Freshen up your table with colorful DIY dip dyed napkins. They're easy to make using plain cotton dinner napkins and fabric dye.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Active Time10 minutesmins
Total Time40 minutesmins
Keyword: color fixative, cotton napkins, dip dyed napkins, rit dye
Yield: 4napkins
Author: Heather Baird
Equipment
Plastic painter’s drop cloth
Kitchen twine or rubber bands
1 gallon container
Rubber gloves
Materials
4white cotton napkins
1gallon hot water
1/3cup salt
1/2bottleRit fabric dye, in your color choice
1/2bottleRit dye color fixative
Instructions
Lay down a plastic cover or paint drop cloth over your work surface.
For best results, prewash napkins. I don’t always do this, but if your napkins are very stiff, have chemical odor, or otherwise questionable with manufacturer’s sizing, give them a wash. They can be wet or dry for this project.
Fold the napkins twice and roll up jelly roll style. Tightly wind the kitchen twine around 2/3 of the napkin, or use rubber bands.
Fill the gallon container with the hot water. Put on rubber gloves. Add about 1/2 the bottle of dye to the water and stir in salt, which helps increase color intensity. Dip the tied end of the napkins into the dye, swirling gently, about 3 minutes or until the color is vivid.
Rinse the napkins under running water until the water runs clear. Pour out dye and rinse the container. Fill with hot tap water and add fixative. Let only the bound/dyed portion of the napkins stand in the fixative for about 20 minutes. If you dip the entire napkin in the fixative, the colors may bleed onto the white part of the fabric (unless that's what you're going for).
Rinse the napkins under cool water and untie to reveal the design. Wet, the napkin colors will be extremely bright. Tumble or air-dry the napkins. The color will lighten slightly.
Notes
My amounts will differ from the instructions on the dye and fixative containers. My amounts are for the quickest turn around time and easiest prep.