Camo Tie Dye Shirts and how to use Black Dye

Combing two of my favorite patterns: camo and tie dye. I originally wanted to master this idea as a father’s day gift. My dad isn’t quite the tie dye type, but really loved the idea of camo tie dye. I hadn’t seen anything similar on the web, so I thought about how any impulsive crafter would do – Let’s make a fun tutorial to share! It really turned into a cool science project for myself as well as a gift for my significant other who now has some sweet tie dye to wear around the house this summer.

How to Make the Black Tie Dye

For one, getting black tie dye to actually be black can be really difficult. More often than not, the color bleeds into whatever colors the company made to create it. I’ve found two key players in dying fabric black, and not purple or blue: heat and brand of dye.

I tried Rit Dye before and it turned out purple. Super cool, but not the color I intended. I contacted Rit asking why my black turned purple. Their suggestion was to make sure the dye bath is very hot. Usually the purple color is a heat issue. So, if you want to take your chances or are working with children on this project, I would go with the black Rit Dye.

Here is my suggestion: I bought procion black dye and made the dye bath REALLY hot. It is a fabric reactive dye, so the way it works is different than traditional store bought black. This brand of fabric dye is not non-toxic, like Rit Dye. It stains your hands if you do not wear gloves and doesn’t come off for days. However, my tie dye is black.

Materials

Soda Ash

Jacquard Procion Jet Black

Dylon Olive Green

Dylon Dark Brown

Mens Cotton T shirts

Instructions for Camo Tie Dye Shirt

Scrunch method

I found that for that true camo look you are going to want to use the scrunch method. For more information on how to achieve this look, see this post for detailed instructions, or watch the video on this post. It involved scrunching the fabric tightly, they tying with rubber bands. I used this method on two of the cotton shirts. However, for one of the shirts I allowed the dye to set overnight. The other, I washed out the dye 20 minutes after application.

The one that I washed out 20 minutes after application had great color, but there was more white space, as the quick turn over didn’t allow for the colors to bleed. (left)

The one that I washed out overnight definitely had great rich color. I liked that there was more darker colors or bleed. (right)

Spiral Method

The spiral is the classic design for the technicolor tie dye. However, I wanted to try this technique using the earthy tones of camouflage. I used this method and washed out the dye after 20 minutes. For a detailed tutorial, please watch the attached video!

Ice Tie Dye

Ice dye is the a really cool technique that involved melting ice. Basically, you pour powdered dye over ice (as pictured). You allow to melt overnight and as the ice melts, the dye mixes with the water to create a gorgeous watercolor. However, with ice dye, I found that primary colors work best. When I used green, the yellow and blue colors that create the green, came through in the final product. I don’t think this method is great for camo tie dye, but see my full review here.