess of water as is normally used for immersion dyeing. The large amount of water is needed only to get smooth, even, solid colors, obviously not particularly desirable for this project. Using smaller amounts of water, as in low water immersion dyeing, will be a lot less trouble to deal with.

Dipping the shirts will work, as long as you make sure the dye thoroughly soaks the shirts, which will not take long. Or you could put each shirt in its bag and dump in some dye solution and soda ash solution. You won't need urea, though it won;t hurt anything, because the plastic bags can substitute for urea's function of keeping the dye moist long enough for the reaction to complete.

The squirt bottle thing can be made more manageable for multiple colors if you want to have an adult add the dye. When I did a dye demonstration for my son's fifth grade class, I had three bottles of dye (turquoise, fuchsia, and lemon yellow) and asked each child which two colors he or she wanted. They each had a small cotton handkerchief in a ziplock sandwich bag, to which I'd already added soda ash in water. You could put a t-shirt into a gallon-sized ziplock bag. Note that the bags labeled for freezer use are sturdier and less likely to leak. I did not give the children the choice of using three colors, because all three colors will make a muddy brown color when combined together. Any two primary colors mix well, though (yellow plus turquoise makes green, yellow plus fuchsia makes orange and red, and turquoise plus fuchsia makes purple). It would be more fun to use the same two colors for everyone's shirt than to use only one color, and there's not much mess if an adult does the actual squirting.

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