Got a RUSH order 5 days before the 4th of July from a groovy family in NY. The 9 year old son was starting a cotton candy stand...and his first job was on the 4th! The Four20moon Etsy shop had a small girls cotton candy style t-shirt for sale that caught the sweet families eyes, and they had to have 4 custom T's made and shipped ASAP. We love custom orders, and were eager to get started to make sure there 4th of July was a hit! 
We start by pre-washing the fabric to get any crud off it that could muck up the whole project.
A clean tie-dye canvas is a happy one :)Then we tie up the fabric to the desired pattern. In this case it was all spiral designed T-shirts. Let your fabric soak in soda ash fixer for 20 mins or so, it depends. I have gaped out and left projects for hours...then some times I only have time to let it soak for 5-10 mins...either way it needs to soak, no quick dip will work properly. The fixer holds the color to the fabric so its a very important step in the process.
When it has soaked in all the fixer goodness u squeeze out excess fixer from each project, which can be reused to soak other far out creations! Now its time to dye. We used Baby Pink, Baby Blue & New Black for our cotton candy Ts which I think looks very yummy! I like to make sure my dying area is tidy...a dirty area could cause huge issues and very messy unprofessional looking goods. A few drops of the wrong color could mess up your whole creation instantly. Believe us, we know from experience...lol
Good times, bad times its all groovy really!You never know what your gonna get, most of the time things look awesome no matter what, but when you have custom orders you need to be careful to not alter the vision of what the customer wants. This can be tricky at times but its also a challenge we love to experience. Gets our blood pumping in a good way.
Once the project is dyed let it sit in a container with a lid on it overnight. Usually 12-24 hours produces the most vibrant colors. Heat makes the colors bond with the fabric so be sure to have it in a warm area. If your impatient or need it in a hurry you can tie it up in a plastic bag and microwave it for 4 mins or so. We were so excited to find the microwave method cause well, everyone wants to see there creations ASAP! So this method just blew our minds, but I like waiting for the outcome. I think it produces groovier results personally, while my man likes the microwave method much better. Either way works though so give them both a try and see what you dig more.
Drop me an e-mail with your comments I'd love to hear all about your opinions!
When its time, rinse the projects in cold water to remove loose dye. Rinse until the water is fairly clear removing the ties and such. In the meantime fill up the washer with HOT water and some synthrapol detergent to prevent dye from staining the white areas of your tie-dye.
NOTE: some colors like red and black will slightly stain the white and may not be fully prevented. It gets a bit crazy when you have a project with those two colors...future blog post in process about this! Uggh
Anyway:
Add your Cold rinsed goods to the Hot washing machine load and wash. I like to wash the goods twice to make sure the colors don't bleed onto your skin or other clothing when you wear them the first time. Stained armpits can be funny when you think about it but maybe not the coolest thing at certain times HA! Dry your tie dyes and Taaa-Daahhh! Super Funk-tastic :) Wear in pride!
