Totally helpful! I have always wondered about the different techniques people used for Rit dye, and how they effect the outcome. Thank you thank you!

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Yeah i had some total failure the first time i used RIT dyes. So this is pretty useful to those who are using it now.

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Oh man, I suck at this... last time i tried, it turned out quite odd...

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The water probably wasn't hot enough - we had to do a couple of trys before we got the color to attach right... iether that, or it was a weird fiber XP

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I know - I failed my first couple of times, too. So when it worked out in school, I freaked out and had to figure out why... still don't know, though XP

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Not a problem!

There are always better options for dying, but you need to know your fabric type, and a copule of them require kind of expensive dyes with a complicated (ish) mixing process to dye, so... RIT is probably the only "overall works" dye out there *sigh*

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I did the washing machine method with Ellen last year--in essence the same, you cook up a batch of dye while you have your washer filling & your fabric soaking in it. When it's full TAKE OUT the fabric, toss in the hot dye liquid, let it agitate, and add the fabric back in. You have to keep checking it to make sure you aren't getting too dark during the process.

Then bleach out the machine when your done, or the next person to use it won't be happy...

Yup and that's where you experiment like mad.

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The most valuable lesson we can learn in life only as an individual with no other to help us is: Don't put metal in the microwave!"-Catris

I have re-dyed black material once it has started to fade using RIT in the washer and it works fine as long as it it already black. have also been told that if you wash the fabic is a salt water bath after dying it will help set the colors so they don't fade as quickly..

Also if RIT is not the best to use where and how do you get a better dye?

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Hrm... well, the salt water bath shouldn't really matter - the salt is already mixed into the RIT dye mix.

There are quite a few better dyes out there, but they're all dependent on what type of material youre using (cellulouse versus protien fibers), and they have quite a bit more mixing involved (such as mixing the salt inot the water, soaking the fabric, adding the dye, and then adding the "fixative" - usually soda ash)

I'll try to keep track of how to use PRO MX dye, which seems to work on most fabrics (usually for cellulouse, but works on silk, too). The main reason I havan't done one yet is becuse I'm in the second painting and dying class, and we don't get to mix dyes, the first class does :\

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