How to Tie-Dye Like a Legend at Summer Camp!
With summer rapidly approaching, it is past time to get serious about preparing for camp. So today, we discuss the importance of creating the perfect tie-dye!
Tie-dye at camp is like air to a human. If you see someone wearing tie-dye in public, either they love the Grateful Dead or attended summer camp and can’t give up the sweet fashion trend.
There are folks who are certified tie-dye masters. (The author has been considered as such…) Such masters are often asked at which store they purchased their seemingly-professionally made garb, and respond “well… I made it!”
So here are some CTDM (certified tie-dye master) tips for tie-dying.
Step one: Buy as high-cost dye as you can afford. It may seem like an extravagance, but the colors will turn out so much brighter!
Step two: Mix that stuff into the water like it is your job!
Step three: Get “soda ash” and pre-soak the shirts for about 10 minutes.
Step four: Ring the shirts out, so they are pretty close to dry.
Now to the fun part. The tying and the dyeing! At camp, we are believers in sticking to the directions when it comes to the patterns (although your own creativity can work wonders too). It’s hard to beat the classic favorite of the spiral.
To get a spiral tighter than a Drew Bress touchdown pass, get your rubber bands ready and strap in for the time of your life. Then…
(1) Take the shirt and “fan fold” the shirt starting at the bottom.
(2) Next, take that fan fold and spin it into a spiral. Take the rubber bands and wrap them around the whole thing. (Pro tip: the rubber bands need to be tight–but not too tight–to make sure the color goes where you want it).
(3) Now you are ready for the dye part. Pick out your colors…the more, the merrier. Splitting the shirt into 5 sections, start to spray the colors heavily in those sections. (Pro tip #2: be sure to skip sections each time when putting down a new color…this will make sure the colors don’t mingle making it just plain brown.) Make sure you cover the whole shirt in colors.
(4) Once the coloring is done, let them sit.
(5) Hang them up to let any excess dye drip off.
(6) Wash them out (Pro tip #3: NEVER commingle your sweet tie-dye garb with other laundry; the color(s) will come out and stain anything else).
(7) Once they have been washed, dry them and boom, you have the coolest new wardrobe item ever! You are well on your way to CTDM status of your own!