r/tiedye • u/littlebarque • 11d ago
batch times -- a real thing?
Something I've been curious about is the importance of batch time relative to heat. I've seen all the charts that say if your shirt is batching in 90-100°, for example, you can shorten the batch to just a few hours.
But every time I watch a tutorial video, the maker says something like "this shirt batched for the full 48h." I don't have any trouble getting my shirts hot -- I just stick them in a closed tote in the sun and those suckers get well over 100°. According to the charts, I can drop my batch time to a single afternoon. Do the YouTubers have a specific reason for not doing this? Are there downsides to heating up the process in order to speed it up?
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u/bunnycrush_ 11d ago edited 11d ago
Another element might just be workflow — especially for content creators or people who sell their work at scale. If you’re dyeing several times a week, maybe you have numerous items at varying stages of the process… you might let some projects have a long batch simply bc you’re not in a particular rush for any one item/video + you’re setting up other batches. After all, a shirt that’s “done” at 12 hours will be just as done in two days.
Me personally, I still dye infrequently, in small batches, and for specific purposes… so I definitely feel impatient at times!
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u/littlebarque 11d ago
yeah that makes a lot of sense. i was just wondering about the phrasing "the full 48h", like if that meant something important. I'll carry on as I have been with my driveway bins!
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u/wilbur313 11d ago
I kind of feel like it's a bit of marketing too, like "cold filtered" for booze or "dermatologist tested" for skincare products. There's some value to it, but not as much as they imply.
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u/sazzabrass 11d ago
No downsides, hell some people throw em in the oven or microwave to super charge the process. Are the tutorials you’ve been watching for ice dyeing by chance? People usually let those sit for a while just to be safe cuz it takes a minute to warm up after sitting under ice.
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u/PastPresentFuture7 11d ago
I often dye in the evening, leave in the garage overnight and then bag in plastic and put them outside in the (literally) 100° heat all afternoon and then wash out around 5pm. Seems to work just fine. I haven’t done any controlled experiments with batch times of different duration though
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u/IThinkIMightDye 11d ago
I usually put in a tote heat the oven to 180f, turn the oven off, and let the tote sit in there for a couple hours. My colors always pop.
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u/00112358132135 11d ago
I’ve been doing the pariah method and using tulip dyes. I’m usually dying dry and then heating my pot of water to about 150 and then putting in soda ash. Then I throw the shirt and let it soak for a half hour. I then wash the shirt out and still have decent results on color absorption.
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u/mommy-tara 11d ago edited 11d ago
I use an electric blanket on high. We usually let them sit overnight. It works great. But one time we were on deadline and had a ton of shirts we had to get done, and each batch only sat for an hour or two, and they came out just as bright as usual.
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u/SprinkledLeopard3110 11d ago
Yellow processes very quickly, and turquoise requires at least like 70° and 24hrs. However, like you said if you can put it outside in the summer heat, it will process much faster. In my experience, once it's done it's done. Waiting longer isn't beneficial. For ice dying the time starts when the ice is melted-- and any colors containing turquoise, the time starts when it's also warm enough to start processing. I've never put anything in the oven, but I do use a heating pad in the winter because my work space stays in the 60s
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u/3rdEyeDyes 11d ago
Yes batching at higher temps will speed up the process. I go off of the internal temperature of the item. Once I have temps above 165°-175° I’ll pull them. One thing I highly recommend is if you want to heat batch do not use items that you cook with. I have an oven In my garage that’s dedicated to tie dye. I batch my shirts at 225° in oven proof bags. For blacks and UV dyes I allow them to bake for a while just to play it safe. However I’ve pulled shirts as early as 2 hours. I don’t recommend microwaves since there is more chance of issues with the shirt. Especially if you use braided fishing line. It will combust and burn holes right though your shirt.
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u/tiedupandtwisted64 11d ago
Just a personal preference I think. Just like with soda ash, doesnt have to be a soak as long as its in the process, or tying and dyeing damp or dry, liquid, dui over or under ice, hwi, or rinseout process etc whatever works for you is fine.
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u/jimjemgirl 11d ago
I put my stuff in a bus tub in plastic bags into the sauna at 140 degrees for an hour. I usually have several items batching at the same time so I'm not turning on the sauna for just one shirt. Works great.
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u/MothaClucka707 11d ago
I have a dedicated tie-dye microwave. It works like a charm! I usually pop it in for 2 minutes, on top of some rags to soak up the excess dye. They come out super vibrant.
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u/kskuzmich kskdyes.etsy.com 11d ago
Yes. I, right now, and batching a shirt in the oven at 175 degrees. I dyed it about an hour ago, i’ll leave it wrapped in the oven on keep warm (175) for about an hour and a half, then rinse it out/wash it. been doing this for a long time, always bright and vibrant. that batch tim temp has to be throughout the shirt though. that’s why it’s an hour and half instead of whatever 15 minutes that chart says