[I am back after missing several days due to post-hurricane power outages.]

Name: Theresa

Message: I have a jacquard kit to tie-dye and they referred me to your expertise concerning the amount of time to leave the garment tied and in dyed.  Their instructions say 24hrs, unfortunately I am planning t do this for my daughter's 10th birthday party all in about 4 hours!! I hadn't realized the timing! Do you know if it will work to leave the dye on for only 3 hours?  Apologies if this is already answered on your site, I wasn't able to locate this specific question.  Thanks in advance for your consideration....meanwhile we are going to do a test run this evening and we are crossing our fingers for the best! 

Use a little heat. The reaction between Procion MX dye and the fiber triples in speed for every 10°C increase in temperature.  Since 10°C equals 18°F, if the dyes take twelve hours to react at 70°F, they will take six hours at 88°F, and three hours at 106°F. 

If you follow the instructions for presoaking your 100% cotton shirts in soda ash and applying the Procion MX dyes, you can then pop each shirt into a one-gallon ziplock bag and seal it, then put that bag inside another ziplock bag and seal that one (the freezer type bags are the most reliable), you can float the shirts in a bathtub full of 120°F water and expect the reaction to have completed in a couple of hours.

Another option is to use a microwave oven to briefly heat each bagged shirt until it is hot, watching closely to stop the microwave when the bag starts to inflate with steam. Note that this is safe only for shirts that are still wet; dry fabric will burn if microwaved long enough.

The twenty-four hours in the Jacquard instructions include a safety margin to be sure to allow all of the dye to react, whether with the fiber or with the water the dye is dissolved in. This is important to prevent backstaining, which is the transfer of dye from one part of the garment to another. Backstaining can be a real problem if you unwrap the dyed garments while some active dye still remains, since the active dye can bond permanently in the wrong place. For example, a splotch of purple dye makes an ugly brown if a purple section of the garment is inadvertently allowed to contact a yellow region of the shirt, but if the dye has fully reacted before this happens, then any dye that transfers can be removed by washing in hot water, leaving just the originally intended design.

Backstaining is far less of a problem if you use only colors that go well together, such as fuchsia plus purple plus turquoise, without orange or yellow, or use yellow plus turquoise plus green, without red or purple or orange or fuchsia. You can cut the timing drastically, without adjusting the temperature, and you will still get some permanent color, but the colors will be paler, and any backstaining will not wash out.

See also "Instant Gratification in Tie-Dyeing" (dyeblog entry for July 27, 2008).

Your plan to do a test run tonight is an excellent one! Far too many people charge into doing a party using a technique they've never tried, even once. Always do a test before starting any large or important project!

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