What will you need for tie-dyeing?

'Tie-dye' is an old and fun technique for creating the coolest colours and patterns on t-shirts and other garments. The first countries to use the special design were Asia and Africa. The technique was especially popular in the West back in the 1970s, where it was super trendy to create personal patterns for your clothes and scarves.

The colourful and artistic motifs are still used today, and you can easily experiment with the fun technique at home.

How to use the tie-dye technique

It is easy and quick to tie-dye at home. What you need to do is choose a cloth or a shirt, 'twist' the fabric around, place elastics around the twisted fabric and then soak it in dye.

What colours you want to work with, and which design you want for your fabric, is entirely up to you.

When you first get started, it may be a good idea to begin with an old T-shirt or a worn-out cloth. You then get to experiment with the technique a little, before you try out the beautiful designs on your clothes and scarves.

What you will need for tie-dyeing

There are a few things that you need to get hold of before you can start your creative project:

Textile and fabric: The choice of fabric is one of the most crucial factors that will influence how well the colours are absorbed. Be sure to choose either cotton fabric, linen, polyester or rayon. These natural fibres absorb colours the easiest and will make for a successful dyeing project. You can advantageously go for fabric where the material is made of 90-100% natural fibres.

Dye: Tie-dye is a popular technique, so you will be able to find a large selection of kits and choose between different colour combinations. You can also buy batik colours individually. If you choose to buy individual batik colours for tie-dye, make sure you have a fixative (this will usually be included in the set when you choose this product solution).

Plastic container for separating the colours: If you work with a large number of colour dyes, it is best to use little buckets for storing them. You can also use small plastic squeeze bottles with spout caps. The dye and water must be poured into separate containers. It will be most convenient to have individual buckets for the project.

Accessories and tools: You will need rubber gloves, elastics and plastic wrap (vittavrap) for the project. The mix of colour and fixative can irritate the skin, and you therefore need to protect your hands by using a pair of gloves. You use the elastics to hold the twisted fabric in place. You wrap the plastic wrap around the 'knot' of the fabric once it has been soaked in water.

When you first get started, it can be a great help to choose a batik colour set, which has been made specifically for the purpose. You will then get advice and guidance on how to get started with your designs.

Textile colour / Batik colour dye

Up to 33%