Pre-wet (or pre-wash) your jeans before you begin. Drying them isn’t necessary, it helps if they’re damp when you add them to the dye bath. PRODUCTS CARRIED: Airbrush Clear Varnish, Airbrush Color, Dye-Na-Flow, iDye (Natural/Poly), iDye Color Remover, iDye Fixative, Jacquard Screen Ink, Jacquard Screen Kits, Lumiere, Lumiere 3D, Lumiere 3D Clear, Marbling Color, Marbling Kit, Neopaque, Neopaque Flowable Extender, Tee Juice Markers, Textile Color, Textile Colorless Extender Spain

Remove your jeans from the pot, allow them to cool, and rinse thoroughly. Then wash with a pH neutral soap. To create your dye bath, add the extracted dye liquid from your walnut hulls to a pot, fill it with enough water for your fabric to swim freely, and add your jeans. Bring the temperature up to a simmer and maintain it for one hour, stirring occasionally. Maintain a rolling boil and stir frequently for ½ to 1 hour. For uniform colour use constant agitation. For cotton, linen and rayon add one cup (237 ml) of salt. For silk add 1/3 cup (78 ml) of white vinegar instead of salt. Do not use the washing machine method for wool as it will felt.

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Rit recommends using twice the usual recommended amount of dye for the weight of your fabric, and doubling the recommended time it spends in the dye bath, as well as using the post-dye Color-Stay Dye Fixative. Supplies: PRODUCTS CARRIED: Basic Dye, Brushes, Dye-Na-Flow, iDye, Indigo, Indigo Tie Dye Kit, Lumiere, Lumiere 3D, Neopaque, Pearl Ex, Piñata Alcohol Ink, Tee Juice Markers, Textile Color

Kat has been sewing since her feet could reach the pedals, starting with quilts she made with her mom and eventually graduating to garments. She now makes everything she wears, occasionally teaches classes, and shares her projects on social media. Highlights include her wedding dress, shoemaking, and a love for almost any fabric that comes in hot pink! Read more…With any method, the critical thing to remember when dyeing jeans is agitation. Denim is a densely woven fabric, so the dye is already going to have a harder time penetrating the fibers than it would with, say, a loosely woven silk. Additionally, denim gets quite stiff when it’s wet which makes it harder to manipulate the fabric to ensure the dye is absorbed evenly. Dyeing jeans with any method will require a period of constant babysitting – stirring and manipulating the fabric in the dye pot to ensure it’s absorbed evenly. Make sure you’re using a pot that’s large enough for the jeans to swim freely, and make sure you’re wearing comfortable standing shoes (or you have a cushy foam rug to stand on) – you’ll be stirring and agitating for between half an hour to an hour. After this critical first hour, you can stir occasionally, but constant agitation is key for an even dye bath in the first hour.

When you’re ready to finish the dye bath, allow the machine to run a rinse cycle, but add the iDye color fixative to this rinse once the tub has filled to help set the color. For lighter greys and white, nothing changes – just follow the instructions as they’re written below for your chosen method. Pre-wash your jeans in hot water and treat any stains. Don’t worry about drying them. Step 2: Measure the dye Extend the dyeing time by resetting the wash cycle before the rinse cycle begins. The longer the dyeing time, the darker the colour and better the fixation. We recommend 50 to 60 minutes of dyeing time.A set of measuring spoons, but since you’re only using these for salt or vinegar, you don’t need a special “dye only” set – your regular kitchen ones are fine. When the machine has completed the wash cycle allow it to complete the balance of the wash/rinse/spin cycle. To finish, allow the jeans to run through an entire regular hot wash with detergent – then dry and you’re done! PRODUCTS CARRIED: Basic Dye, Dye (Natural/Poly), Lumiere, Neopaque, Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments, YouCAN

Natural dyeing is a fun option to explore, but it takes longer and requires specialist equipment and mordanting chemicals. Supplies Vorab: Ich verstehe die teilweise schlechten Bewertungen gar nicht und kann mir nur vorstellen, dass es Anwendungsfehler waren. Ich bin wie folgt vorgegangen: Ich habe warmes Wasser in einen großen Topf gegeben, beide Produktkomponenten aufgelöst und direkt die Bluse (100% Polyester) mit hinein gegeben. Den Herd aber ich auf die höchste Stufe gestellt. Als das Wasser anfing zu köcheln, habe ich die Temperatur auf 3/4 runter gestellt und alles eine Stunde köcheln lassen, während ich dauerhaft gerührt habe. (Zieht dabei am besten Handschuhe an und nehmt einen Kochlöffel, den ihr danach nicht vermissen werdet.) Anschließend habe ich die Bluse ganz normal bei 40 °C gewaschen. Stir constantly for the first half an hour, then frequently for at least 2 hours. After the first 20 minutes, you can turn the heat down. If you like, you can turn off the heat at the end of the two hours and allow the item to sit in the dye for several hours or overnight. Step 6: Soak in color fixativeWash your jeans thoroughly in pH neutral washing liquid, paying special attention to stains. Even if your jeans are new, they should be washed to remove sizing or other finish chemicals from the fabric. You don’t need to dry them after this wash – they can go straight to the mordanting phase. Maintain the temperature and stir frequently until the dye is absorbed. You’ll want to pay extra attention to the dye bath (agitating constantly and monitoring the temperature) for the first hour, but after that you can taper off, turning down the heat and stirring less frequently for a few hours. You can turn off the heat and allow it to sit overnight if required. Jeans are quite a mission to stir when they’re wet – the fabric gets stiff and tends to crease, so be sure to pay extra attention to ‘spreading out’ the jeans in the water and making sure they’re submerged. Step 7: Remove your jeans from the pot and rinse Protect your hands with long kitchen gloves. You can use surgical gloves in a pinch, but they’re not as long so you might get dye on your forearms. I also suggest an apronto protect your clothes. Cover your countertops with a sheet of plastic and old newspaper.The plastic will keep everything contained, and the newspaper will absorb anything that does happen to spill. You can wipe the plastic clean and reuse it next time.