LEARN HOW TO TIE DYE WITHOUT THE CHEMICALS
Teach your kids the techniques of tie dying using food coloring
For a long while now my girls have been wanting to try their hand at tie-dying so we thought why not make tie-dye red, white, and blue shirts for the 4th of July that was coming up. But there was one slight problem, we were pressed for time and I had NEVER tried to tie-dye before…ever.
After searching on Pinterest for quick tie-dying techniques we found a TON of tutorials. There were ones in particular that used food coloring and I thought that would be a perfect starting point for us since we’d never tried this whole thing before.
My girls and I LOVED this fun craft experiment!
Really, I am so glad we tried this food coloring method first. I need to add that the food coloring does NOT stay in the fabric after being washed. There are steps that we could have taken to make it stay permanent. However, I wanted their shirts to rinse clean so they could try other folding techniques and not have a million tie dye shirts in their closet.
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Here’s what you’ll need to make your own washable tie-dye with food coloring
I picked everything up from my local Walmart & Dollar Tree, but I’ve included links if you prefer to order these items on Amazon and have them delivered right to your door.
How to TIE-DYE with food coloring
Equipment
- condiment squeeze bottles
- measuring cup
- clothes pins
- gloves
Materials
- water
- food coloring
- white t-shirt
- rubber bands
Instructions
- TWIST YOUR SHIRT- First you want to unfold your t-shirt so it is laying flat in front of you. Then pinch the middle and twist the shirt so it coils into itself. This was a little difficult for my girls to do so I did this step for them. But with a little practice I think they will master it in no time.
- WRAP WITH RUBBER BANDS- Next, wrap a rubber band around the circumference of the coiled shirt. Then add several rubber bands going the other direction around the shirt so it doesn’t come undone. The method gives the shirt a traditional spiral look but if you want to learn other techniques I recommend reading Stephanie Lynn’s blog post about other tie dye folding techniques.
- TIE DYE FOOD COLORING MIXTURE- You’ll need to mix 16 drops of food coloring: 1/2 C water we just poured it all into our squeeze bottles and gave them a good shake. I wasn’t sure how much solution we would use since we had 3 shirts to do and we ended up having to refill one red bottle and one blue bottle.
- APPLY THE FOOD COLOR MIXTURE- Then start squirting on the food coloring solution. If you don’t prewash your shirt you might have a hard time getting your shirt to absorb the liquid. This was us lol! So we gave our shirts a quick misting with a spray bottle with water in it and after that it soaked the food color water up just fine.
- LET IT SET- Keeping your shirt coiled up with the rubber bands still on it, place it inside a plastic bag and wrap the bag tight squeezing out all the air. Let sit for at least 12 hours, 24 hrs is even better.
- READY TO WEAR- After it has sat, take it out and hang it inside to dry, away from sunlight. Once dry you can wear your freshly food colored tie dyed shirt right away.
If you love this post be sure to check out these other kid friendly crafts:
- Making leaf art with your kids
- DIY at home sensory activities your toddler will love
- 10 fun crafts for preteens…from a preteen
EASILY TIE DYE WITH FOOD COLORING
1. TWIST YOUR SHIRT
First, you want to unfold your t-shirt so it is lying flat in front of you. Then pinch the middle and twist the shirt so it coils into itself. This was a little difficult for my girls to do so I did this step for them. But with a little practice, I think they will master it in no time.
2. WRAP WITH RUBBER BANDS
Next, wrap a rubber band around the circumference of the coiled shirt. Then add several rubber bands going the other direction around the shirt so it doesn’t come undone. The method gives the shirt a traditional spiral look but if you want to learn other techniques I recommend reading Stephanie Lynn’s blog post about other tie-dye folding techniques.
3. TIE DYE FOOD COLORING MIXTURE
Now you’re ready to start mixing the food color mixture.
I read another tutorial they recommended 8 drops of food coloring to 1/2 C of water. We mixed that at first but it didn’t seem like the colors were very bright. So we doubled the food coloring drops.
You’ll need to mix 16 drops of food coloring:1/2 C water we just poured it all into our squeeze bottles and gave them a good shake. I wasn’t sure how much food coloring:water solution we would use since we had 3 shirts to do and we ended up having to refill one red bottle and one blue bottle.
Their little tie-dye setup was so cute I had to snap lots of pics!
4. APPLY THE FOOD COLOR MIXTURE
Then start squirting on the food coloring solution. If you don’t prewash your shirt you might have a hard time getting your shirt to absorb the liquid. This was us lol! So we gave our shirts a quick misting with a spray bottle with water in it and after that, it soaked the food color water up just fine.
Keep squirting on the solution until your shirt looks like the one below. Again, we are first-timers here but this worked for us so this is what we are recommending ;)!
5. LET IT SET
Other tutorials we read said to soak the shirt in saltwater after you’re done squirting on the food color mixture. Then remove it after so many hours and let it sit for at least 12 hours…but we didn’t do that lol! We were pressed for time and this was a just for fun tie-dye experiment to get our feet wet with the whole tie-dying experience. But we did let our shirts set for 24 hours, mainly because we had a million other things to do {momma of 4 life}.
Keeping your shirt coiled up with the rubber bands still on it, place it inside a plastic bag and wrap the bag tight squeezing out all the air. Let sit for at least 12 hours.
6. READY TO WEAR
After it has sat, take it out and hang it inside to dry, away from sunlight. Once dry you can wear your freshly food-colored tie-dyed shirt right away.
My girls did some fancy cutting and tying on their shirts. The middle two even used some of their discarded pieces to make fun headbands to match their shirts!
Like I said above, this method is not permanent. It WILL wash out. But it was so fun for the girls to test the waters of tie-dyeing. Look how adorable they are!! BTW the youngest of the four daughters didn’t want any part of the whole thing….life with a toddler lol!
In my opinion, this is THE perfect way for kids to experiment with tie-dying. They can do so many wrapping and folding techniques and if they don’t like it it will wash right out. And if they find a technique they love they can try their hand at the permanent stuff.
I hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial. My girls had so much fun with this!
Let me know if you have any questions below.
