Dyeing Sponges Black

Thanks Miss Ronnie, always so helpful...saved me from running around the thrift stores.

i dont have any stainless steel pots BOOOO. I have the regular deep pots. thrift store here i come.

I used a regular pot, no problems..

lol thanks for the heads up guys After Christmas when I'm no longer "broke" I think Im gonna save up and just do a big order of fantasy sponges like about 40 i think should be enough :/ 1 per person is what everyone does right?

This will be on my to do list pretty soon

I'm always the "brokest" AFTER Christmas!

Last night I successfully dyed about 180 sponges and all of my daubers. They are all sitting out on my table air drying but I noticed this morning that under some sponges there is a faint dye residue on the towel the sponges are sitting on. Is this normal? I was planning on washing them in the washer tonight anyway (just to be sure I get all of the dye out) and drying them in my machine but I wanted to get a big mesh bag because it's hard as heck to spot all of the sponges floating around in a front loading washer and I'm afraid one of the smaller ones would find it's way out of the tub and mess up my washer. I love the way they look (my son said they look "slick"... just the look I was going for . Is there something I need to add to the load to ensure colorfastness?

Thanks Denise for sharing your idea, I'm finally color coordinated!

I rinsed mine initially in a strong vinegar water and then I washed them (by themselves) in the washing machine with vinegar in the bleach container. Next time I wash them I might add some salt just to cover both bases but vinegar was recommended for synthetics.

I would love for you to do a youtube titorial on this..lol.

All my sponges are black now! Except the one that got away.

Love the idea of black sponges! Watching this thread to see how the dye holds over time...

Coral3 wrote:Love the idea of black sponges! Watching this thread to see how the dye holds over time...

Me too Coral. Like Lady Jayde said...sponges would look more pro to have them a uniform color.
Mine certainly don't look dirty thanks to Shannon's tip on immediately throwing them in the water bucket and using Purity soap.
My only concern is that the Purity would take some of the dye out and I'd wind up with gray sponges not black.

I did mine yesterday! Love it!!! Thanks Denise...

So stylish!

I bought the dye today- honestly I really want to buy some more sponges first so I can do them all at once. Just another excuse for me to spend money!

^^my mom just took me sponge n brush shopping.now I need to make a trip to Wal-Mart!

Coooool! Great idea! Thank you Denise!
I'm going to dye my sponges toooooo!

SmileyBee Faces wrote:I would love for you to do a youtube titorial on this..lol.

It's pretty self explainatory, just follow the directions on the box and take notes of the things that are said in this thread. I was able to do it without an issue and I barely read the box because the print was so small that only a literate fly could clearly discern it. It would take longer to make a video than it would to dye sponges.

Denise Cold wrote:All my sponges are black now! Except the one that got away.

I found TWO little buggers that got away! I scoured every bag and all of the nooks and crannies and sure enough, I found 2 after I did all of my weekend gigs with my fancy new sponges. I can't thank you enough Denise!

martha wrote:

Coral3 wrote:Love the idea of black sponges! Watching this thread to see how the dye holds over time...

Me too Coral. Like Lady Jayde said...sponges would look more pro to have them a uniform color.
Mine certainly don't look dirty thanks to Shannon's tip on immediately throwing them in the water bucket and using Purity soap.
My only concern is that the Purity would take some of the dye out and I'd wind up with gray sponges not black.

I wash my brushes and sponges with Purity and I can attest that the Purity didn't discolor the sponges or remove the color...so go fer it!

I will say though that if you have as many sponges as I do, you will want to break them up into batch amounts because it appears that the pigment in the dye bath runs out after one run through. When I tried to dye the second batch, they dyed, but not as darkly, so I took them out and tried the 3rd batch and they wouldn't dye at all. What I wound up doing was dumping the depleted dyebath and making a fresh batch, because I'd already partially started on the last 2 batches I was able to get a good stain on both (I started with the last batch which hadn't dyed much at all and ended with the middle batch which had only dyed a dark charcoal grey color). I'm loving my sadistic looking sponges now!!

You're right Lady Jayde. I think that's why they literally have you weigh your cloth/clothes before-hand in the directions. It only goes so far. Glad you like the look. When I found that other sponge I was happy I'd done it again.

Glad to know about the Purity and the need for fresh dye. I'm kinda like the nursery rhyme. Three bags full...not of wool but of sponges.

Denise Cold wrote:You're right Lady Jayde. I think that's why they literally have you weigh your cloth/clothes before-hand in the directions. It only goes so far. Glad you like the look. When I found that other sponge I was happy I'd done it again.

I don't like the look...I freaking LOVE the look! I'd told my hubby he's lucky I didn't leave him for my ginormous bag of black sponges! I'm as happy as a pig in slop right about now!

martha wrote: Glad to know about the Purity and the need for fresh dye. I'm kinda like the nursery rhyme. Three bags full...not of wool but of sponges.

I'm telling you. They will have a profound affect on you! I sat there staring at my table full of black sponges... just staring. I even checked on them in the middle of the night. I love those little buggers! I need to find something else to do to pull my attention away from my sponges.

And as far as looking professional goes, I received several comments about my "special face painting" sponges during my gigs this weekend. Bulls eye!

You've started a trend, Denise---at the Parade of Lights last weekend every face painter cornered me to find out where I'd found such awesome sponges, cause they all wanted to buy them too. I was almost tempted to set up my own "black sponges internet shop"--but being as they are all wonderful friends, I told them the truth...Thank you for the upgraded look!