Does Temperature Matter for Ice Tie Dye?

Ice tie dye is so simple and fun. Does the speed at which the ice melts matter? I experimented for you so you can do ice tie dye in any weather.

When I first started ice dyeing kept getting questions about how long it would take so I thought I’d experiment to see! I also answered the FAQ of if you can ice dye with natural dyes. And now I have my post about ice dyeing with liquid! Don’t forget to check out all of my dyeing tutorials

I live in the desert and was wondering if I put my ice dye in the sun if it would change what the tie dye looked like. This experiment helped me figure that out.

The Ice Dye Temperature Experiment

Here is the whole experiment. If you aren’t in the mood for a video or want extra details on how I did the experiment read below. For instructions of how to ice dye, those are also below.

My Favorite Dye for Ice Dyeing

Rit Dye

I get asked all the time if you can ice dye with liquid dye. I honestly don’t know but I don’t think it would work. Stay tuned because I will try it!

How to Ice Dye

I put together an ice dyeing tutorial here. I will put the video below as well if you’d prefer to watch it.

How I Did My Ice Dyeing Experiment

I put some tie dye outside in the hot sun. It was probably about 100 degrees in the sun.

After about 1 hour it was melted. I rinsed it out and put it through a rinse cycle.

The cooler experiment was done in my fridge. It took NINE DAYS! It didn’t even fully melt.

In conclusion: it does not matter. If you’re in a rush, put it in the sun. If you’re in a cold environment and want to leave it outside, it will work just fine as well.

Here is the orange after 9 days.

Here are my results. The left was slowly melted and the right was melted in about an hour. I don’t think there is hardly any difference. The different types of ice make a big difference, but this won’t.

How long does ice dyeing take?

After performing this experiment I can now confirm it takes as long as ice takes to melt! If you can get the ice to melt quick it can take as little as 30 minutes. You can use a hair dryer and really expedite the process. If you leave it at room temperature it will take about 4 hours.

I made a pin just for you. You’re welcome!