r/icedye

The reup has arrived !

I’m losing all my blues and greens down the drain, and I’m pretty sure they just aren’t batching hot enough for long enough. As the weather is cooling off and I’m not able to just rely on the scorching summer sun to do the work for me, I’m trying to find new methods of heat so I can keep dying into the winter months. I’m not real big on the idea of heating a room to 90° for 24-48 hours and paying a crazy utility bill. Seeking advice from folks, what do you do to get your pieces thoroughly batched? I’ve heard of oven heating but only if you have a designated oven for dyes, which isn’t really an option for me. I’m thinking about maybe a few crockpots but atm the goodwill bins are sending all the inserts (the glass or ceramic bowl) across the state 🤦‍♀️. Am I missing some great hacks or something useful? Have heard of heat lamps and seed mats as well. Thanks in advance, dye hard folks! 😝💚🦋

Hey so my wife and I just did our first vendor fair and made out pretty good. Thing is, the process for this was so much work. I figured someone could help with our workflow to make it go a bit smoother.

Currently, we buy blanks or upcycle thrifts and soak them in soda ash in a large tote. After wringing them out by hand, we bunch them up, ice, then dye in multiple large totes. Next, we use a baby gate over two saw horses and a hose outside to rinse or in the sink if we don't feel like moving outside. Lastly, after a wash, she ink stamps from rubber blocks that she carves and together we heat press.

Any ideas or equipment that would make this workflow a bit easier? Thanks!