While historians debate exactly what constitutes the first instance of “tie dye,” the act of folding, securing and then finally dying clothes to create specific patterns has existed for centuries. Cloth remnants dyed to create swirl, dot and stripes excavated in Peru date as far back as 510 CE, however apart from those sole remnants, the most widely recognized ancient “tie dye” traditions hail from Japan and later Indonesia and Laos.

Referred to as Shibori (in Japan) and Batik (Indonesia) the process i,s in practice, the same—using “resists” to bind fabric so only certain parts of the cloth absorb the dye, thus creating a pattern. Commonplace since the 8th century, the practice entered the Western consciousness in 1901, when Columbia professor Charles E. Pellow gave a lecture on the “tied-and-dying” methods. The shorthand “tie dye,” was born. While Japan and Southeast Asian countries are historically credited for the practice, African tie dye techniques rival them in both style and age. The hallowed indigo pits in Kenya are literally centuries old, and similar albeit entirely distinct tie-dye techniques date back just as long. In fact, these patterns—highly reminiscent of modern Western tie-dye—are likely what inspired hippies in the '60s.

Though tie dye had occasionally appeared in Western fashion and the term itself was more than 60 years old, the fad did not catch on in earnest until '60s music icons like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Keith Sebastian (who famously tie dyed his own clothes) began wearing shirts and pants on tour. Now synonymous with free love and the hippie generation, Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters claimed to have invented the trend and started the revolution during their famous cross country tour in 1964. Though they clearly did not—and tie dye of the era was not even technically tie dye, but more on that below)—the counter cultural icons left an indelible mark on the process.

Today, the process immediately brings to mind free spirited pioneers like the Grateful Dead, the Summer of Love (1967) and all around “good vibes.” While a new generation of tie dye teens are likely unaware of those references, those inherent counterculture anti-government pro-love associations still hold strong.

Tie dye is in fact a highly-specific term. It does not simply refer to tying up fabric and dipping segments into dye—though, in practice, that’s basically it. While we won’t bore you with the specifics, essentially, tie dye is a reactive clothing dye which you fix with soda ash and urea. Like any other commercially available reactive dye, the pigments only react to natural fibers. That means, whether you purchase an at home kit or prepare dyes yourself, any synthetic fibers will not take, and will simply wash out. As for the “tie” portion, as mentioned earlier tie dying utilizes resists, often rubber bands but sometimes dowel rods to spin, wrap or segment the garment. Once the garment is bound to the desired shape, you can apply the dye to individual sections so, when the resists are removed, only the exposed segments will dye while the bound portions will be untouched creating a spiral, stripe or swirl effect.

That, however, is just a simple overview. The amount of patterns, techniques and methods are endless, and with varying water temperatures, dye combinations, fabric compositions and fixing agents, the end result is constantly in flux. So, before you begin any tie dye project, there are a few handy tips you should always keep in mind.

Material

As mentioned above, avoid synthetic fabrics at all costs. Though cotton/polyester blends can work on occasion, the higher the percentage of synthetic material, the less fabric the dye will be able to bond with. In order for your intended pattern to stick, always attempt to use cotton and its relatives—like linen, silk and rayon.

Temperature

Unlike doing your laundry, tie dye is still active (you have literally just applied the fixer), so it bleeds a ton. In order to ensure success, pay close attention to temperature at every stage of the process. When mixing dyes, always use warm (not hot) water. At every other stage, the water should be cold. This prevents excess bleeding. If you have ever purchased any naturally dyed indigo, the same principles should apply, except drastically more severe.

If you are tie dying multiple garments at once, rinse and wash each piece individually, or they will bleed on one another, altering your design entirely. Lastly, the dye is still fresh, and may likely bleed again over the next few wash cycles so, as always, wash with similar colors. Avoid the “pink sock” fiasco at all costs.

Keep It Tidy

As you must have assumed, tie dying is not the cleanest of activities. Unless you are incredibly careful, you will most likely make a mess. Given the stay-at-home orders, for those fortunate to have front or backyards, we absolutely advise you to not tie dye indoors. If outside is simply not a safe option, plastic tubs, gloves, numerous water proof or disposal bags and plenty of newspaper lining the floors is essential to avoid permanent stains. Remember, the dye is supposed to go on the clothes, not your parents' rug.

Patterns

While by no means an exhaustive list, below are the most popular patterns to get you started. Again, these are general outlines, however for the majority of first time offenders or even semi-regular tie dyers, this should more than suffice. Remember for each pattern, this will be step four in the tie dye process (refer to the sections below for further details).

