Get creative at home with your own, DIY ice-dyed pillow! DIY expert Christian Dare shares how:
Shopping List
- 100 % cotton fabric – pillow covers or napkins or item of your choice
- Fabric reactive all purpose powdered dye (like this)
- Color Stay Fixative
Tools
- Plastic bin/container/tub
- Rubber Gloves
- Cooling Rack
- Ice or Snow
- Dust Mask
Instructions
- Pre Wash the fabric that you plan on dyeing – this will remove any oil or dirt in your fabric or starches.
- Place your cooling rack inside your plastic bin.
- Scrunch up your wet fabric dyeables randomly and put them on the rack.
- Next cover everything in ice (or snow). Anything that is not covered will probably end up staying white. So try to cover all your fabric.
- Put on your dust mask – you don’t want to breathe in any of the powder.
- Decide if you want to use one or more colours. Many of the pillow covers I dyed were made with only one colour of dye, yet show a variety of shades due to the colours inside the dye powder (ie green is made of blues and yellows).
- Grab your first colour and randomly sprinkle the powder dye on sections of the ice. Remember, as the ice melts it will mix the colours and deposit on different parts of the fabric in different intensities depending on the amount of powder you use. Apply your second or third colour in the same way.
- Once you are happy, leave the tubs overnight to melt and dye ( I left mine in the bottom of my shower just in case there was any leaking).
- Once the melt is completely melted, take the tubs to your kitchen sink. WEAR GLOVES!
- You now what to rinse the fabric under cold water. You want to keep rinsing until the water runs clear.
- Now follow the instructions on the colour stay fixation. Generally, fill your clean tub with hot water with the right ration of dye fixative. The newly dyed fabric should be left in the hot water for 30 minutes or so. Occasionally stir the water.
- Finally, toss your newly dyed fabrics (alone – with no other fabrics) in your washing machine with a mild detergent. This will ensure you have no more colour run off.