Ice Dye Pillows
Move over tie-die, hello ice-dye! If you’ve never heard of ice-dying it’s time you did. It’s sort of tie-dye’s older more sophisticated sister. Not as messy and, I’d venture to say, a lot cooler if you know what I mean.
MATERIALSCotton pillow casesSoda ash (available at most craft and hardware stores)Powder dyeIcePlastic tubCooling rack
Prep your fabric by washing it and then soaking it in a solution of soda ash and water. Follow the instructions on the box, but it’s around 1/3 cup per gallon of water. Let it soak for about 20 minutes.
Whilst it’s soaking, set up your dying area. Set the filling rack on top of a tub or outside in a place you don’t mind getting doused in colored water. While still wet, fold or crumple your cases. I accordion pleated one and just bunched one up. The folded one will have a slightly more regular pattern....emphasis on slightly.
This is where the ice part comes in. Cover the cases completely with piles of ice. It’s trickier than it sounds as it tends to want to tumble down, but do your best.
Now comes the fun part. Open up your powdered dye and start sprinkling it over the ice. I did one group where I used warm colors and another with cools. Here I added spots of orange...
..and then I went back in with yellows. On the other side I did stripes on orange and red. There truly is no right or wrong.
Let the ice melt. This may take 30 minutes or 3 hours. Don’t stress. This is the perfect opportunity for a glass of wine.
Once melted, it’s going to look like a bit of a mess. Fight all your urges to open them up and have a look. Let them sit undisturbed for 24 hours. This is important to insure the dye sets properly.
Once dry run them under cold water until the water runs clear. Once they do, you’re all set...as is the dye. Dry them, iron them, stuff them and feel oh so cool.