Patterns: The Spiral

First consider where you want your spiral, the front or back of the shirt. Next, your shirt flat on the ground with the corresponding side face down. Place a dowel rod (preferably wooden with a round head to protect the fabric), in the center, and twist until you have a flat pie shape. Once you finish twisting the shirt, gently pull the rod up and very carefully begin stretching rubber across the diameter several times, making sure they intersect to form distinct sections. Now, feel free to alternate colors, or choose the three primary to create a rainbow effect. No matter your color combination, a classic spiral will take shape.

Note: For a double spiral, simply apply the same process—however rather than placing the dowel at the center, place it at a random point, stop once half the fabric is spun, and repeat with the remainder of the shirt to form two opposing shapes.

Patterns: Stripes

By far the easiest tie dye method, stripes are formed by pleating the fabric—folding it either vertically or horizontally. Note that this is the most versatile technique as well, and works just well on pants, sweatshirts, and even soft hats. Essentially, beginning at either the side or top, fold the garment lengthwise (or widthwise) in even, repeating sections. Fold until the garment is essentially one flat bar. Then apply rubber bands perpendicular to the folds, creating even, distinct sections. Now, apply die alternating colors between sections to form strips. If you start from the top or bottom of the garment and fold lengthwise you will create vertical stripes, while if you begin at the side and fold along the width your stripes will appear horizontal.

Patterns: The Bullseye

A slightly more advanced technique, the bull’s eye is really only possible with a T-shirt. Begin by laying the shirt flat, and pinching up from the center. As the shirt hangs vertically from the center point, apply rubber bands creating even sections from the tip in your fingers all the way to the bottom, creating a long rope. The top section you are pinching is the center of the bullseye. Dye each section a distinct color to create growing concentric circles that circumscribe one another. The more colors you use, the more circles you will see. Traditionally, the last three or four sections are dyed the same color, so the center bull’s eye is distinct from the upper and lower portions of the shirt as well as the sleeves.

Patterns: The Crumple

The crumple is messy, lowbrow and minimal effort, but the effect can be stunning. Essentially, by laying a shirt flat on the ground, crumpling together into a rough circle and using only one dye, you can create an almost-marble like effect, where the shirt is predominantly a single color dye, however certain sections due to randomly placed restraints—you pretty much rubber band this sucker in every which way—will remain white, creating a haphazard texture. Also worth noting that this is the one method that works on any garment, bag or cotton item you can imagine. For those looking for a tie-dye feel but prefer solid colors and more subdued patterns, this is the option for you.

Now, finally, let’s get into the nitty gritty. First, though, before you even begin, you have to decide on your dyes. Now the majority of us simply buy tie dye kits, readily available at almost any arts and crafts store or one of the hundreds of options on Amazon. For those looking to have full control, however, you can purchase raw dye. Please note, however, that while dye kits come prepared with their own soda ash and urea (fixing agents), unmixed dyes do not. This means you will have to mix them yourself. Each dye is slightly different, so pay close attention to your measurements and instructions.

Lastly—as we mentioned above—always combine your dyes with warm (not hot) water. Once your dyes are safely in their small plastic bottles (watch out for spills!), you are ready to begin. Remember white T-shirts work best, however light colors also tend to absorb color well. Anything too dark and you will simply lose the pattern.

The following steps apply to hoodies and crewnecks as well

1.
Prep your work station. Fill a tub with cold water, throw on a pair of plastic gloves, and have rubber bands, plastic bags and your pre-mixed dyes readily available. Lay down a tarp or some sort of resistant material to work on and you can begin in earnest.

2.
Soak your T-shirt. After ensuring every section is drenched, wring out any excess water—it will cause the dye to bleed and affect how it sets—and lay the shirt down flat on your working surface. Even if the tee is straight out the wash, the dye simply absorbs better when the shirt is wet, so this step is essential.

3.
Choose your design. Look above for our top recommendations, or simply freestyle it—it’s your garment at the end of the day. Once you have folded, twisted, or crumpled in your desired manner, apply your resists—we prefer rubber bands but, if in a pinch, string or butcher wire works as well.

4.
It’s time to dye. Pick up your dye bottles and slowly apply the dye to each section, remembering to keep your intended design and final product in mind. Note that—especially if you are using a dye kit—the amount you have of each color is limited and a little goes a long way. If you are ever running low of any color, feel free to add some more warm water into the dye bottle and give it a good shake. Just note that, as it’s now diluted, it will not be as vibrant as the original. Once you are finished applying the day, carefully place the bound T-shirt into a plastic bag or Ziploc, taking care to ensure every resist stays in place. Let the dye sit for at least 24 hours, however, if you’re really desperate, eight should suffice, just beware you are risking a chance it will bleed.

