Best Tie Dye Brands Compared

Here you will find a simple breakdown of the pros and cons of each of the most popular tie-dye brands and a video of how they perform compared to one another.

I’ve been dyeing for years now and love everything about the art form but sometimes it’s hard to know exactly where to start. Using the correct dye is going to make the biggest difference in your tie dye. Even, in my opinion, more than the material you are dyeing (given it’s a natural fiber ie, cotton, rayon, silk.)

As someone who has tried all of these dye brands quite a bit and played around with them in different settings, I feel like I can explain why I use which dyes and when the situation permits the different tie dye brands.

In this post, I will compare Rit, Jacquard, and Dharma brand dyes. If there is another brand you’re interested in me comparing, comment below and I’ll give it a try. (For example, I have never used Tulip brand. Mostly because it’s in a similar price range as Rit, just as readily available, and doesn’t seem like great quality.)

Let’s get into it

Rit Dye

Pros

• Accessible. You can likely grab this at a store near you today. Michaels, Joann, and Walmart are the stores near me that sell them. I have found there isn’t a huge assortment at Walmart but they do have the basic colors. You can also get these from Amazon but be careful that you’re actually getting a deal and they haven’t marked the price way up!
• Price. If you have a coupon for Joann or Michaels, you can find these dye boxes for around $2 sometimes! You can also find Rit on amazon.
• Doesn’t require soda ash. The other brands I compared need soda ash or alum to set the dye and make it colorfast. Rit does not require that making it great for a quick and fun activity.

Cons

• Color bleeding. It doesn’t matter how well you rinse your Rit dye. It will bleed. I have never had crisp white with any of my Rit dye projects
• Fading. Rit’s colors are not as vivid even after the first wash and rinse but they also fade much quicker than other dyes.
• Takes a long time to rinse. For some reason, Rit takes FOREVER to rinse out. I have rinsed for over 10 minutes sometimes (especially with reds).

Conclusion

Rit is fine for a quick day of tie-dyeing. I suggest it when people want to do tie dye as a group project while camping or at family reunions because it’s easy to find, and doesn’t require the extra step of soda ash. If you want to make something that will last and has beautiful vivid color, I’d suggest something else.

This review is on Rit powdered dye, not their liquid dyes. I will say, however, I’ve had similar experiences with both.

Jacquard Dye

Pros

• Available on Amazon. If you don’t want to leave the couch and don’t want to pay shipping, but still want a procion dye, this is a great option
• Kits come in an assortment of colors. You don’t have to pick out colors one by one with Jacquard. They have sets available of the most popular colors so you can just buy one set and have options.

Cons

• Colors aren’t what is represented. In my experience, ‘fire engine red’ is more like a soft red. ‘Emerald Green’ was lime green. The colors listed aren’t what you get in the end, and they don’t have many pictures of samples, you just need to go by the name of the color. If you’re interested in me doing some dye samples of each color comment below!
• Need to use a mordant. You will need to apply soda ash to the fabric before or during the dyeing process. There are lots of ways to do this but here is how I mix an alum bath. If you are ice dyeing, you can mix soda ash directly into the powdered dye and apply them at the same time.
• Not very color-fast. Although the color is more colorfast than Rit, it’s still going to fade pretty quickly on you. Especially if you don’t correctly mordant your fabric.
• Price. For the amount of dye you get in the container, this is the most expensive. You need to use a decent amount of dye to get dark colors and the containers they come in are quite small.

Conclusion

Jacquard is a good option if you’re dabbling in procion dyes and want to just get a small sample of a lot of colors without leaving home or paying for shipping. If you want really nice quality, deep colors, grab Dharma instead.

Dharma Trading

Pros

• Vivid color. There is nothing worse than unfolding a beautiful vibrant art piece with amazing color then starting the rinsing process and all of the color just comes right out (like the other dyes I tried.) These colors come out vivid and exactly as described every time. (Provided you mordanted your fabric correctly.)
• Wide variety. If you can think of a color, Dharma has it and 3 alternatives. There are so many color options! (If you want some ideas for different tie dye color combinations watch a video I did on that here
• Price. For a 4-ounce container you will be spending between $3-6 but those little containers go a long way. (Shipping is, however, expensive. See below)
• Colorfast. These colors do not fade! (Ok everything fades a little.) The things I’ve dyed with Dharma are 10x more vibrant than any other dyes I’ve used.
• Easy to rinse out. Dharma dyes rinse out very well. When instructions say ‘rinse until water runs clear’, it doesn’t require 20 minutes of ringing like Rit sometimes does.

Cons

• Variety can be overwhelming. There are so many colors to choose from. If you need a place to start I suggest looking at Reddit for what people have used and see what colors you like most. You can also watch the video I linked here to see a few of the colors in action. My favorites as of this post are seafoam, oxblood red, coral, lavender, wedgewood blue, sage green, and raven black. But they are changing regularly as I try new combinations!
• Requires soda ash. You will have an added step of mordanting your fabric before or during the dyeing process. If you’re sprinkling the dye on, I suggest mixing soda ash with your dye then you never forget this important step.
• expensive shipping. I am typically ordering 5-10 dyes at a time and my shipping is usually around $18! That’s pretty expensive for such a little thing, but it’s not Amazon after all.

Conclusion

If you are looking to get vibrant, colorfast results, you cannot go wrong with Dharma. If you’d like to sell your tie dye, you will definitely want to use this or something of this caliber. However,

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