Name: Marie 

Message: Hi I am wondering if I can add the soda ash to the dye and water in one go rather than soak in soda ash first. I have 250ml application bottles with nozzles how much soda ash and procion dye would I put together if this is possible. ie how many teaspoons/ tablespoons of dye and soda ash per bottle please???  Trying to make the process easier for the children.  Thank you very much for your help and advice!

You can add the soda ash directly to your Procion MX dye (never to all-purpose dye such as Rit!). However, the dye will begin to go bad as soon as you have added the soda ash to it. Don't add the soda ash to the dye until immediately before use; expect the dyes to stay good for less than one hour after you have added the soda ash to them.

Mix the dyes themselves in advance, as it can take some time to dissolve them. (It takes a lot less time to dissolve dye if you paste them up first: add just a teaspoon or two of water to the dye as needed to make a smooth paste, and then, only after this mixture is smooth, add the rest of the water.)

First start by mixing urea with water. To one quart of water, add one-quarter-cup of urea granules, or add one cup of urea to a gallon of water. You can omit urea if you don't have it, but in that case you will want to wrap your freshly tie-dyed items in plastic so that they stay moist overnight. Urea keeps the dyes moist without plastic.

If your water supply is hard, use softened or distilled water. You can buy a good water softener from your dye supplier which is very convenient to add by the spoonful.

For one 250 ml bottle, which is about eight ounces, mix about four teaspoons of dye (about 20 ml). You can use more for darker colors, or less for pale colors.

Then, just before use, add half a teaspoon (2.5 ml) of soda ash to each bottle, cap securely, and shake. You can apply the soda ash-dye mixture to shirts that are dry, or shirts that have been moistened with plain water to make it easier to tie them.

It's also pretty easy to use the soda ash presoak, if you're not sure how quickly everyone will use up the dye. Have them tie their shirts either dry or moistened with plain water, use a permanent marker to write initials on the labels, then toss the shirts into the soda ash bucket for five to twenty minutes. Remove the soaked shirts with gloved hands, squeeze out as much of the liquid as is practical, then have the children squirt the dye onto their fabric. If you do not add soda ash to it, the dye should stay good for at least a week.

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