5.
Remove the T-shirt from the bag, and carefully remove the resists. Consider using scissors for this portion so the bands don’t fly in every direction. Now, rinse your T-Shirt. Be prepared, as a lot of dye will bleed at this point. Consider washing over concrete if you’re outside. If you, like many of us, are confined indoors, the bath tub is by far your best option. Rinse on cold water until the water runs clear. When dye is no longer bleeding, put the T-shirt back in the bag then immediately throw it in the laundry machine—preferably by itself and wash on cold. Then, to make sure the color really sets, dry on high heat. If you prefer, you can hand wash in a separate tub of lukewarm water and air dry.

6.
Remove your brand new tie dye from the dryer. As we previously mentioned, even if you laundered and dried on high heat, the shirt may continue to bleed over the following few wash cycles, so keep with like colors and wash with caution.

Tie-dying pants is very similar to T-shirts—in fact, it follows the exact same process. That said, given their structure and shape, far fewer options in terms of patterns are available. Your best bet is the crumple method, however the donut method (essentially the bull’s eye but multiple times from different points across the garment) is also an option. While like T-shirts any primarily cotton pants should dye, denim is a beast of its own.

Most denim is indigo dyed and pre-washed, meaning it likely will absorb little if any color. Raw denim, particularly unsanforized raw denim, will react drastically different, and may absorb the color entirely, however the hue will augment the indigo already in the fabric. That said, jeans can be overdyed, so if you let the dye sit for considerably more time (closer to 48 or even 72 hours), you may have more success. Of course, a heavily worn vintage pair is so washed out that given the circumstances, you’ll likely see some patterns form.

For tie-dying pants, follow the steps in the T-shirt section above, however let the dye sit for up to three days.

Depending on the style, hats can easily be tie dyed as well. A crushable bucket hat is ideal and—as long as it's made from a natural fiber—can easily be fashioned into any of the designs above. The same applies for dad caps and baseball caps. The only issue, however, is the bill. Hat bills tend to be rigid, and often have synthetic elements inside to ensure they hold their shape.

It’s quite likely that when you dye a hat with a rigid bill, only the outside face fabric will absorb the dye. Additionally, the folding may warp the shape of the brim, so if you are thinking about tie dying your favorite hat, take that into consideration. A soft brim is always best—and a bucket is even better.

For tie dying hats, follow the steps in the T-shirt section above, however note that most of the patterns and techniques will not apply

While not technically tie dying at all, tie dying with bleach—often referred to as “reverse tie dye”—is a way to transform pre-dyed fabrics to adopt typically tie dye characteristics. While it may seem like significantly less work to take an old black T-shirt, throw some bleach on it and just wash it out, it’s far more nuanced. Bleach is inherently corrosive and quite literally eats away at the fabric.

The ratio of bleach you need (1 cup bleach to 1 cup water) is so concentrated that if you leave the shirt soaking in “dye” for slightly too long, you can destroy it entirely. This is particularly true with synthetic fibers like nylon or polyester which will be permanently damaged immediately. So, if you are reverse dying, all items must be 100 percent cotton—even blends are not an option. As for the process, it follows roughly the same guidelines, however time is of the essence. For those willing to test out reverse tie dying, do so at your own peril.

A quick note: In regards to color, the exact opposite applies—hence reverse tie dye—and the darker the better. Black garments, or any dark or deep tone will work, while white will either not show up or simply damage out.

1.
Prep your work station. Throw on a pair of plastic gloves, and have rubber bands, plastic bags and your pre-mixed bleach/water solution readily available. Lay down a tarp or some sort of resistant material to work on and you can begin in earnest. Note you do not need to pre-soak the garment, though it should be clean.

2.
Lay the garment down flat on your working surface. Choose your design. Look above for our top recommendations—the same patterns will work with bleach. Once you have folded, twisted, or crumpled in your desired manner, apply your resists.

3.
Reverse dye time. Pick up your bleach/water mix and slowly apply the dye to each section, remembering to keep your intended design and final product in mind. Again, a little goes a long way. If you run low, simply make more of the solution, and make sure to maintain the ratio—too much bleach and you’re in trouble. Once you are finished applying, carefully place the bound T-shirt into a plastic bag or Ziploc, taking care to ensure every resist stays in place. Here is where things get tricky. The bleach should sit for 20 minutes maximum. You only need a few minutes to strip the color (essentially what reverse tie dye is). In fact, it happens nearly instantly. Every second after that the fabric deteriorates. Undo the rubber bands almost immediately once 20 minutes is up.

