Our ice dyed wearable art pieces are processed to help cut down on dye bleed and back staining during subsequent washing. Dye bleed is when leftover loose dye comes off and turns the wash water a different color. For example, your purple, blue and fuchsia blouse may turn your wash water slightly pink or bluish the first few washes. This is normal.
Back staining is when loose dye from the wash water reattaches to the fabric and changes the color. For instance, if you put a white and red garment in the wash water and it comes out stained pink where the white used to be, it has been back stained by loose red dye from the rest of the fabric. We process all our pieces to help prevent this from happening.
Hand Wash
No matter how conscientious we are, there may be instances when bits of leftover dye are still present. Your garment should always be hand washed by itself using cold water and a few drops of hair shampoo or dishwashing liquid. Gently squeeze the suds through the fabric several times and then rinse the piece. It is best to simply wash and rinse the piece and then remove excess water by rolling the piece in a towel or putting it in a spin-only cycle in a washing machine.
Do not soak your ice dyed pieces for any length of time. We recommend a wash and rinse time of less than five minutes to help prevent dye bleeding and fading.
Do Not Dry Clean
Dry cleaners use harsh liquid chemicals that can severely fade or completely remove the dye from your ice dyed pieces. Always hand wash your ice dyes.
Dye Bleed
In the event of any dye bleed, rinse the piece several times in fresh, cold water until the water is fairly clear. Some minor dye bleed is normal. However, there should not be any back staining. It is extremely important, regardless of our processing, to wash your ice dyed pieces by themselves to prevent any possible dye bleed from staining other clothing that has not been processed the same way.
Tumble Dry or Air Dry
All the pieces we offer have been machine washed and dried, with the exception of 100% silk garments. There should be no further shrinkage of your ice dyed piece. You can opt to tumble your ice dyed garment in the dryer on low heat to keep it nice and soft, or you can lay it flat or hang it up to air dry. For silk garments, we recommend hanging to dr
Do Not Use Fabric Softeners
We do not recommend using any kind of fabric softener or dryer sheets, both of which can compromise the dye.
Press or Steam (or not!)
All our ice dyed pieces can be lightly pressed with an iron on a medium setting or steamed with a hand steamer to help remove wrinkles. Or you can wear them wonderfully wrinkled and comfy. No one else will mind!