How to Make Tie Dye Masks Using Food Coloring

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Who is in the mood for something fun and different today? I am going to introduce you to Food Coloring Tie-Dye Masks! I have been dying to make tie-dye art forever and today we are going to get that chance. Tie-dye was all the rage when I was a kid and now it’s coming back. If you are up for a crafty adventure today and want to try something different, try this fun teen craft.

Tie-dye painting Crafts allow children to express their creativity freely. They can experiment with different colors, patterns, and techniques, fostering a sense of individuality and self-expression.

Tie Dye Crafts

Don’t for a second think that this is the only thing you can tie dye-in your life. There are quite a few things you can do for tie-dye crafts out there. Think about the opportunity out there to tie-dye anything you want. T-shirts, tablecloths, pants, sweaters, socks, napkins, shorts, and blankets.

The options are endless. These cloth masks are just one of many things you can tie dye, so get excited. I am so excited about all the things you can tie-dye.

What Kind of Material Can Be Tie Dyed?

As you sit here thinking about everything you can make tie-dye art of, you may be wondering what kind of material can be tie-dyed. Well, that one is a little bit trickier. Once you do the tie dye, you will want it to stay, which is why knowing what type of material is so important.

Natural fiber is always the best kind of material to do tie-dye on. A few of my favorite materials to tie dye include:

• Hemp
• Linen
• Rayon
• Cotton

You don’t want to do 50/50 blends because they just don’t come out as well as the materials mentioned above. Give these materials a try on your next tie dye and let me know what you think.

What you’ll need:

• A cloth mask (I use Hanes, which can be bought at Wal-Mart or most local grocery stores)
• Food Coloring (any brand will work)
• Vinegar (Dollar Store Cleaning Vinegar works just fine)
• A small bowl to soak the mask in vinegar
• Saran Wrap (or any plastic bag)
• A rubber band to hold the mask in place
• 3 or more shampoo travel bottles (I found mine at the dollar store)
• A plastic shopping bag and an old shirt to hold the ‘dye’ to not make a mess

1. Pour a small amount of vinegar into a bowl and let the mask set for 1 hour

2. While the mask is soaking up vinegar, pour ¼ cup water into each shampoo bottle.

3.  Add 8 drops total of food coloring for lighter color masks or 16 drops total for darker color masks. If you are mixing colors (ie: Purple. You’d add 4 drops Red, 4 Drops blue)

4. Once the mask has been soaking for an hour, rinse it in water and then spread out over a plastic bag/old shirt, or newspapers

5 Add rubber bands to the fabric to create different patterns.  I used a bulls-eye and vertical strip pattern. 

6. When you are finished, place the mask in plastic wrap for 4 hours to absorb color.

7. After 4 hours, unwrap the mask and let it dry outside or hang up in a bathtub/sink

8. After the mask dries, rinse again in the sink and hand wash with light dish soap or laundry detergent

9. Let the mask dry again and enjoy!

More Craft Ideas:

Make Edible Paint for Food Crafts

Watercolor and Salt Painting Craft

Can You Tie Dye With Food Coloring?

Well, considering we are using food coloring for this mask project, the answer is YES. In my opinion, it’s one of the best ways to tie dye too. The colors come out amazing. You will enjoy dying with food coloring because it’s so easy to do.

I also love that it’s budget-friendly, which makes me super happy. Since we do a lot of tie-dye crafts, I like to find materials on a budget. You can pick up food coloring for only a few dollars at your local store.

How to Care for Food Coloring Tie Dye Masks

What happens if you make these masks, how do you care for them? You don’t want to spend all this money on these masks and then they get ruined. Utilizing equal parts vinegar and equal parts water and soaking the mask in it for 30 minutes can help preserve the color of the mask.

Also, make sure you’re washing in cold water to help try and keep the mask from bleeding color. At the end of the day, colors do fade and bleed and you just have to do your best to prevent it.