4.
Rinse, wash, dry. You’d don’t need to worry about dye bleeding here, considering all you really did is remove it. The faster you can get the shirt wet and washed, the faster the bleach will be neutralized.

5.
Remove your brand new reverse tie dye from the dryer. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Let’s be frank, sometimes tie dye is best left to the professionals. For those of you who are far more interested in the end result than the work involved getting there, plenty of labels have introduced tie dye T-shirts, jeans and even outerwear over the past few seasons. Below, we list some of our favorites. Just because you didn’t dye it, doesn’t mean you can’t buy it.

Given that the Japanese label focuses on modern interpretations of classic American style, Designer Keizu Shimizu’s Needles brand has naturally embraced tie-dye. With each Needles season pulling from various periods in American fashion, the ‘60s hippie, DIY aesthetic is serves regular inspiration and tie dye comes along with it. Although the brand has released numerous tie dye pieces of the past few years, the most notable are clearly the 5-cut T-shirts and hoodies.

One of the brands most beloved products, the 5- and 7-cut series utilizes discarded vintage items—tees, hoodies, [flannel shirts](https://www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/best-flannel-shirts—and reassembled them to form a Frankenstein-like amalgamation greater than the sum of its parts. In this case, vintage tie dye T-shirts or hoodies are sourced and stitched together to create extremely colorful basics with patterns otherwise impossible.

While many Noah patterns resemble tie dye, let’s be clear: Just because it looks like the real thing, doesn’t mean it is. Today, modern dye and print houses can easily replicate tie dye, and quite often given the lower cost of printing and sublimation—not to mention overall consistency—brands prefer it. Still, while the New York streetwear brand may not always tie dye by hand, the intended aesthetic is still the same.

Since the brand relaunched in New York in 2015, it has released numerous tees, hoodies and shorts with tie dye-esque patterns, ranging from actual tie dye to bleach and prints, and despite being the latter, the sun dyed hoodie is our favorite. Available in a vibrant array of complimentary colors, the perfectly sun aged hoodie captures that lighthearted vintage nostalgia without compromising quality. Still, if you’re a purist, any of the T-shirts (which are actually tie dyed) will suffice.

Perhaps the most closely associated with the modern rendition of “hippies”, Online Ceramics is the brainchild of Elijah Funk and Alix Ross, two art school grads who connected over a shared interest in music and vintage T-shirts. [Closely related to the Deadhead revival](https://www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/grateful-dead-diy-streetwear following John Mayer’s addition to Dead & Co and the return of Shakedown Street—the outdoor flea markets and merch emporiums where Deadheads hang, smoke and commune prior to the show—Online Ceramics blew up in a huge way back in 2017.

While today the label is more closely associated with the DIY streetwear movements and A24 than an ode to Jerry Garcia, the same love for darkly romantic graphics juxtaposed with explosive tie dye remains. While Online Ceramics now makes sweats and hoodies as well, the limited tie dye T-shirts are the items to buy.

Belgian designer Dries Van Noten’s collections have always been first and foremost an exploration of fabric and pattern, juxtaposing the two in unexpectedly beautiful ways. Since 2012, tie dye—or at least, patterns inspired by tie dye—have been a recurring motif. Rather than appear on T-shirts or hoodies, tie dye patterns have graced wool overcoats, denim jeans, blazers and even polyester trousers. If you read above, clearly some of those materials are nearly impossible to tie dye. Yet, that hasn’t stopped the revered designer from applying those same patterns to traditionally stiff wardrobe classics to create modern and excitingly fresh statement pieces.

For Fall/Winter 2019, tie dye played a pivotal role in the entire menswear collection, covering double breasted blazers, nylon rain jackets and an especially coveted pair of black jeans. Yes, the jeans are printed rather than dyed, but it's the concept—not the process—that counts.

Saint Laurent Paris’s Spring/Summer 2016 “Surf Sound” collection was the heart of former creative director Hedi Slimane’s artistic vision: glam and psychedelic rock infused with Venice beach thrift. Like with those Venice beach surfers and indie rock scum Slimane loves so much, tie dye was everywhere. Bombers, crewnecks, hoodies, button ups and, of course, T-shirts, all featured various iterations. Unlike other competitors, the Saint Laurent Paris “Surf Sound” pieces were meticulously tie dyed by hand, and had the stains, imperfections and distressing to prove it.

While many of the pieces were great, the most simple—a plain green/pink tie dye T-shirt—captured our attention. In the following years, the $400 tie dye T-shirt not only laid the foundation for tie dye in men’s fashion, but was emblematic of the entire label. Yes, it looked like a simple vintage tie dye shirt. But, it was Saint Laurent, and that in itself made the difference.