How to Dye Shoe Laces With Kool Aid
While many people only drink Kool-Aid, other people use the powder as a fabric dye. Jazzing up your shoe laces by adding a little color is simple and quick when you dye them with Kool-Aid. With a few household supplies, you can create your own custom-colored shoe laces in no time.
Things You'll Need
- Heavy-duty cleaning gloves
- Two Kool-Aid powder packets
- Mason jar
- White shoe laces
- Spoon
- Microwave
- Bowl
- Liquid dish soap
- Clothespin
Instructions
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Dying Using Hot and Cold Water
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1
Put on your pair of heavy-duty cleaning gloves.
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2
Empty two packets of Kool-Aid into a mason jar. Use any color Kool-Aid you prefer.
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3
Fill the mason jar up halfway with warm tap water to leave enough room for the shoe laces.
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4
Place your shoe laces in the jar. Take a spoon and push the laces down into the colored water. Keep pushing until you submerge the entire lace.
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5
Place the mason jar in the microwave. Set the temperature to "high" and microwave for two minutes. Leave the jar in the microwave for five minutes. Take the jar out, stir the contents with your spoon and place back in the microwave. Microwave the jar for an additional two minutes.
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6
Let the jar sit in the microwave for a few minutes. This allows the contents of the jar rest and the laces cool. As cooling occurs, the dye bonds to the laces.
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7
Continue microwaving the jar, letting it rest and stirring until the shoe laces appear slightly darker than the color you desire.
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8
Fill a bowl with cold water. Squirt a few drops of liquid dish soap in the water and mix.
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9
Remove the shoe laces from the jar. Place the laces in the cold water. Let the laces rest in the water for a minute. Turn your sink faucet on and run the laces under cold water. Turn off the faucet.
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10
Place a shoe lace in between your forefinger and your middle finger. Run the two fingers down the lace starting at one aglet (the plastic tip on the lace) and ending at the other. This squeezes out excess water. Repeat with the other lace.
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11
Hang the laces outside or in a warm place to fully dry. Attach a clothespin to one of the aglets and hang on a secure line.
Dying Using Vinegar
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12
Fill a mason jar half full with white vinegar and place the laces in it to soak.
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13
Squeeze out the vinegar and sprinkle the laces with Kool-Aid powder.
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14
Place the laces on a microwave safe dish and heat for two minutes or until the laces are hot to the touch. Keep the laces in the microwave and let them rest after heating.
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15
Rinse thoroughly in cold water and dry.
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Tips & Warnings
Kool-Aid makes an ideal dye for natural materials and materials other than cotton. While the dye does adhere to cotton, the color fades quickly and the laces must be re-dyed. Nylon works well with Kool-Aid.
Mix different colors of Kool-Aid powder to create your own custom colors.
If you dye cotton shoe laces, never wash the laces unless you plan on re-dying them.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
