When all is said and done, there is no better dye for natural fabrics than Fiber Reactive Procion type Dye. This is the eye catching dye you've seen on tie-dye shirts and other items sold at street fairs and concerts. It is the dye of choice for all cellulose (plant based) fibers such as cotton, rayon, hemp, linen, etc.
Each color in the custom color set comes in a 2 oz size. Color sets with 2 colors will tie-dye up to 32 medium adult t-shirts, with 3 colors will tie-dye up to 50 medium adult t-shirts, color sets with 6 colors will tie-dye up to 100 medium adult t-shirts, etc.* For tub dyeing solid colors, each 2 oz jar of dye will dye up to 4 lbs of dry fabric.*
If none of these pre-selected color sets meet your color needs, you can choose your own set of colors from the full range of about 130+ colors!
Note: These sets do not include the Soda Ash Fixative, or anything else, just the dye. If Tie-dyeing, be sure to order a kit in the correct size for your group, or read the directions in the link above and order everything else you need, and ditto for solid color "tub" dyeing.
*If a color has an * next to its name, you need to use the dye twice as strong, so it will dye half as many shirts, and if it has ** by its name, like Black does, you need to use 4X as much dye, so it will do a fourth as many shirts. You can buy extra 2 oz jars of those colors to supplement your color set if you need to.
A Few Things About Purchasing Dye:
- Colors without a star require 1 level tablespoon (1/4 to 1/2 oz.) for each lb. of fabric to closely match the color card. Note that more precise results can be achieved using a scale and our Procion Dye Yields Estimator.
- Colors with * require 2X as much dye.
- Colors with * * require 4X as much dye.
Colors marked (T) contain #25 Turquoise these colors:
- Require more rinsing to remove the excess dye than do other colors.
- Warmer tap water (up to 130°F) when vat dyeing, can yield deeper shades.
- Using Glauber's salt instead of plain salt when vat dyeing can also improve results.
#56 Azure Blue also yields deeper shades when vat dyed at a higher temperature (hot tap water 130° to 150°F).
A Few Things About Black Dye:
There are now currently 5 blacks. Each has a different color cast. All except #250 work well in direct application methods like tie-dye where the fabric is kept moist long enough for the dye to develop full color. You will see some differences depending upon which you use, your particular situation, and your techniques. When tub/vat dyeing (solid shade dyeing), there are some clear differences...
#44 Better Black
Tub dyes with a purple-blue cast and edges are blue in tie-dye.
#39 Black
Tub dyes with a green cast and edges are blue in tie-dye.
#250 Jet Black
This is the most concentrated of all the blacks and gives the deepest black when used for tub dyeing with hot tap water (130° to 150°F). In tie-dye, not hot enough, so comes out pea green to grey. As of 2/1/13, we have about 300 lbs of this color left. We will be discontinuing it because the raw material costs have almost doubled. The replacement will be #275 - Hot Black.
#300 New Black
Tub dyes with a very blue cast and edges are blue in tie-dye. Tie-dye came out really black in warm ambient room temp of 75°F or more! (unlike #250, which it is replacing).
#275 Hot Black - NEW!
Tub dyes in HOT (130° to 150°F) tap water with a deep neutral black cast on cotton and edges are bluish grey in tie-dye.
For best tub dyed blacks, use Dharma Dye Fixative in a rinse. Black is a tough color - use a lot of dye and when vat dyeing, double the salt. Do NOT use most Fiber Reactive Procion Dye Blacks to get black on silk, use acid dye on wool and silk for solid black. An exception is our new #275 - Hot Black. With Soda Ash on silk is a deep blackish brown; with vinegar on silk, came out black in our tests, on silk and a less deep shade of black on wool. We are very excited about this black! Try it!
