Summer Science – Ice Tie Dye

My daughter and I tried ice tie dye earlier this summer and it was such an easy way to create really awesome tie dye art. Usually I’m NOT a tie die fan because you just can’t avoid a serious mess. Ice tie dye was totally doable with minimal mess.

Here’s the idea – You either band the item you want to tie dye just like you usually would OR just crumple it up for a different look. Then you set the item on a baking rack and balance the entire rack over a bin (you’ll want something to catch all the dye as the ice melts). After setting all of this up you just sprinkle the powder dye over the top of the item and then cover up the entire thing with piles of ice cubes.

The next part is the hardest part – the waiting! First you wait for all of the ice to dry, then you wait another 12-24 hours to let it soak into the fabric. Once it sets you get to the actual messy part, which is ironically cleaning all of it up. Rinse the item really well – until no dye runs out – and then run it through the washing machine. Also make sure to rinse off the drying rack before washing it with dish soap, and carefully dump the excess dye.

The items that my daughter chose to tie dye turned out so fun, and I’m glad we were able to jazz them up a little and give them a second shot at life.