Dyeing Playsilks with Kool-Aid

I know, I know, every craft or parenting blog on the planet has a post about dying playsilks or yarn or other products with Kool-Aid.  But I did it recently, had a lot of fun doing it so am going to give you the run down :)

I ordered the 1m square silks from Dharma Trading Co, and the Kool-Aid on ebay because its not usually sold here in Australia (or if it is, its at expensive imported candy stores - although I have some other colours/flavours to collect from a Canadian online store that allows pickup from a French patisserie in the city).  I planned to dye pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and leave one white.

Clockwise from top left: Yellow silk dyed with 3 packs Lemonade and 1 pack Mango, Blue silk dyed with 4 backs Blue Berry, Pink silk dyed with 3 packs Pink Lemonade and the Orange silk was dyed with 4 packs of Orange.

 Step 1: Dump silks in hot water with a fairly good glug of vinegar.  I think there would be a cup or so in this pan with the hot water.  Soak for 15 - 30 minutes (although I am sure longer won't hurt) while you prepare the dye.

 Step 2: gather containers for the dye baths.  You can use glass or metal but not plastic as it will stain and absorb the smell and flavour a little.  Kool-aid and vinegar are foods and not toxic so you can use your every day cookware.

 Step 3: Empty the Kool-aid into the containers, then add hot water and a good splash of vinegar.  I think there is about a cup and a half of hot water in each container.

 Step 4: Add silks to the dye baths and move and squish around fast if you want the most even coverage.  Keep squishing and moving until the water left in the container looks milky or pretty clear - its actually really cool seeing how fast the dye attaches to the silk!

 Oh yeah, wear gloves if you have them.  This stuff stains!!!  If you don't have gloves and are itching to dye, washing your hands well with toothpaste afterwards will remove most the dye, except around the edges of your nails.  I hear shaving cream works too?

 My orange silk being dyed.

 Step 5: Rinse under COLD water until water is running clear.  Then hang out to dry!

 Step 6: PLAY!!!  Geekling loves kicking his legs around in them, throwing them over his head and loves to play peek-a-boo with us.

I just love how vibrant the colours turned out, I think because I was heavy handed with the vinegar?  Some I've seen online are a lot paler.  I'm looking forward to completing the set with Purple, Green and Red soon!