dyeing pfs

[ebony_vbac]

i'm looking for resources on dyeing my pfs andpossible tie dying. my stepson tie died a shirt at school so i could probably get him to do it if i have the right stuff. i really want blue diapers

[sunnmama]

I used Dylon dyes that I bought at Joann fabrics to dye some of my prefolds and flats. They worked wonderfully! If I remember correctly, they used warm water and salt, and then you wash on hot a few times to set the dye. We've had no bleeding after those washes.

[my2boysteacher]

I highly recommend using procion dyes. You can get them at Dharmatrading.com and they are far superior to any I've seen elsewhere. I haven't tried dying dipes yet, but have done a lot of apparel fabric.
She has great step-by-step directions on her website as well.

[ebony_vbac]

any more ideas? especially on tie dying, or just give me your experiences with doing it

[mehndi mama]

When I tie-dyed my diapers, I used Dharma fiber reactive dyes (Procion) and followed their "soda soak" method detailed in their tie-dyeing instructions. The only exception to their instructions was that after soaking the tied diapers and wringing them out, I put them on a drying rack and let them dry for a while. When I dyed the diapers WET, the colors were not very intense and bled together a whole lot. Allowing them to dry out a bit gave me very professional results on only my second try.
These are the diapers I dyed for my youngest 3 years ago - as I said, my second shot at tie-dyeing.
http://fernandfaerie.com/tiedye/tdeuropean3.JPG
http://fernandfaerie.com/tiedye/tdeuropean2.JPG
http://fernandfaerie.com/tiedye/tdeuropean1.JPG
http://fernandfaerie.com/tiedye/tdinfant1.JPG
http://fernandfaerie.com/tiedye/tdinfant2.JPG

My first try, I used a Jaquard Procion tie-dye kit, which had enough dye to do 3 t-shirts. I didn't know to let the diapers dry after soaking (and also hadn't mastered color mixing all that well), and this was the result of that first dyeing session:
http://fernandfaerie.com/tiedye/tdline.JPG
Those were mostly flats, but you can see the amount of white still visible in comparison to the second batch.

[ebony_vbac]

omg i cant wait to tie dye , those are so cute!

[mehndi mama]

I let the soaked diapers dry for a full day or two - you want them nearly dry on the outside. Not fully dry, because the soda ash will crystallize and block dye absorbtion, but just a tiny bit of dampness still in the outer layer.

[ebony_vbac]

[ebony_vbac]

Originally Posted by mehndi mama

I let the soaked diapers dry for a full day or two - you want them nearly dry on the outside. Not fully dry, because the soda ash will crystallize and block dye absorbtion, but just a tiny bit of dampness still in the outer layer.

well mehndi o finally did it it took 3 days and i'm hAPPY Bbut it was harder than i thought. i never knew tieing it before you wet it would make the string get all loose. i though the string was supposed to cover the white area and keep it white, i dont have much white and what little i did turned blue when i washed the diapers i used dharma dies but didnt buy anything else except soad ash and sinew string. i did navy blue and hot pink i let my soda ash soaked diapers sit out 24 hours before i died them but they were still really wet

[mehndi mama]

Troubleshooting:
Tie with rubberbands, not with string - it's way easier and it won't loosen up.
Did you wring as much soda ash solution as you could out of the soaked diapers?

FWIW, I posted the photos so you could see that I got NO white in my tie-dye with the soak-and-dry method. If you actually wanted white sections, you would need to plan to not dye certain portions....although, if using navy blue, having white portions *not* turn out blue is going to be a near impossibility.

Part of the fun of tie-dyeing is the unpredictability of it. Ya gotta roll with what you get!