One of a Kynd Tie-Dye. Seal Cove, Newfoundland, Canada.

The Finish - This step is a fairly easy one, but still allows some final room for variations. After dyeing, you will wrap your tie-dye to sit for up to 24 hours. During this time, the dye will bind to the fabric. It is important to keep your tie-dye moist during this time, it cannot dry out. Once it has sat for the recommended time, the dye that is not bound to the fabric will wash out easily in the final step, but the dye that has bound to the fabric will remain colorfast and will not rinse or fade throughout the life of the tie-dye.

Wrapping it all up - You have now completed the dyeing and it’s time to wrap up the process and the tie-dye. Use newspaper to wrap the tie-dye, this will absorb all excess dye. Then wrap it in saran-wrap or place it in an airtight container. It is essential that the tie-dye remain moist or the process will not work correctly. Once wrapped, allow the tie-dye to sit for up to 24 hours.

Washing it out - The moment of truth! You now unwrap the tie-dye and CAREFULLY snip away the twine. Place your tie-dye in a washing machine filled with warm water and synthrapol. The synthrapol detergent will remove any dye that has not adhered to the fabric, and the water will wash clean after a couple of cycles in the machine. (We usually run it through 2 washes). Once it is rinsing clean, you have a colorfast tie-dye ready to be machine or air-dried. And you’re done! Wear your tie-dye with pride for years to come!!!

A wrapping tip - We learned that when you want one section of your tie-dye to remain a lighter color without the nearby colors bleeding in, you can tie a plastic baggie around that section. For example, if you want the sleeves to be a vibrant yellow with no other colors, after dyeing the sleeves, wrap them up in a plastic baggie (no paper necessary), and make sure that section stays airtight as well. Then wrap the rest of the shirt the usual way.