How to Do a Project About Fabric Dyes

Use dyeing projects to educate your students.

Dyeing your clothing is a fun and inexpensive way to renew old or faded clothing. It can also be a fun way to teach your children about colors, dyes and plants. By creating dyeing projects for your children or students, you can show them which colors certain plants make and discuss why some plants make colors different from those they would appear to create. You can also use dyeing projects to teach your children about chemical bonds by comparing those bonds to dye fixatives such as vinegar or salt. Dyeing clothing, sheets and other items can also help teach your children about other cultures if you help them to create ethnic designs and dye their clothing the way some cultures do.

Things You'll Need

• Powdered fabric dyes
• White vinegar
• Buckets
• Natural-fiber fabric items
• String or rubber bands
• Red cabbage (blue)
• Turmeric (yellow)
• Purple grapes (purple)
• Cranberries (red)
• Yellow onion skin (orange)
• Peach and crab apple leaves (green)
• Knives
• Cheesecloth
• Double boiler
• Several large pans
• Chalk or graphite
• Paraffin
• Paint brush
• Paper towels
• Iron

Instructions

Science Tie-Dye

1. Dye fabrics as a science project with regular tie-dye powdered dyes. Mix them in buckets according to package directions, except replace the water in one entirely with white vinegar.

2. Dip two small cotton pieces of fabric in the dye according to package instructions, one in the vinegar solution and one in a solution with no vinegar. Talk to your students about the differences and chemical bonds by studying whether the water or vinegar made brighter colors. The water rinses away a lot of the color while the acids and salts in the vinegar help pull dye into the fibers. The acids bind with the dye to make it brighter, while the water has no acids and just dilutes the color.

3. Help your students make tie-dyed T-shirts with vinegar solutions. The salts in the vinegar make brighter colors because they help the dyes adhere to the natural cotton fibers. Tie rubber bands or string around sections of the shirt fabric to make pretty designs. For example, you could roll up the shirt and tie it at even intervals to create stripes. Make circles by gathering tufts of fabric up between your fingers and tying them with the rubber bands or string.

Dyes From Nature

1. Assemble the plant ingredients from the "Things You'll Need" list and ask your students what colors they think each plant will make. Cut up the plants, about a cup of each, and wrap each plant in its own square of cheesecloth.

2. Add each cheesecloth bundle to its own simmering solution of equal parts white vinegar and water--about a cup of each should do. Simmer the plants in a double boiler for about two hours to create your dyes. If using these in a traditional classroom, you may want to make the dyes at home and transport them in plastic containers.

3. Discuss with your students why each plant makes the color it does, then dye cotton T-shirts in the colors by soaking in selected colors for about an hour in the sun. Rinse them with cool water when finished.

Batik Dyeing

1. Help your students draw designs on a cotton T-shirt with chalk or graphite and then ask them to trace over their designs with melted paraffin and a paintbrush. Tell them to work slowly and cover their designs completely; the wax should soak into the fabric to prevent dye from reaching those fibers. Soak each shirt in warm water for about 20 minutes to help set the dye.

2. Dye each shirt according to the package directions for tie-dyeing or use the directions in "Dyes from Nature" to make and use plant dyes. Soak the shirts in the dye for about 30 minutes and let them air dry.

3. Lay paper towels over the dry shirts and iron them. The paper towels will absorb the wax from the fabric and the heat will help set the color. Talk to your students about why other countries, such as India and Morocco, use these techniques.

Tips & Warnings

• Because the batik dyeing project uses melted wax, it is best done with older students or very small groups of younger students.

References

• Bliss Tree: Make Your Own Natural, Colorful Dyes
• Science Buddies: How to Make the Boldest, Brightest Tie-Dye
• Craft Bits: How to Batik Dye