Message: I am using rit dye (powdered), would it be better to use the pot ash bath before dying to help retain color? can I put the rit dye solution into bottles to squirt onto the garmet? if so what concentration of dye to water would I use

Do not confuse the recipe for cold water dye with that for all-purpose dye! Your project will produce a miserable failure if you use the cold-water recipe with Rit dye. It's like trying to bake a cake in an ice cream freezer.

Only cold water dye can be used with the squirt bottle technique. Rit dye is not a cold water dye. Rit dye is a brand of all-purpose dye, which requires heat. The best way to use Rit or any other all-purpose dye is to prepare a cooking pot (which must never be used for food again in the future, as Rit dye is not safe for consumption), mix the dye with salt and a large quantity of water, then boil your fabric in the dyebath for an hour. You should at least heat fabric in the dyebath to 190 degrees Fahrenheit for half an hour, unless you want pale pastel colors. Water that is hot but not this hot will work less well. Room temperature water will do no better than dirty the fabric with the dye.

If you want to use room temperature dyeing conditions, you must buy the right type of dye. You may be able to buy a "tie dye kit" at your local crafts store - Rainbow Rock and Jacquard use a high quality fiber reactive dye in their kits - or you may choose to more economically buy dyes by mail-order. There is a list of companies that mail-order dye in several different countries on my web site under "Sources for Supplies".

Soda ash or pot ash will work only for the type of dye that requires a high pH to attach to the fabric. As all-purpose dye is incapable of this strong permanent bond, there is no point whatsoever in using soda ash or pot ash. It will do nothing to aid in the dyeing process, as long as you use all-purpose dye.

See "How can I tie dye with RIT dye?", in the FAQ section of my website, for instructions. If you wish to use cool water dyes, so that you can use the cold water dye squirt bottle technique, see "Sources for Supplies" to find a company to order your dye from.