When picking fabrics for ice-dyeing, stick to 100% all-natural fibers like cotton, rayon, linen, silk, and wool. Synthetic fabrics like polyester don’t take well to dye unless it’s very hot.
If you’re using the Tulip-brand 1-step dye kit, you don’t need to do this. Just pre-wash the fabric, set up your ice-dyeing station, and get to work!
Use a cooling rack that fits inside the tub if possible. It’s easier to pack ice on top of the fabric with the tub’s walls holding it in place. If the rack sits close to the bottom of the tub, prop it up with wood blocks or something similar.
Twist the fabric into a spiral-shaped bundle and rubber-band it into place to get a basic spiral tie-dye pattern. Create a striped patters by rolling your fabric into a long tube and fastening it at even intervals with rubber bands. Try the rosette pattern by pulling up small sections of fabric into a cone shape and then rubber-banding them together. Then, gather the remaining fabric and fasten it periodically with rubber bands.
You can add a lot of ice to completely cover the fabric or pile on a little ice at first and add more later. There are many ways to arrange the ice, and none of them are wrong!
Be sure to wear your rubber gloves when handling dye.
Feel free to experiment with different color combinations and amounts of ice and dye. You’ll get plenty of different designs by playing around and trying new things! Ice dyeing is typically more abstract than tie-dyeing; traditional tie-dye patterns work, but most ice-dyed fabric is made by freely sprinkling on dye and seeing what gorgeous watercolor designs you get.
You can still intensify the colors on your fabric even if there aren’t any white spots. Re-dyeing a few of the more muted patches can really bring out their color and make your whole shirt look vibrant. Conversely, melting regular ice over brighter patches dilutes the dye, making the colors there look a little softer.
Check periodically to ensure the water level in the plastic tub never reaches the fabric, as that can mess with the colors. If it’s getting close, drain the water out of the tub.
Keep wearing your gloves when you collect the fabric after 24 hours and rinse it off.
Running your fabric through the washing machine sets the dye permanently. Only wash items with the same colors in the same load. If you have 2 different ice-dyed items and one is red and orange while the other is blue and purple, wash them in separate loads. Continue washing ice-dyed items separated from the rest of your clothing for the next couple of washes to ensure no remaining dye stains the other items.
Single items can sometimes stick to the walls of the dryer. If you’re just drying one thing, try tossing a clean tennis ball into the dryer with it to ensure the fabric fully dries.
