Oh man, am I excited to show you a cool DIY!! This process with blow your mind!!
This was one of the coolest DIYs to date. The chemical reaction that takes place before your eyes is amazing. I had some slip covers that were old and an ugly faded yellow color( I didn't pick them out...just sayin). Most people would just have replace the whole couch. But wait a minute ... I like to save money like the most of us so I went in my research binge.... how to dye large items. The ol' go to- RIT dye just wouldn't do the trick. Although RIT dye is amazing for small projects, but I needed large quantities of dye and it would be too expensive.
Who loves denim??? I think most of us do. Where does that beautiful color of denim come from? Indigo...ahh it comes from plants.
Let's cut to the chase and get to dyeing!! If your are dyeing large pieces you MUST have stamina. When the large pieces get wet they are HEAVY!!
PRO TIP: Just make sure you have all the necessary materials, vessels, water source, floor covering ( it will stain everything it touches) and most of all... some help!!
LET'S GET STARTED
Materials List
APRON OR OLD CLOTHES
REDUCED INDIGO (THE REDUCED PART IMPORTANT)
VESSEL SIZED TO FIT ITEMS TO BE DYED
VESSEL FOR RINSING
WOODEN STIR STICK
VINEGAR ( 5 teaspoons per gallon)
LIGHT DETERGENT
LOTS OF WATER
The Basic Recipe for Small Items
1/2 ounce REDUCED INDIGO ( * REDUCED is important when ordering)- this is for lighter blue
1-2 ounces for darker blue
1/2 ounce Thiorea Dioxide ( Thiox for short)
1/2 ounce Soda Ash
2-3 gallons of lukewarm water ( 1/2 cold and 1/2 hot....enough to completely cover your item that you are dyeing)
Recipe for Very Large Items
Ingredients
5 ounces Indigo
5 ounces Thiox
5 ounces Soda Ash
30 GALLONS of lukewarm water ( 15 gallons cold and 15 gallons hot)
30 GALLONS of cool water for rinsing and vinegar bath
Directions
Fill vessel with water
Slowly add reduced Indigo
Stir in full circle in same direction until dissolved, make a swirl with the water.
Add Thiox- stir same as above until dissolved and in same direction
Add Soda Ash- stir in one direction for one minute
Also stir in the middle WE NEED A NICE SWIRL IN THE MIDDLE
Go to outside edge and stir in the OPPOSITE direction. We are setting this up for an indigo
Bloom in the center. LET SIT FOR ONE HOUR, DO NOT STIR ANYMORE
Isn't this beautiful??
I get excited when I see this picture!
This is the
Indigo Bloom
(The mixed indigo dye is allowed to sit for an hour to 'flower'. This forms on the surface. . It is a foamy, scummy sludge that protects the indigo dye from the air (oxygen). The longer your dye bath is exposed to air, the less effective it is, it oxidizes.
LET IT SIT FOR ONE HOUR BEFORE YOU START DYEING
Now for the dyeing..
After the dye bath sits for an hour
1. Gently add the material, trying to not move the water mixture too much ( as the water comes to the surface the dye is oxidized and loses its strength).
Depending on how deep blue you want the material, the longer it is in the bath the darker it will be. I generally let it sit for about 45 minutes.
*HINT- IF YOUR ARE DYEING MULTIPLE PIECES ALLOW IT TO SIT SAME AMOUNT OF TIME. ALSO BE AWARE THAT THE MORE TIMES YOU USE THE SAME BATH THE LIGHTER EACH PIECE GETS BECAUSE OF THE OXIDATION PROCESS
2. Keep material completely submerged while dyeing
See, here the material
is exposed...
it will start to turn blue
if it is not submerged and it will not have
even color throughout
your material.
Line dry after the dyeing
process. I did this outside
and protected my area
with plastic.
THESE MUST DRY BEFORE GOING INTO THE VINEGAR BATH TO SET COLOR *SEE BELOW*
3. Line dry in a protected area, I did mine outside.
4. Rinse in a vessel of cool water, wring most of the water out of material
5. In another vessel of clean cool water add vinegar ( this is to set the color)
Allow the material to stay in the vinegar bath for at least 10-15 minutes
6. Remove from vinegar bath
7. Wring out excess water
8. Add to wash machine with light detergent ( this removes excess dye that was not
absorbed into the material
Vinegar Bath
10-15 minutes
Laundromat
to Wash and Dry
Before... ugly yellow
