How to Dye Beads
Create your own custom jewelry and home decor designs with stylish plastic or fabric beads in an array of colors. Mix the dyes to create distinctive colors to coordinate with a special outfit or to enhance an existing home art project. It's best to begin with white or clear plastic beads, or with white cotton fabric beads. You can even make your own fabric beads by rolling a rectangular swatch of fabric around a nail to form tube bead, or by rolling a triangular-shaped fabric swatch around a nail to form a toggle-style bead. The same technique dyes both fabric and plastic beads; experiment with the process to create colorful, decorative elements.
Things You'll Need
- Rags
- Gloves
- Dye pot
- Measuring utensils
- Liquid or powder fabric dye
- Plastic or fabric beads
- Metal spoon
- Mesh strainer
- Paper towels
Instructions
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1
Cover the counter tops and flooring around your stove with rags to protect the surfaces from dye. Dying beads is a messy business.
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2
Mix the fabric dye with water and salt according to the package directions in a dedicated dye pot. Do not use the dye pot for cooking after dying the beads. Mix enough liquid to cover the tops of the beads.
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3
Heat the dye bath over medium heat on the stove top for around five minutes. The dye bath should be hot enough to transfer the dye, but not hot enough to melt the beads. Every stove is different; it may take several tries to learn how long to heat the dye bath.
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4
Find a place to lay out more rags while the dye bath is heating. Lay paper towels over the rags.
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5
Add the beads to the dye bath when the water is heated. Stir the beads as long as they are in the dye bath with a dedicated metal spoon. Heat the beads in the dye bath until they reach the desired shade of color.
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6
Turn off the stove and pour the dye bath water and the beads into a dedicated mesh strainer in the sink. Run water over the beads in the strainer until the water runs clear.
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7
Lay the beads on the paper towels to dry.
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Tips & Warnings
You can re-dye plastic as many times as you like to deepen the color or to fill in areas that did not take the dye.
Dye can color anything that it touches.
