DIY Indigo dyeing- A how to thread
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I'm going to be spamming lots of pictures, so I created a new thread. I didn't want to annoy anyone with putting this stuff in another thread. As far as I know there are no other topic here about this subject. I am doing this as we speak, so this is a work in progress. I'd wait until I get done with this and report my results before you do anything yourself.
What you'll need:
-3/4 oz pre-reduced indigo crystals
https://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/pre-reduced-indigo-crystals.html-1 lb sodium carbonate/soda ash
-cheap 5 gal bucket or other large container
-metal tongs
-rubber gloves or plastic deli gloves or old shopping bags of you don't have gloves
-dust mask or a wet bandana to limit chemical dust inhalation exposure
-clothes line for drying/oxidation phase
-newspapers or big sheets of cardboard to catch drips and splashes
-old clothes you don't care if you get dye on and a workspace you don't care of you get dye all over
I'm doing this in my creepy old basement. And I am kinda of just improvising as I go. I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on this, so I just used stuff I had already. The dye is so blue it is bound to work no matter what. They suggest you buy all kinds of special dye removers and detergent. I am not gonna waste my money. But we'll see by Monday how this all turns out.
I'm dyeing my old faded black Iron Heart themal 1301. It's old and heavily worn. I didn't bother even washing it and took it dirty out of the hamper. It will get washed eventually. I am also dyeing that new hemp beanie I got a few days ago. I hope the indigo picks up on the high, faded points of the thermal so it looks like a gradiation of blue to black.
For instructions:
Edit: paste the dye first by adding some warm water to the dye in a small container and make sure there are no chunks of dye. I didn't do this and it cause some darker spots where chunks of dye stuck to the clothes.I filled my bucket up 3/4 of the way with scalding hot water. I added the entire packet of indigo even though they suggest 2 tablespoons for 5 gallons of water. So it was like 4 to 5 tablespoons for 4 gallons of water. Really concentrated.
I added the soda ash. This is where you need gloves and a dust mask. This stuff causes chemical burns on your skin, makes your eyes burn if you breath it, and makes you sneeze like crazy. Being in my line of work, I've actually worked in a place where they make this stuff out of trona in Wyoming. I have been covered from head to toe with it, and it gave me a rash and a sunburn like chemical burn all over. So do your best to limit your exposure to this. I didn't bother to wear anything and I just help my breath while I added the soda ash and I was fine.
I added a little over a half a pound of the soda ash to the indigo bath amd stired it up with an old broom handle. You can just use your tongs or whatever. The mixture thickened up a bit, this is what we want.
Then I added my hat first at the bottom and then the thermal on top and stirred them up vigorously for a few minutes.
I layed down my cardboard and put everything on top. Please be careful if you are doing this in your basement too, and don't put the cardboard or whatever too close to the furnace or water heater, or any other combustion source. I am doing this close to the furnace though. So the circulation of warm air will facilitate rapid drying in between dye submersions.
I let them sit in the bath for like an hour stirring occasionally. While I was waiting I hung the clothesline from the rafters of the ceiling and let the sag down low enough that with the weight of the thermal, it would hang just above the bucket to minimize the drips. I did wear gloves at this point because I don't want Smurf fingers… And grabbed the thermal out of the bath and held it above the bucket. This is the messy part and cardboard was definitely a great idea.
You do not want to rinse your stuff like you would regular dye. The drying is where the oxidation process occurs and what makes the dye so pretty. I will check on the stuff in a few hours. When the dripping stops I plan on hanging the shirt on a more taught clothesline more evenly. But I didn't want to get dye all over myself so I just left it like in the pictures.
I plan on dipping the stuff at least 2 more times. More to follow tomorrow.
Edit: when you have dyed your stuff a couple times. Rinse thoroughly is cold water and machine wash 2 whole cycles with and extra rinse setting. I put a dark loaf of clothes in the washer afterwards to make sure there was no residual dye in the machine that would transfer on to lighter colored clothes.
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Can I send you my stuff, next batch
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Holy shit.
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@Filthy:
I'm going to be spamming lots of pictures, so I created a new thread. I didn't want to annoy anyone with putting this stuff in another thread.
Great idea starting the thread and a cool guide. Keep this up and we are going to have to start a Filthy DIY Board.
Looking forward to seeing the results.
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Intrigued by the results Mike, i’ve been thinking about overdying a couple of old pairs of jeans for a while now.
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Nice work …
i done it last summer already too..but used a dye kit from ama... for first try.
reasons why -> its faster and easier instead of set a vat with natural indigo.plan was dye a pair of converse and an old white stussy zip hoody i never wear.
The Kit
The Flower
Some first try
Dip the Shoes 4 times on that day.
The Jacket 2 or 3 times but will repeat it this summer because the color depth varies too much.the kit cost about 20€ including shipping from us via Ama… so for first try im happy with the result.
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@Haddtoo:
Can I send you my stuff, next batch
Pleaseif you send me $15 plus pay for shipping I can dye stuff for you.
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Thanks for all the encouragement guys.
Okay, so I dipped everything last night again before I went to bed, then hung it up nice, and let the stuff dry over night. This morning it was stiff and crusty with white soda ash cystals dried all over. I probably used too much soda ash. But I don't think it is going to matter because evything is blue as fuck.
Anyway, I got a big bin and put a couple inches of hot water in there for a rinse. And rinsed the stuff and squeezed out as much water as I could get out, and put everything back into the dye bath. I vigorously agitated both items in the dye to make sure it penetrates because it is wet. I am going to let it sit in the dye for an hour while I have a second cup of coffee and a vape. Then let it dry all day again.
This will make 3 dips and 1 time getting almost completely dry.
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You’re vAping indigo now?
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That is juice that I make. It's pretty much nicotine and glycerin. It is just about unflavored too. Because I think 99.9% of those juice flavors are disgusting and I hate how they smell even worse.
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I can't get a decent picture today because it is so dreary out. But I think the dye was a success. The hat used to have kind of a purple cast to it before and now it has that almost black indigo color in the dark and deep blue in the sun. And the shirt just looks black indoors and navy blue outside in brighter light.
If I had it all to do over I would have pasted the dye in some hot water to partially dissolve it first then mixed it into the other hot water because there are some darker spots where chunks of dye stuck to the clothes. Also, this was a lot of work and now I have a big bucket of dye to get rid of. I might just let the dye sit there for a month or so so the water eveaporates.
I'll try to take some better pictures soon but I have to go to Illinois for work tomorrow.
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@Megatron1505 dyed leg on right vs. old non-dyed on left. I would have dipped it a couple more times for you. But it takes a long time and I have to go on a job tomorrow. You can still see a contrast in original indigo vs new. So depending on what you're going for this probably won't be worth it. I rinsed the leg out until there were no dye streaks in the water and let it dry for a bit but it is slightly damp. The dye and soda ash was $15 for a small amount. But of you were to say double or triple the strength it'd possibly be much darker.
This dyeing was a lot of work and a pain in the butt. And now I have a big bucket of dye I don't want to put down the drain to contend with. I am probably just going to let it evaporate off and put the solids in the garbage.
Basically this dye is neat but is never going to be as nice as the Japanese stuff that they have worked on for ages to perfect.
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Thanks I'm happy how my hat turned out.
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@Filthy 21/23oz junkie , you’re absolutely right dude, it does look like a hell of a lot of effort. I probably won’t re-dye my old jeans as the result may not be what I was looking for. Thank you for having a go though mate.
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Yeah it was a lot of work. But now I am happy I did it because I think my hat turned out nice. There is a deep indigo color now with lots of neat variations. Looks great.
