Sinew, Kite String or Rubber Bands?

Hi guys! So, I often get asked why I chose what I did to hold the folds in place in my tie dye designs. For the most part I use either sinew, kite string or rubber bands - so, let me explain why.

If you aren’t familiar, with sinew let me explain a little bit about what it is. It is a many stranded flat thread that has been wax coated. It is commonly used in either leather work or jewelry making. The kind that I purchase from Amazon has a tensile strength of 70 pounds. Therefore, I can pull on it pretty hard before it breaks. When I use it on a shirt, I wrap it around an area 2 or 3 times and pull it tight. I keep pulling until I feel it catch and lock (it’s a bit difficult to describe, but you will understand when you feel it). I usually wrap the sinew a couple more times around the area and repeat the process of pulling it until it locks. Once it is locked in place, the wax coating won’t allow dye under that area. Therefore, the portion of the shirt that is under the sinew will remain white after I apply the dye. That’s how I determine whether I use sinew for a design or not - do I want white lines? I most commonly use sinew when I tie mandalas, hearts, geodes and reverse dyes. Here’s the kind of sinew that I purchase most often from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2EF28Lu

Speaking of reverse dyes - sinew is pretty important when I tie a reverses dye. Lately, I’ve been using Rit Color Remover and this past week I experimented with Out White Brite Laundry Whitener. With both of those products I submerge my shirts, which makes sinew the product of choice for me. The areas that I’ve tied with the sinew are the areas that remain black after discharging the black dye from the shirt. It is also sturdy enough that I just leave the shirt tied and throw it in the washer after the color removal process without removing the sinew. It sometimes gets a bit frayed which makes removing it a little more difficult at the end after the dyeing process, but for the most part it works really well.

Now on to kite string. I use a twisted poly kite string that only has a load limit of 1 pound. Therefore, I can’t pull it too tight or it will break (trust me - that’s happened more than once). The kind that I purchase from Ace Hardware comes on a thick cardboard dowel which makes it very easy to use without it tangling. I’ve purchased kite string before that came in a ball, but I spent way too much time trying to untangle it each time I went to use it. I use kite string when I want to hold the folds tightly in place, but I don’t want the white lines from sinew in my design. I most commonly use kite string for fan folded designs. I find that it is easier to tie a long fan folded design with kite string and keep the folds in tact, rather than try to get rubber bands into the middle area without messing up the outside folds. Also, the dye won’t splatter when it hits the kite string the way it does sometimes when it hits rubber bands (Grrr….). Here is a link to the particular kite string that I purchase: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/hardware/chain-and-rope/ropes/75845

Last, but definitely not least - is rubber bands. I commonly use rubber bands for spirals. I will sometimes use rubber bands on shorter fan folds as well. You can sometimes use rubber bands to make white lines on the shirt too if you wrap them tightly enough around the area of the shirt that you would like to keep white. I purchase a variety pack of rubber bands at Target that has several sizes. I also rinse and reuse my rubber bands until they break. I really like the well used loose rubber bands for large items like hoodies. They are loose enough that they keep the hoodie from folding in on itself. Here is a link to the Target rubber bands that I purchase: https://www.target.com/p/u-brands-7-4oz-rubber-bands-assorted-sizes/-/A-16603894?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000014846099&CPNG=PLA_Electronics%2BShopping_Brand&adgroup=SC_Electronics&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=c&location=9026488&targetid=aud-554348707379:pla-82461707569&ds_rl=1246978&ds_rl=1248099&gclid=CjwKCAiA6aSABhApEiwA6Cbm_0m1Qwd8gvVYVDGFTNvXvY9tWAxnnv3YHyL0HjIt8yjfwckkjTcNoBoCeLIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I’ve also been asked about the sinew puller that I use. I purchased it from a fellow tie dyer on facebook. If you are interested, contact me and I’ll send you a link where you can contact him.

• Some of the links above are for Amazon items, and I am an Amazon Associate. Therefore, if you click or purchase through these links I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.