We’ve received so much great feedback and questions on the dye technique in our latest summer tee’s so we thought we’d share some info on the process. It’s a simple and fun technique called Ice Dye and was originated by some ingenious folks in wintery weather who used snow, but in Houston where snow is a myth, we used ice. We particularly love the super organic shapes and unknown color surprises that this process creates.
There are several tutorials out there, so there’s no need to clog the internet with another one, but we will share some tips and tricks we picked up along the way. We purchased all our supplies from Dharma Trading Co. and followed along with their tutorial. The gist of the process is to prepare your items with a special detergent and then soak them in a mixture of soda ash and water. Fiber reactive dye will only adhere on certain fibers, you’ll want to use natural fibers (cotton, linen, silk, etc) to get the most vibrant effects.

From there, arrange your damp garments on a grate tall enough to keep them out of the puddle the ice will make, cover with ice, sprinkle on the dye powder and wait for the ice to melt and carry the dye to the material. We found that twisting the tees and then arranging in a coil created lovely effects. One of the fun surprises of this style is seeing all the colors that come from only one powder dye; for example, we used “lime squeeze” procion dye and it split into green, yellow and turquoise! For that reason, we found it best to limit the number of dye’s used on each product to 1 or 2 and we kept the colors complementary when we used more than 1.

Waiting to see the results is like waiting to unwrap a present! Once the ice is melted, it’s time to rinse till the water is clear and wash in the special detergent again. This detergent will help to keep your garments color fast and it suspends the dye particles in water, rather than mucking up your freshly dyed garments. Now sit back and admire your work.

A few other notes, be sure to wear a mask! The chemicals used in this process are not harmful to the environment, in fact many of the chemicals are used as food fertilizers or in mass production of food, but you do not want to accidentally inhale them. Gloves are important too! Soda ash and water have a chemical reaction and will get very warm, a good pair of dish gloves will protect your hands from the heat.
Shop our Summer Sorbet Apparel Collection, here.
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/1VclIPQW260
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/XK_MDrzEspM
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/SVoHk-kGLPI
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/t9OfEsi6k-w
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/OyIXxWAkYfg
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/DvqfinKu1Ck
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/SIdGJ6TsAaI
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/zJWVNC0CUAc
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms?pli=1
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/bNhUqC-a5tQ
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/MzOXpWaFEB0
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/AFJS2eHixCs
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/o8aECpcJGJs
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/4XIMDxRPkFU
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software?pli=1
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software/c/-HK99lsQAMs
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software/c/24h6vSm2cEg
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software/c/—Gom5L-YCA
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software/c/td-TgN8GvNg
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software/c/JU-mxrUt3D8
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software/c/DC3oDqJEg3I
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software/c/GofhEeFaFVE
https://groups.google.com/g/alt.video.dvd.software/c/K9_1S8gB2pY
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/E2-dlJeFMBM
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/1AFO71OVrLo
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/JBMxWxtJps8
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/I_1pB5QIJsc
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/33V3ckXQrbc
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/IqWhKiqEeSI
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/GjIDVARAh28
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/e2uTaj_2sC8
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/76Dt87vxOt0
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/WEp4ML5hoUI
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex?pli=1
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/SuJZS34iKxU
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/8o5Nrb4gWvU
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/KFORkVaKr_k
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/hzMlPTQVdD8
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/ejwnzarO0Ss
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms?pli=1
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/saFVwMPVSOY
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/ZFWwZQ8KSGA
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/OOGeXgL3nXQ
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/1j4uu1PpOzg
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.os.vms/c/pqI_PqrMLuI
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex?pli=1
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/dmHaWo8RkPc
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/qhjkBDrr-oo
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/m_Nq-8coC1c
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/M7-WjbLYKDU
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/NcucOsFkVoo
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/UvXlZInrSqo
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/Po9-tbYeeok
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex?pli=1
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/Z54BqthCAWw
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/5zTr38XLHWk
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/6SmFDp7RJ4Y
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/DHNKFmGtIh0
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/-2uY5GHY0cY
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/7YJXWO65nFQ
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/nAJsJnfYEuU
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/sXwtYzfKGgA
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/DhA8MyqiMdc
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/XN4ZoUbWjhY
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/V4OTAk6U6Sg
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/owpz0ODMVTY
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/rsPHn53hpIk
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/z70IX4Ob81o
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/RTVeCTmRFaQ
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.text.tex/c/7_aDYkrOMus