Learn to dye

Source: English auto-generated YouTube captions. Caption text is reproduced as exported and may contain recognition errors, including the opening store name and technical terms. This is a record of the video narration, not a corrected recipe. Follow the dye manufacturer’s instructions and safety information; see our written dye-under-ice versus dye-over-ice guide for current guidance.

0:00 Welcome to the Dharma Store Studio Handbook. This is ice dye with synthetic fiber reactive powders. The same workshop rhythm as natural dye. Scour the cloth, give the chemistry time, rinse with patience. The color source is different. Ice dyeing is a cold process. You pile ice on prepared natural fiber cloth, sprinkle dry Procion MX powder over the ice, and wait. As the ice melts, water dissolves the powder in tiny pulses and carries pigment through

0:27 folds. Most fashion colors are blends. Those components travel at different speeds. That is the split. A jar labeled purple can bloom into magenta, navy, and lilac on the same shirt. These powders are studio chemicals, not kitchen spices. Wear a tight N95 whenever a jar is open. Wear nitrile gloves. Keep dye tools out of the kitchen. Soda ash is sodium carbonate, not baking soda. Baking soda will not fix the dye. You need white cotton, linen, or rayon.

0:57 Fiber reactive powder, soda ash, ice, a tub, and a wire rack that sits above the melt. Plastic spoons, a tarp, and a detergent with no fabric softener. Read the label. Cellulose takes this dye. Cotton, linen, hemp, rayon, Tencel. Silk can work, but test a scrap. Polyester, nylon, and spandex heavy knits will stay almost white. Pick two or three jars, not five. Pure primary stay themselves. Mixed heels, purples, and blacks unmix on ice. That is desirable. Keep sister

1:30 colors next to each other if you want them to blend. Keep enemies apart if you want them clean. Start stingy. A quarter to a half teaspoon of each color already shows on a T-shirt. Two layouts. Dye over ice is the default. Pile ice, then sprinkle. Softer watercolor, more white left in the valleys. Dye under ice puts powder on the cloth first, then buries it. Darker cores, sharper speckle. Step one, wash the cloth hot with a plain detergent, no softener. Step two,

1:59 dissolve one cup of soda ash in one gallon of warm water. Step three, soak 20 to 30 minutes. Ring to damp, not dripping. Step four, tarp, tub, rack. Leave air under the cloth so melt water can fall away. Step five, scrunch for clouds, fold for stripes, twist for a spine. Keep it damp. Step six, cover every area you want colored with ice. Uncovered cloth stays pale. An 8 to 10 lb bag covers a shirt. Step seven, mask on. Open one jar at a time. Tap powder

2:31 from a dry spoon. Step eight, tent the tub with plastic. Let the ice melt, then leave the cloth wet for 18 to 24 hours above about 70°. The bond happens after the ice is gone. Rinse cold first, unfolding as you go, until the water is only faintly tinted. Then wash hot, alone, with a dyer's detergent. Dry in the shade, wash once more before you gift it or sit on pale upholstery. Write the recipe down. Mook's jars split differently by lot, ice, and fold.

3:02 Photograph the pile before it melts. That photograph is the only map you will have when the splits surprise you. This is the dye store. Ice dye with fiber reactive powders. Bright color, overnight patience, no two pieces match.