One of my favorite techniques using fiber
reactive dyes is dyeing using squeeze bottles.
This technique really allows you to apply
different colors at the same time, so think
about it like pretty much painting with dyes,
and it can be pretty cool.
So I'm going to show you how to prepare the
dye solution that will go into the squeeze
bottle.
For this technique you need to use the dye
like in all the other techniques, but also
you need to use a dye assistant called urea.
Urea pretty much just helps the dye to remain
moist and you'll see later why it's important.
The proportion of urea that you'll use is
seven tablespoons per cup.
So you just adjust it for how big you're making
your squeeze bottles.
Mine is pretty small, so it will be a little
bit less than a cup, so I'm going to adjust
the quantity that I'll use.
So we'll start by dissolving the urea in water
and making sure that it's pretty dissolved.
Sometimes it takes a little bit, but you want
to make sure that all of it has been dissolved.
Okay, I think it's pretty good.
And then you'll add your dye.
Again, if you want your color to be lighter
you add a little, if you want a color to be
darker you add more.
I always think it's a good idea to add a little
bit and then correct the color if you want
it to be stronger.
So I'm going to start with half of a teaspoon.
I'm going to add it to my urea water and use
my whiskers again to mix it.
After it's all been dissolved you'll use a
funnel to pass it to your squeeze bottle.
This is a part that sometimes gets a little
messy, so make sure you've protected your
table and to say really focused.
You place your funnel in the bottle and you're
just going to fill it up.
I normally leave a little bit of room, in
case I want to correct my color, and want
to add a little bit more dye.
So after you put it in, you close it, I always
like to give it a final stir.
Then my favorite way to test the colors, so
I don't waste fabric, is just use plain white
paper towels.
They're the closest as you'll get to your
fabric and then you can see if your color
is light or dark.
As you can see, I went for a lighter shade.
If I wanted it dark I could straight add a
little bit of dye into the bottle or dissolve
a small quantity again, and then fill up the
rest with the more concentrated one.
I already made two other colors that are pretty
dark.
So I like normally to counterbalance darker
colors with lighter colors, so I'm going to
keep my yellow in this lighter shade.
And this is how you prepare the squeeze bottles
for tie dyeing.