Ice Dyeing Plus

Since I started ice dyeing back in 2011, I’ve really enjoyed the results from this simple technique. As I’ve continued on this fabric surface design journey, I find I want more texture. In this post I’ll show you three different techniques to add to ice dyeing.

Back in February I showed you my ice dyed piece that I first marked with soy wax. Here is a link to the tutorial and below is the picture.

And I went on to compare two different fiber reactive dyes: Cerulean Blue (a pure dye) and Brushed Steel (a composite dye). If you missed my post about composite dyes and a example of the Brushed Steel and how it splits, check it out here.

Here are both pieces soy waxed first and then ice dyed.

Now I have completed two more experiments. I am using the same dyes, but different techniques before ice dyeing.

Again, as with the soy wax, the fabric needs to be soaked in soda ash water for 30 minutes, removed and then hung to dry. Once it is dry, you can lightly iron the fabric if it is too wrinkled for you.

Up first is Cleanline Resist. I really love this stuff and I blogged about it HERE.

Now to add the resist. I pulled it through my thermofax screen and then let it dry. When completely dry I scrunched it up and iced dyed it. Here are the results.

The design shows up on the blue although not as detailed as normal due to it sitting in the ice bath. However, you can barely see the design on the fabric with the Brushed Steel.

Now to try another one of my favorites: Jacquard Color Magnet. If you aren’t familiar with this product, check out this post.

Same process as the other one pulling the Color Magnet through the thermofax screen.

On the left, the image is clear. On the right, the dye on the design did not break out, resulting in the gray color. Interesting!

From these three exercises I found that pure dyes work much better with these techniques. However, soy wax and ice dyeing work real well together regardless of dye.

Of course this was just a limited study and more research might have to be done, but I thought it was quite interesting.

I’d love to hear if you’ve added another technique to your ice dyeing. If you’ve not tried ice dyeing, check out my webinar. Also, check out this link for my posts about ice dyeing and other fabric dyeing.

You know how I love thrift stores. Well, the other day while looking through thrift stores I found a couple more marking tools. Can’t wait to test drive these with soy wax and gelatin plates.

Since my last post I also took a felting class. I’ve played with felting a little and thought it would be a fun diversion. Here is my frog from the class!

Hope all is well with you. Have a great week and as always, thanks for dropping by.