Tie dye is a classic fashion trend, and it is genuinely favored in the summertime. tie dye is not only popular with clothes, but you can entirely create a pair of tie dye shoes at home.
The tie dye process can be pretty complicated for many people. You can use different ways to have a pair of tie dye shoes.
If you are not sure where to start and what to do to tie dye your shoes, the following article will be for you.
Tie Dye Your Shoes With Sharpies Easily
Using sharpies is a quick and straightforward way to create a vibrant pair of tie dye shoes with your own style. With sharpie markers, you can create beautiful spirals or fun splashes of color.
If you are a beginner or want your kids to have a great time with colors and shoes, get started now!
What You Will Need:
- Sharpie markers
- Canvas shoes
- Paintbrush
- Rubbing alcohol
- Painter’s tape/ paper tape/ plastic tape
How to use them:
Step 1: Cover The Shoes’ Soles
The first step of the process is covering the rubber soles of your great canvas shoes. Your shoes will be more outstanding with white soles instead of colored ones. You can also cover any part of the shoes that you do not want to tie dye. To do that, you will need painter’s tape or plastic tape.
Do not forget to remove shoelaces before tie dyeing.
Step 2: Use Sharpies To Make Tie Dye
In this step, you just need to use sharpies to paint patches of color on the shoes. You can be creative because tie dye has no limits.
Let’s draw the contours before coloring. Between two different colors, you should leave a space of about 3 mm so that the color can ‘run’ more quickly. Once you’ve defined the color spaces, start painting a thin zigzag layer.
In case you want more eye-catching textures like spirals, you’ll need to follow a few rules.
Firstly, find a center point on the toe of your shoe that you can mark with a pencil. From this point, use three different colors to draw three swirls. The swirls should be drawn progressively larger, meaning that the further away from the center, the further apart they are.
Next, make these swirls bigger and darker by using sharpies and drawing zig zags on the wheels. If you want to finish the tie dye with three colors, paint until there is about 3 mm of white space between the swirls.
If you want more color on your shoes, leave spaces large enough to fill in more color. In the second case, use other colors to fill the spaces between the three swirls you have created.
PRO-TIP: Do not use red if you want bright and radiant tie dye. Instead, you can use orange and pink.
Step 3: Dissolve The Color With A Paintbrush And Rubbing Alcohol
Dip the paintbrush in the rubbing alcohol solution and then brush it all over the shoes. Another way to help the color melt without a brush is to use a spray bottle. Put the rubbing alcohol solution in a spray bottle and spray it on your shoes. This will help the color on the sneakers to dissolve more evenly.
Alternatively, you can check out this article about kind of paint products to use on shoes
Step 4: Dry Your Shoes
Dry your shoes in the sun and let them dry naturally. You should not use the dryer.
Here is a tutorial video that you can follow to have cool sneakers with sharpies. In this video, the instructor does not cover the shoes’ soles. If you do not prefer tie dye soles, just cover them before starting!
How To Tie Dye Shoes With A Tie Dye Kit
One of the most common ways to tie dye a pair of shoes is using the tie dye kit. You can find this product easily in craft stores and supermarkets.
Now I will show you how to use this product to tie dye your shoes step by step. Here we go!
What you will need:
- Canvas shoes
- Soda ash
- tie dye kit
- Applicator bottles
- Paper towel
- Paint brushes
- Plastic bag
- Plastic tape or paper tape
How to use them:
Step 1: Prepare Your Shoes
Firstly, you should ensure that your shoes are clean before tie dyeing. Also, you should remove the shoelaces if you do not want to tie dye them.
Then, you need to make the soda ash solution and soak your shoes in this solution for 10 minutes. To have this solution, you need to mix one-gallon warm water with approximately 120g of soda ash.
After that, let your shoes dry naturally and completely. This step will help the colors to be absorbed more effectively.
Now your shoes are ready for tie dyeing!
PRO-TIP: You can make soda ash by yourself. You just need to heat baking soda at 200F for around 60 minutes to have soda ash.
Step 2: Mix The Tie Dye Colors
Generally, a tie dye kit will come with three or five primary colors. If you want more colors on your shoes, you have to mix these dyes. For example, to create an orange color, you can combine yellow with red. To have a blue color, you can incorporate green with green.
In your tie dye kit, there will be some applicator bottles that are used for mixing the colors. Mix color with water in an appropriate ratio. Shake the bottle well to mix the solution.
After creating the colors you want, you should test them before applying them to the shoes.
Put the dye solution on a piece of paper towel. If the color is faint, it means you have made the solution too dilute, and you need to add more color. If the color is too dark and thick, you need to add more water.
You can also try color combinations to see which colors work side by side and vice versa.
Step 3: Tie Dye Your Shoes
Before tie dyeing your shoes, make sure you cover the soles of your shoes with plastic tape or paper tape.
In addition, you should determine the type of texture that you want to draw on your shoes. This will make the shoes more eye-catching. You can create a layout with a pencil before painting the colors.
Let’s start with bright colors like yellow, orange, and green first. Between the color spaces, leave a gap of about 5 mm so that the paint can spread out and create a better effect.
Use a small, thin-tipped paint brush to spread the dye evenly over the fabric. Small brushes will help you control the amount of color solution more quickly than large brushes. After handling the light colors, you can paint darker colors like purple, red, dark blue.
Finally, use a dry brush to blend the dyes. It would be best if you did that when the dyes are wet.
Step 4: Set The Tie Dye
This step is essential for a durable and vibrant tie dye. It would be best if you wrapped your dyed shoes in a plastic bag. Then wait for at least 6 hours. After that, wash your shoes by hand and air dry them.
Tip: Usually, I will leave my shoes overnight, which is about 12-14 hours.
FAQs
1. Do you wash tie dye shoes?
Yes, I do. However, there are some notes that you should keep in mind when washing tie dye shoes. You should use cold water to wash instead of warm water because warm water will cause the dye to fade. Besides, I recommend using gentle detergent and washing by hand.
2. What can I use instead of soda ash for tie dyeing?
Soda ash is known as a dye fixer. In case you do not have soda ash, you can use salt as a replacement. The salt will help the dye penetrate the fabric more efficiently, thereby forming a solid bond. Besides, you can also use sodium silicate instead of soda ash.
3. Is it better to tie dye wet or dry?
I recommend moistening your shoes before tie dyeing because this will help the dye to color evenly and be easier to spread. If you are tie dyeing on dry shoes, the dye may not penetrate the fabric evenly.
4. Can you let tie dye sit too long?
Yes, you can—actually, the time you let the tie dye sit will not affect the result. You can let the tie dye sit for 2 hours or even a day. It is up to you.
5. How long should tie dye be before rinsing?
The ideal time is from 2 hours to 24 hours. The dye takes time to adhere to your shoes and settle on shoes. Therefore, if you rinse immediately after dyeing, your sneakers may end up in a mess.
6. Does heat speed up tie dye?
Yes, it does. You can use the microwave to speed up the tie dye process. Before heating the shoes, wrap a plastic bag or cloth and then microwave the shoes on high heat for about 2-3 minutes.
7. What colors not to mix when tie dyeing?
Contrasting colors should not be placed next to each other when tie dyeing your shoes. If you put them close together, the color will probably turn into an ugly mud color. For example, you should avoid placing red near green, purple next to yellow, or orange near blue. Remember this rule!
8. Why is my tie dye dull?
Many reasons explain your soft tie dye. One of them is that you used hard water in the shoe dyeing process. Some types of water, such as well water, are often very hard. Therefore, you should use a water softener before use. Besides, not using soda ash can also make your shoes dull.