Tie Dyes and Fiber Reactive dyes
I guess the first place to start in my instruction series on tie dye concepts is to start with the dyes themselves. We’ve all seen Rit© Dyes and probably many different simple fabric dyes at craft stores and the like. And, those are fine products and for the most part will produce very nice results when you tie them properly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not cracking on Rit© or any other product, but if you want the bright, never fading, crisp colors for you tie dyes you’ll need to be using Procion MX Fiber Reactive Dyes. Like the name suggests, fiber reactive dyes react with the fiber in the fabric and, barring a bleach accident, they will never fade. All of the brightest, most vibrant tie dyes on cotton are made with these dyes. They were developed in the 1950’s and found their way to home craft folk in the early 1960’s. They never left.
A little history about tie dyeing first; as you may guess it’s a little fuzzy as to exactly who did the first tie dyes. Tie dyeing is a resist technique where ties and folds are used to control how and where the dye actually gets absorbed and where it does not. Resist dye techniques are as old as dye itself. Shibhori, Mudmee and Batik are resist techniques that have been a part of fabric production for centuries. Modern tie dyes can be directly associated with the San Francisco Music Scene in the 1960’s and ‘70’s. It’s really hard for me to talk about tie dyes for long and not mention The Grateful Dead. Being a living, breathing part of the Dead Scene on the East Coast since 1989, I fell head over heals in love with tie dye. I asked a ton of questions and spied on folks whenever I could. I studied origami and applied that to what I do. Part of the reason that I post “how to” instructions is precisely because no one ever really helped me. My next post will be about the actual mixing of the dyes. I won’t go into the actual chemistry of how the dyes work too much. I’ll touch on it. Maybe later on down the road I’ll post about the chemical nuances fiber reactive dyes. Until then think tie dyes.Jimmy Tie Dyes
A little history about tie dyeing first; as you may guess it’s a little fuzzy as to exactly who did the first tie dyes. Tie dyeing is a resist technique where ties and folds are used to control how and where the dye actually gets absorbed and where it does not. Resist dye techniques are as old as dye itself. Shibhori, Mudmee and Batik are resist techniques that have been a part of fabric production for centuries. Modern tie dyes can be directly associated with the San Francisco Music Scene in the 1960’s and ‘70’s. It’s really hard for me to talk about tie dyes for long and not mention The Grateful Dead. Being a living, breathing part of the Dead Scene on the East Coast since 1989, I fell head over heals in love with tie dye. I asked a ton of questions and spied on folks whenever I could. I studied origami and applied that to what I do. Part of the reason that I post “how to” instructions is precisely because no one ever really helped me. My next post will be about the actual mixing of the dyes. I won’t go into the actual chemistry of how the dyes work too much. I’ll touch on it. Maybe later on down the road I’ll post about the chemical nuances fiber reactive dyes. Until then think tie dyes.Jimmy Tie Dyes
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