Kool aid dyeing wool and hair

I played with kool aid dyeing today on hair and wool. The same kool aid color (ice blue raspberry lemon aid) was used on both what a change the color is from one to the other. I want to dye a few more skeins of yarn  2 oz each) and use this to make a sweater. Also one or two more kids want their hair dyed so we will see what colors they pick I may use the same. The hair color is just for the summer for fun for camp when school rolls around this will not be in their hair anymore. 

 

wear gloves and protect area and wear clothes you do not care about as this will dye what it touches.
update june 2012

We like dk cherry (above 2012) and strawberry (below 2010) in the kids hair

directions how to do this below for wool and hair

wool
have fun here is how you do it for wool. If using store bought wool soak it set it in a pan mix cool aid 2 packages to 1 ounce of wool amount of water doesn't matter it just has to be enough to cover the wool.
I do this in a large cake pan in the over this makes a variegated color in the wool

Mix kool aid with boiling water /lace pour over wool ( the wool needs to be pre soaked or it will not be absorbent to the dye) all over it and place in oven at 250 to 300 come and look at it a every now and again till you don't see any more color in the water . The water should be clear or sort of a whitish color. When you see that pull out and dump wool in cold water to rinse. Rinse in cold water till water runs clear be-careful not to felt it don't use hot water or soap.

Then let dry.

I wind mine in to hanks you can do it how ever you want. I have a scale I bought at the post office that I weight my wool on so I know how much it weights so I know that all my hanks are 2 ounces. This only works with a natural fibers but doesn't seem to work on cotton.

You can also do this on the stove top fill large stew pot with water leave enough room to accommodate wool . Mix the dye in to the water and let boil when it is boiling add the wool to the dye bath the wool should already be in hanks tied loosely to dye and should already be saturated in water so it can absorbed the dye. When the water goes clear after a time then hang the wool to dry and this will still look hand dyed but it will be a a more solid color not as marbled as the other way.

For hair there are pretty much two ways to do it one is scary but fast and one is simple but takes forever.


Scary way parent supervision I am not responsible for burns or scalding or any other damage you do to your self family, friends, or anyone else.  Use caution

for stripes in the hair ( this is what we did)


wet hair first

if you do not want to dye your skin around your face you can put Vaseline on but we did not do that


boil water as if making tea place 1 to 2 packets of Kool aid in a large coffee mug pour hot water into mug.( this water was just boiling keep that in mind.  Dunk a strand of hair into the mug and lower head as close to teh cup as possible without dumping boiling water or steam burning your head.  Leave it this way for about 2 mins- 5 mins per hank of hair.  This will be uncomfortable and an odd angle to hold your head have someone help you.  Pull hair hank out use butterfly clip and clip and do next strand and continue in this pattern till you have all the strands done you want (realize that the lighter your hair is the better this works for dark dark hair you will have to bleach your hair to almost white for this to work.  Ie damaged hair.  For lighter hair not a big deal just realize that blue goes green on blond hair.  You can do different colors if you have different cups of kool aid all ready to go.

to make solid color all over the head


Easy way that takes forever the way we did not do it but may next time as it is easier and less scary.

wet hair first 

if you do not want to dye your skin around your face you can put Vaseline on around hair line we may do that with this technique because it is on the head so long.


take about 2 table spoons of conditioner and mix it with 2 packages of kool aid.  Put conditioner mixture in a coffee mug.  With gloves hands rub conditioner into the hair (best to have a friend do this).  Place a shower cap over head and leave on for 8 hours yep 8 hours the body heat helps it mesh with the hair.  Some people sleep with it on but I would be worried about wrecking my kids bed lines.  So you can also go sit in the back yard and do yard work on a sunny day and the heat of the sun will help set the color.  Lastly do it first thing in the morning and leave on all day till bed time then rinse hair about 16 hours.  This way is longest as you are not heating up the hair as much so it takes longer.  All three ways must have a shower cap on.  Dark purples and reds work great on black hair to give it a color sheen n the sun if you do not want to bleach your hair first.