Name: Tina
Message: hello,
I'm trying to do a project in a very low budget community program.  I want the best possible results but i'm afraid it may fail.  I must use an all purpose dye and tubs to the do the project.  I'm planning on using bottles with hot dye and was wondering if I can still have good results.  The derergent that is mentioned in your web site is not within our budget either.  Can using dish liquid work?  Any tips you have would be greatly appreciated.

All-purpose dyes are anything but economical! There is very little dye in each box, so you have to buy a numbner of boxes, at $2.99 each. The liquid all-purpose dye will color even less fabric, for an even higher cost. If, instead, you get some good fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, you will find that you spend no more money per garment, and for big projects, appreciably less money, all while getting a product that is far easier to use and produces vastly superior results, when compared to all-purpose dye. 

For a small project, get a tie-dye kit. Many crafts stores carry these kits for about $12 for a small kit, or $20 for a larger one, which contain everything you need to dye a number of shirts. The kit is certainly more valuable than the equivalent number of boxes of all-purpose dye, though the latter will generally cost more. Do not buy the tie-dye kit that contains all-purpose dye. The tie-dye kits made by Jacquard or by Rainbow Rock contain high quality Procion MX dyes in the three primary colors of turquoise, yellow, and magenta, as well as soda ash, plastic bottles, and even gloves. The Jacquard kit gives you more dye for the money than the Rainbow Rock kit does. Bulk fiber reactive dye, in two-ounce or larger jars, is far cheaper than the kits, when purchased by mail-order, even after accounting for the cost of shipping; see any of the companies listed on my "Sources for Dyeing Supplies" page.

As an alternative to the tie-dye kits, my local chain fabric store carries Dylon Permanent Fabric Dye, which contains fiber reactive dyes which will work more-or-less like Procion MX dye, using squirt bottles. Dylon Cold Water Dye is somewhat more appropriate, if you happen to see that. (Avoid Dylon Multi-Purpose Dye and Tintex Hot Water dyes, which are just other brands of all-purpose dye.)

All-purpose dye is only temporary if you apply it at room temperature in squirt bottles. It will just wash out! Do not use the squirt bottle technique with all-purpose dyes. It was designed for use only with cool water fiber reactive dyes. Boiling the dye in the water will do you no good at all if you are then going to cool it down enough to put it into plastic bottles; all-purpose dye must be HOT when it is applied to the fabric, and works best when kept that hot, on the fabric, for at least half an hour. To tie-dye with all-purpose dye, see the method detailed on "How can I tie dye with RIT dye?". You must use very hot water in the dyebath in order to encourage the all-purpose dye to form a longer lasting attachment to the fabric. It cannot attach as permanently as fiber reactive dye, and garments dyed with all-purpose dye will bleed a little in the laundry every single time they are washed, but the right kind of heat-setting will at least allow it to work as dye.

If all-purpose dye is directly applied to fabric like fiber reactive dye, it will wash out of the fabric, unless you steam the dyed fabric before you rinse the dye out at all. You can wrap the items in plastic wrap and steam them for half an hour, just like steaming vegetables, over boiling water in a lidded cooking pot. The results will not be as good as if you use fiber reactive dyes, but it will be much better than if you do not heat set the dye at all. Steaming one garment is not at all difficult to do, but steaming a large number of garments or a large amount of fabric yardage will be quite an unwieldy project.

Any detergent can work for washing out the dye afterwards. Synthrapol is a favorite of dyers, but hand washing with dishwashing liquid is just fine, as long as it contains no bleach. Some laundry detergents are less suitable because they contain "whiteners and brighteners" which will temporarily dull down dark or bright colors. This is not a problem with dishwashing liquid, though of course you must never use dishwashing liquid in a washing machine (it will foam up appallingly). Ordinary laundry detergent will work pretty well if it is all that you have.

Please be sure that your shirts, or whatever you are dyeing, are 100% natural fiber, such as cotton, linen, rayon, or silk. Do not attempt to dye polyester or acrylic with all-purpose OR fiber reactive dye, as neither type of dye will work on these synthetics.

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