Ice Dye Sheets

Red's Rustic Rehab
by Red's Rustic Rehab
4 Materials
$35
1 Day
Easy

This is a project was so fun to do! And was perfect for this hot, hot heat we’re having down here in Georgia! A super fun twist on traditional tie dye and a great project to add color to any boring white, cotton item! So grab the kids and a couple bags of ice and take the crafting fun outside for the day!

So for this project you will need:




  • 1 set of cotton bed sheets (mine were cotton/poly blend and still worked, but the dye would be more vibrant on 100% cotton, or any other natural fiber)
  • Tulip one step Tie Dye powder- I purchased the refills because I didn’t need the bottles or any of the rubber bands, if you want a more traditional tie dye look you may want the rubber bands
  • ice- lots of ice
  • grates or racks of some sort to elevate your project, you don’t want it laying in the dye as the ice melts

This is the dye I purchased! I got it at Hobby Lobby, and it was on sale, if you don't have a Hobby Lobby local to you it is available on Amazon with Prime shipping! I used two of the three packets it came with for a twin size set of sheets with 2 standard pillow cases. Choose whatever colors suit your decor! Its important to use a one step dye, if it doesn't clear state that its one step, you'll want to make sure that you follow the directions on the package to prepare your fabric so the dye doesn't just wash right out!

Set up your racks, I dissembled a shoe rack and laid them over my patio chairs, haha. Use whatever you have! I started laying the racks on top of a rubber maid tote but my nosey dog almost knocked it over and I wasn’t worried about the dye getting on these chairs and they are way to heavy for her to bulldoze her way through.

Once your grates are laid out, start arranging your sheets. I laid mine out long on the racks and then gathered them into themselves kind of like and accordion, or paper fan, long ways and then again short ways, I hope this makes since... you can really fold or roll or wad the sheets any way you want just like ordinary tie dye, use rope or rubber bands if you like as well! If your looking for the same type water color look I achieved this is how I chose to do it.

I used an entire 20lb bag of Ice for this project! Make sure you have plenty or the effect won’t be as dramatic.

Once the sheets are laid out in your desired fashion spread the ice on top of them, make sure they are as cover as possible! Since the dye is used in powder state it will mix with the ice as it melts and that it how the color will get into the fabric!

Here’s a look at mine after the day was placed. Make sure when applying your colors you think about how the colors will mix with each other, you don’t want anything to look muddy or brown, for example, yellow next to purple... not so pretty, but yellow next to pink or blue would result in orange or green hues. Really though, it all just depends on your desired outcome! If you have a dinosaur room brown might be right up your ally! There’s so much freedom in tie dye!

Once the ice is completely melted, mine took about 3 hours, I set up in the shade, but it was still about 95 degrees out, its time to start your timer! I wanted a more pastel effect for my step-daughters unicorn themed room, so I rinsed as soon as i noticed the ice was all melted, but if you want a brighter, more vivid color pallet, you can leave the dye on up to 24 hours! If that’s the case you would want to wrap these bad boys in plastic to make sure they don’t dry out completely before you rinse the dye out of them! When rinsing, rinse until the water runs clear! Then wash in cold water with your regular detergent and dry as you would any other bedsheet!

And thats it! This photo is after mine were washed and dried twice! I love the pastel watercolor look! What do you think? Want to see them styled in the room? Check out my next tutorial to see how I used these pretties!

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  • Bek Bek on Sep 20, 2020

    I've been tie-dying for a bit over 50 years now, and never once thought of using ice like this! Thanks for a fun new technique! Since I love vivid colors, I"ll be letting mine sit for a while.

  • Susan Beery Susan Beery on Sep 20, 2020

    Very cool technique. Thanks for sharing.

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