On Friday, I will be making tie dye shirts with the three oldest classes: Ms. Adrian, Ms, Janis and Ms Stacy’s class. Please bring a 100% cotton white tee shirt for the project. It does not have to be new, and can have a small logo, if you wish. We will send the shirts home on Friday, wrapping in plastic bags, as the dye needs to set. We will also send home a small container of synthropol for you to use for the initial shirt washing. Please read on for the final instructions. (We will also send home a hard copy of these instructions with your shirts.)
Final Steps for your Tie Dye Shirt (to be done at home)
Your child’s beautiful tie-dyed t-shirt will be ready for the final rinse.
Please follow these instructions to ‘set’ the dye permanently.
** Do not allow your t-shirt to dry out before these final steps **
- The dye needs to set for 12 to 24 hours so keep the shirt in the ziplock bag, at room temperature, overnight.
- Put on the gloves provided. (It is advisable to wear old clothes)
- Carefully untie and unfold the shirt over a tub or sink
- Rinse the fabric thoroughly in luke-warm water until the water runs mostly clear.
- Wring out excess water.
(If you have multiple shirts, do not allow them to touch at this point because the dye frequently transfers and stains other fabric it touches)
- Put shirt in washing machine and set water temperature to HOT. (No detergent needed)
- Pour the provided Synthrapol in the washer while the water is filling and wash normally.
- Dry shirt on high in dryer.
The dye should be set permanently once it’s fully dry but to be on the safe side you might want to wash the shirt separately for a few washes after wear. Also, you may want your next regular load of laundry to be a dark load in case there is any remaining residual dye left in the washing machine.