Tie Dye

[triplethreat]

I know this is such a camp standard but I have never done it!

I would like to do a tie dye activity with my day campers this summer but most of my campers are between the ages 6 and 10. What method would you recommend? What products? (I'd like to do this in the safest & simplest way possible)

[laurathistle]

As you plan to do it with younger kids, I would recommend the cold water and salt way rather than boiling. The only draw back with the cold water method is it takes 24 hours.

You may want to consider this as safe and instant option although I haven't tried it myself so don't know how well it works. http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/art/tieanddie.htm

[triplethreat]

Thanks Laura! I searched for the cold water instructions and found this one:

http://www.funroom.com/summer/tiedye.html

It seems pretty straight forward. I think that I would probably pre-mix the dyes and everything for the kids, so all they have to do is colour.

[Flukie]

If you want good tie dye...

We use Dharma Trading (http://www.dharmatrading.com). We love their Procion dyes and the way that they hold the color so well. It's bottles, so it isn't hugely messy. We've dyed with kids 6-17 using these and they LOVE it. (Parents also like the final project because, well, it looks good!) I've never had much luck with Rit Dye.

[prettysocks]

I second the anti-Rit Dye comment!

[laurathistle]

I have never heard of these products before, possibly becasue they are not avalible in the UK. I have only ever done/seen it done with Dylon, a die that comes in solid a solid circle about 4cm across. It disolves instantly in cold water.

[happy_camper]

We use a tie-dye kit, but I don't know the brand. It comes in a white box with a grid of tie-dyed t-shirts on the front. The dyes are in there and they come with squeeze-bottles to use. It works really well and the dyes are very vibrant. It also comes with instructions on how to get specific patterns. The only draw-back is that if you are doing this with a bunch of kids, you would need to buy mulitple kits, which may get expensive.

[happy_camper]

Sorry to post twice, but I just had another idea. If you don't want to TIE and DYE you can get the same type of effect with spray bottles. I have done this, and it doesn't really look like tie-dye, but more of a marbled look. You water down dye (don't know what kind) and put it in spray bottles and simply spray your shirt/bandanna/whatever. We got white hankercheifs or napkins and used them as bandannas. One tip though -- don't hang your fabric vertically because the dyes will drip and ruin your pattern. Lay it flat. Again, it doesn't look quite like real tie-dye, but it still turns out very cooL!

[KiwiCRB]

You can also cut out paper designs and tape then to the shirt and then do the spray bottle thing and get outlines of whatever it is you cut out!

[Campgirlboo]

I third, fourth and fifth dharma dye...it is FANTASTIC and I have a shirt I made 4 years ago that still looks as vibrant and colorful as it did the first time I rinsed it out. The colors don't run at all (once it's washed the first time...and even then, it's only if you don't REALLY rinse it the first time).

My shirt has survived 4 summers of camp, repeated washings, stains, chlorine AND mucky lake water....

BONUS: The packing peanuts they use are biodegradeable and you can reuse the packing materials as a science lesson :-)

[Pooka]

Dharma works really well. Like Boo, I have a shirt that's gone in the camp lake, spent an afternoon in the ocean, gone in the pool and through several summers, and still looks decent. My Rit shirts faded pretty quickly.

I personally think that the projects end up looking nicer if you use bottles to squirt the dye, rather than dipping the shirt in a tub of it. You have more control over the patterns that way. The bottles are still pretty messy-- like all tie-dye, it's totally an outdoor project.

[campnerd99]

Turkey basters also work amazingly well for controling where the dye goes!

[happy_camper]

ooo good idea, campnerd!!