Dark Horse Dyes™

Dark Horse Dyes are formulated just for ice dyeing. We batch them several times to make sure the colors are consistent as possible.  But, ice dyeing can be unpredictable and the results can still vary.  Make sure to do sample pieces before dyeing a large project.  We have not batched these for liquid dyeing, so we don't know how they would turn out. All of the colors are formulated and mixed by us. We use top premium dyes and keep to strict formulas for the colors. They are precisely mixed the same every time.

Customers have shown us some amazing results using the colors we’ve published. When you see what is possible with a dye color, know that you can achieve that result also; but ice dyeing is unpredictable and can be tricky.

We’ve seen that when a dyer doesn’t get the great result that another dyer gets, they want to give up on the color. We want to encourage you not to do that. You are the one who can master the dye and make it work beautifully. It might take some time to learn how to work with a color to make it perform its best. Don’t be discouraged right away if the ice dye doesn’t turn out the way you want.

There are many factors involved in ice dyeing: a variety of fabrics; water chemistry depending on your location; volume of ice used; variety of methods applied; etc.; but the dye powder remains the same. Don’t give up on the dye color, look to a change in the process to make the difference. Here are a few things we have learned that give us the best results:  1) Make sure the fabric is 100% natural. 2) Pre-wash the fabric. 3) Pre-soak fabric in soda ash mix. 4) After dye powder is put on the ice, we like to add a light/medium sprinkling of dry soda ash on top. 5) Batch for at least 15-24 hours.