Play Silk Question

[amberskyfire]

I was thinking about making some playsilks for my daughter, but I have a question.

Is Kool-Aid the only option? Is there a reason why I can't just use regular old food dye? It's the food dye in the Kool-Aid that dyes so it should work the same and be cheaper, right?

Or is there something I'm missing? Is there another ingredient in the Kool-Aid that makes it work? If it's just the acid, can't you add a little vinegar to the food dye? It's just that regular food coloring is so much cheaper than buying a bunch of packs of Kool-Aid at $.75 each. (At least that's what they cost here in Hawaii.)

I can buy all of the colors in a pack for $2. If I buy the Kool-Aid, it's going to cost a LOT more.

[Shellie]

Unsweetened Kool Aid packets are often on sale for 10/$1 or even better...you could just get a bunch of colors for around 10 cents per packet. That said, I don't see why food coloring + vinegar wouldn't work. I used to make playsilks in my WAHM biz but I used Procion dyes for the ones I sold. I did do Kool Aid ones with the kids for fun though and it worked well!

[KJoslyn78]

i've made dyes with both kool-aid and wilton's food dye (which is a paste), but not liquid food dye.

with all my silks, i actually ended up using both food dyes, and kool-aid (and vinegar) and really have never had a problem with color (except for yellow, its so light to being with i think is the problem).

here's my blog post on it (and using a crockpot to dye, rather then stove top)
http://kjoslyn78.blogspot.com/2007/1...-playsilk.html

[FillingMyQuiver]

Any food dye would work, for example, Wilton's dyes, liquid food coloring, kool-aid, Easter egg dyes.

The main things you need for the dying process is an acid (vinegar) and heat. Kool aid works well b/c the acid is already in the kool-aid packet (citric acid).

[A Mom's Love]

Originally Posted by KJoslyn78

i've made dyes with both kool-aid and wilton's food dye (which is a paste), but not liquid food dye.

with all my silks, i actually ended up using both food dyes, and kool-aid (and vinegar) and really have never had a problem with color (except for yellow, its so light to being with i think is the problem).

here's my blog post on it (and using a crockpot to dye, rather then stove top)
http://kjoslyn78.blogspot.com/2007/1...-playsilk.html

Crock pot-great idea!