Dyeing Some T-Shirts

When I started doing some drawer reorganization/cleaning out.  I found a couple of white T-shirts that had discolored.  I considered using them as rags, but I really didn't need rags right now. Hmmm....  I just set them aside.

A few days ago, I was wearing another Tee from an event I worked before retiring - years before retiring.  The shirt was in prime condition - until I spilled food on it that stained.  Nothing seemed to remove that stain.  So I put it aside to overdye.  When I took a dyeing class, the teacher had said, "Purple will cover a multitude of mistakes."  She was talking about dyeing mistakes, but isn't a stain like a dye in some ways?  Why not! 

On Friday night (late) I decided a plan for each of the T-shirts. Two were folded and held with rubber bands and matched with containers to put them in. The third - the blue shirt with stains - I decided to do a container compression dye.  To do this the shirt/cloth is placed in a container where it will be a tight fit. Thus there will be areas that are compressed and will resist the dye. I have a mixed purple called "Razzle Dazzle" - so I chose it for that shirt. For one I used simple unmixed Turquoise dye. For the other I used a mix of Turquoise and Chinese Red.  With mixed colors you sometimes have colors that "split" making for surprise results. (Always fun.)
Here are the shirts after dyeing but soaking to remove excess dye. 

I always soak for hours with some Dawn Dish Detergent in the soak water.  The Dawn suspends the dye particles that are loose so that they don't re-deposit on the fabric. I usually change the water a minimum of three times. If it is still pretty murky after the third soak, I go again. Then they finally get a machine wash with detergent and a bit more Dawn.  This really works wonderfully to keep them from bleeding onto other things when I wash after wearing.

Here is a skein of cotton that I dyed in 2017.

This looks to be the final rinse.  I think I need to do that again too!

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

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