How to Dye with Kool Aid

Oh, what the heck! I know where the article is, so I'm just going to go ahead and post it!

The Fine Art of Kool-Aid™ Dying

By Fiber Maeven

Okay, so I’m spinning and I realize that I’m bored with white, off-white, cream, ecru, beige, blonde and all of the other colors that are variations on the white theme. Not that there’s anything wrong with them. I just need a little variety or I get bored.

I switch to natural non-whites – the black sheep colors – browns, reds, chestnuts, fawns, grays – also very nice, but again, where’s the excitement? Let’s face it: spinning the same color for an extended period is akin to a road trip on I-80. What to do . . . what to do . . . Dying comes to mind. I admit it -- I have a dark sense of humor.

I love dye parties – hovering over dye pots on the open fire in Mary Anna’s front yard, eating interesting cookies and playing with Scrabble the Goose (RIP). This is when Mary Anna teaches us about plants, barks, and insects and the colors they create, which mordents to use with them, and how they can be brightened or muted or saved to dye another day. It’s a fun learning experience. The colors are beautiful and natural. However, some of the colors I want are just not natural, and aside from dye parties, I don’t have time to use the natural ways. It doesn’t help that, without Mary Anna standing next to me, I would probably die a slow, horrible death because I can’t tell a huckleberry from a holly berry . . .

Okay, so I can’t be trusted with natural dyes . . . how about chemical dyes? I’m afraid of things I can’t pronounce. And like used motor oil, they are difficult to dispose of. Did I just end that sentence with a preposition? Oh, well . . . Onward through the fog . . .

Let’s talk about drink mix dying. Drink mixes are perfect! Easy to use, easy to discard – see how I avoided the preposition that time? They are also edible, depending whom you ask, as well as easy to pronounce, and they create the most unnatural colors.

There are several brands of drink mixes, but I prefer Kool-Aid™. It’s familiar, reliable, and no matter where you live or travel, it can easily be acquired. It also smells good. One can dye a lot of fiber a lot of different colors in a relatively short period of time. Kool-Aid™ dying is inexpensive and the only mordant required is white vinegar, which is also edible. I’m in favor of anything I can eat.

So Kool-Aid™ dying is my preferred method of dying fiber. Please note: it only works on animal fibers. I’ve tried it on plant fibers and I’m usually left with some hideous pastel that makes me wonder how a Kool-Aid™ stain on a white T-shirt can possibly be so vibrant. When the dye process is completed, Kool-Aid™ is also color safe. It will not run or rub off on other items of clothing. It is washable – use the same care you would for any wool item. I do not recommend leaving it on the dashboard of your car in July, however, because, like any other dye, it will fade.

Here’s how to do it: Take a large pot – I like those big 16-quart stainless steel pots that Ollie’s sells for a couple of bucks – and fill it about half-full with cool water. Dump in several glugs of white vinegar. I do not measure. I do not believe in measuring.

I always start with white roving or scoured fleece. I split it into manageable serving sizes (about two to three feet of roving or several handfuls of fleece) and toss them into the pot. It’s okay to put several pieces into one pot as long as they all get saturated. Gently hold the fiber under the water until it is saturated. Do not stir or otherwise agitate. Remember that, as in life, agitation is our enemy. Let the pot sit undisturbed for about 30 minutes. (I should probably mention that I usually do several pots at the same time so that I can cover more ground in a shorter period of time, but that’s just me.)

When 30 minutes, give or take, has passed, lift the fiber out of the water and place it into a strainer or colander. Do not rinse fiber. Feel free to rinse the pot.

Now the fun begins. I use five or six packets of Kool-Aid™ at a time. Just open them up and pour them into the pot. Add cold water, stirring as you go. Add water until the Kool-Aid™ is a shade you like. If you like bright colors, use less water. If you like more diluted colors, add more. Be sure that all powder is dissolved for most even results.

Now gently lift the fiber out of the strainer and place it into the Kool-Aid™. Hold it under the water until it is saturated. Put it on the stove and heat it up to approximately 170F. Again, do not stir or otherwise agitate. Simmer uncovered until all of the color is exhausted. Yes, you read that correctly. The fiber will absorb all of the color and the water will turn milky when it is done.

Take the pot off the stove and gently lift the fiber out of the water and back into the strainer. I highly recommend using heat resistant gloves or wooden spoons or other tools to do this step. Let the fiber drain while you rinse the pot. Do not bend, fold, spindle or mutilate the fiber in an effort to get the liquid out. Just let it drain. When it is reasonably cool, dip it into a pot of clean water that is about the same temp as the fiber. This should rinse out any residual dye. Then put it back in the strainer and leave it alone for awhile.

When it has drained to your liking, hang it up to dry. I have a wooden frame that I simply hang the fiber over to dry in the breeze. Any railing or banister will work. This technique works well for roving. For fleece, I use a large frame with screening stretched over it. I know from experience that it is best to dry fiber outdoors. If you hang enough fiber over the same piece of linoleum for a long enough period of time, said linoleum will eventually need to be replaced. If hanging the fiber inside, I recommend hanging it over a bucket or drip pan. Trust me on this.

Okay, time has passed and your fiber is dyed beautiful unearthly bright colors. Now what? Well, it’s always good to have options, don’t you think? If you’re using one color, just card and spin. Actually, if you’re using roving and you’ve been nice to it throughout the process, carding might not even be necessary.

If you used two or more colors, you can card them together and spin, or card and spin separately and then ply them together. One of my favorite things to do is to card three random colors together and spin and ply them with three other random colors carded together.

I should mention that this technique can also be used on finished yarn and even commercially produced yarns – as long as they are natural protein fibers. Dye a whole skein one color or dip a section at a time for space dying. Try speckling your yarn – after the mordant process, lay the yarn flat and splatter or drizzle color randomly over it.

Go play! This is supposed to be fun!