Wholesale Clothing for Tie-Dye

Many tie dyers will tell you that they use 100% cotton garments since cotton absorbs the dye and synthetic fibers typically do not. With the increase in different material blends we find in t-shirts today, tie dyers are bending the rules more and more by trying their craft on a variety of materials. If you do decide to use a piece of clothing that is not purely cotton, just keep in mind that your colors may look more muted or pastel than you had intended. Or certain colors will not bind well at all and you will be left with more of the original garment color visible than desired. If you are aiming for the boldest colors possible, go for a 100% cotton white t-shirt. Combed and ringspun cotton shirts are usually favored for comfort and softness in general, but they can be harder to fold and a lighter weight than regular or softspun cotton tees. If comfort and softness is the main priority above color richness, then go for a 100% ringspun cotton tee or a cotton/poly blend. Keep in mind that when it comes to apparel decoration, general practices are meant to be pushed and rules broken, that’s how we get innovation! Many great tie dye designs have been created with cotton blends, we just recommend you test products and materials before carrying out an important order or project.

Generally speaking, yes, you do need to soak your garments in a mixture of soda ash and water (see instructions on soda ash packaging for details about water to soda ash proportions and soak time duration). If you want to skip this step, consider purchasing a PFD t-shirt or PFD sweatshirt, PFD standing for “prepared for dye”, allowing you to skip a usual soda ash pre-soak altogether. Also, remember that cotton often shrinks when washed and dried. You may want to pre-wash your shirt before tie dyeing, or choose a pre-shrunk cotton t-shirt option.

There are two factors you need to consider when washing a tie-dye shirt, first the fabric and second the dye. Cotton often shrinks when washed and dried with heat so be cognizant of this when selecting your size. You must wash the garment on a high heat setting to prevent future bleeding and to lock in the design, so you may want to size up if up if using 100% cotton. Or, you can select a pre-shrunk cotton shirt to help prevent drastic shrinking issues. To set your designs, you can soak them in a mixture of one gallon of water and 1-2 cups of vinegar for 30 minutes before rinsing them out in the sink and taking your ties off. When you are done rinsing your shirt in the sink and taking your ties off, you will want to wash it alone (or with other tie dyes of the same batch if you made multiples of the same dye colors) with a small position of mild laundry soap on high heat one to two times. Air dry or machine dry on a low tumble setting. Too much exposure to heat will fade your dye colors. For future washes, turn the shirt inside out and wash and dry on a cool setting to preserve the design.