Tie Dye Bottles
If you are liquid dyeing tie dye shirts, the bottles you choose to apply the dye are very important. It is super frustrating when you have almost all the dye applied to a shirt, and your bottle leaks a huge blob of color somewhere that you didn’t intend for it to go. Let’s face it - most of us have been there. Sometimes you can save it, but most of the time you just have to try to incorporate the blob into your design.
I have tried quite a few different types of bottles over the years. I started out reusing the bottles that came with a tie dye kit I bought 20 years ago. Believe it or not, I still have a few of those that I am using today.
My favorite 8 ounce bottles are ones that I bought from Dharma Trading Company. https://www.dharmatrading.com/tools/squeeze-bottles-yorker-spouts-and-caps.html?lnav=tools.html They will hold 1 cup of dye and are soft enough to squeeze easily. I’ve had mine for a really long time, and so a few of them do leak occasionally. However, it’s taken 10+ years for that to happen. I also have some of the larger 16 ounce bottles, but I usually don’t actually apply dye with those. I use those to store larger quantities of mixed dye. I normally pour the dye into a smaller bottle to apply it to my shirt. The 16 ounce bottles are really nice, but they are a little more stiff and they aren’t quite as easy to squeeze. I also think that I have better control over the dye when it is in a smaller bottle.
For very precise tie dye designs I like to use needle tip bottles. I purchased a couple different sizes from Amazon. I have 1 ounce needle tip bottles: https://amzn.to/31xOFOJ and I have 4 ounce needle tip bottles: https://amzn.to/2FXVoJn I use my 4 ounce needle tip bottles quite a bit since they will hold 1/2 cup of dye. I really only use the 1 ounce bottles when I am using a very small amount of each dye color on a project. The needle tip will allow me to have a little more control over my dye application and more precision over where the dye goes.
If you have bottles that you love, but they keep leaking - you can try some Teflon tape to stop the leaks. https://amzn.to/3zYMAtc To use the Teflon tape, you wrap some of the Teflon tape around the threads of the bottle and then screw on the lid like normal. It helps to form a seal and prevent leaking.
To fill my dye bottles I use a plastic funnel. When I purchased the smaller needle tip dye bottles, I got a couple small funnels for free with my order. To fill the larger bottles I use a larger funnel that I purchased from Dharma Trading Company. https://www.dharmatrading.com/tools/4-piece-funnel-set.html?lnav=tools.html You can usually pick up a set of funnels though at the Dollar Store.
I like to label my dye bottles with a piece of masking tape. I write the name of the dye on the tape with permanent marker, and then I can just remove the tape when the dye is gone and I am ready to wash the bottle.
I also wash my bottles well after using them. I rinse the the bottles and lids under warm water and set them aside to dry. If there is color inside the bottle that remains after rinsing, I use a little mild dish soap and a bottle brush to clean the inside. Sometimes if the dye color is a really dark one, it will stain the inside of the bottle. The staining won’t affect the other colors that you put in the bottle later though.
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