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| Tiedye Shoes |
Tie-dyeing your tennis shoes can turn a dull pair of sneakers into something fun and fabulous, and even a novice can do a great job at it. Purchasing the needed materials in a kit rather than separately is more expensive, but might be easier for the beginner because it will supply squirt bottles and a variety of dyes. The art of tie-dye has been practiced for centuries in Japan, India and Africa, with early examples including silk from Chinese tombs dating to the fourth century.
Steps:
- Remove the insoles of your shoes if they come out easily and the laces. If you dye shoelaces separately, be sure they are cotton, not synthetic. Shoes must be made of cotton, hemp or other natural fibers to properly accept the dye.
- Put on rubber gloves before handling the soda ash. Add 1 cup of soda ash for every 1 gallon of water needed to completely cover the shoes in a bucket. Shoes must soak well for 20 minutes, becoming saturated.
- Add 2 to 4 tsp. of fiber-reactive dye such as Procion MX to every cup of water you will use to dye the shoes. Use squirt bottles or plastic disposable cups and a brush to perform the dye job.
- Take the shoes out of the soda ash mixture, allowing the excess to drip off. The shoes can be dry or partially dry when you apply the dye.
- Apply your dye colors to the shoes in a rainbow fashion, avoiding placements that will bleed into each other and cause a muddy color. Avoid reds next to greens, blues by oranges and purples near reds. Colors will lighten when they are washed and dried, so apply them heavily enough to get the desired effect.
- Allow shoes to dry overnight in an area that is a minimum of 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
