Equipment for Dyeing

I use separate equipment for dyeing, and reserve my cooking equipment for cooking only. Though most synthetic dyes are supposed to be safe for use in dyeing, they are not safe to eat! Even if you wash your pots very well after dyeing, there is no guarantee that you will get all the dye particles out of them. Please keep yourself and your family safe by using separate pots and pans.

Here are some of the items I use in dyeing. Some of them I bought new, some used, and others I transferred to dyeing and bought new replacements for cooking:

For vat dyeing

• 2 extra large stock pots (Stainless steel is best) for large dye jobs
  
• 2 large stainless steel stock pots for medium and small dye jobs
  
• 5 stainless steel bowls for wetting and rinsing fibers
  
• Several wooden spoons
  
• 1 digital kitchen scale that measures in grams and ounces. It measures ingredients as small as one gram. I bought my scale at Amazon .
  
• Small paper cups (bathroom size) for holding dye powder as I measure it out.
  
• Rubber gloves for working with wet and dyed fibers
  
• Disposable gloves for working with dye powder
  
• GE Electric Buffet range for dyeing outdoors
  
• Folding table for the buffet range to sit on

Items I added for tie dye, varigated dyeing and shibori

• Rubber bands
• Glass jars for mixing or holding dye stock
• Cord or twine for tying and wrapping fibers
• Squeeze bottles (plastic) for applying dye in a controlled fashion
• Clothes pins

For Microwave dyeing you need

• Microwave oven you no longer need for cooking
• Plastic bags
• Plastic wrap
• Pyrex or microwave safe bowl
• Pyrex or microwave safe casserole

There are many more items you can add to a dye operation, but you can start with as little as a pot, a spoon, some paper cups, and rubber gloves.