# Dyeing Cheesecloth



## spinwitch (Jun 14, 2009)

I love cheesecloth. I use it as drapery for costumes, curtains in a haunt, use it for corpsing--but I don't usually want it white.

It is possible to dye it without making a big tangled mess. Here's my technique.

Materials:
Cheesecloth (I usually dye 6 yards or less at a time)
Gallon pot
Big spoon (serving size) or tongs
Two colors of Rit Dye (either powder or liquid)

First I'm going to yell: DO NOT USE A POT OR SPOON THAT YOU USE FOR FOOD!!. Pick them up at Goodwill or a yard sale and NEVER USE THEM FOR FOOD!

OK--off the soapbox. Shove your cheesecloth into the pot. Add just enough water to get it wet (it shouldn't be floating in the water--some of it may be above the surface). Now sprinkle (powder) or pour (liquid) dye over the surface. Don't use much--for six yards use maybe a teaspoon. Mush it down a bit, but you don't want to blend the colors too much. Bring the pot to a boil, turn it down low, and let it simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Use the spoon or tongs and flip the cheesecloth over to get any white areas under the water. Keep it hot for another 10 minutes.

The turn off the heat and let it cool. Dump the dye water out and rinse the cheesecloth until the water runs clear. Hang it up to dry and you're done.

For a moldy look I use dark green and brown dye.


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## Dark Angel 27 (Sep 11, 2008)

that's awesome! Thanks for the advice!


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## Copchick (Apr 10, 2012)

Interesting; I may need to try this.


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## CarolTerror (Aug 10, 2010)

That IS cool. I've got some cheesecloth that I've dyed with tea and it looks great, but the color is a bit too even. I like your idea about using two different colors, and not mushing it much so that the colors don't mix. Thanks for the post!!


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## spinwitch (Jun 14, 2009)

I love tea dyeing. And you don't have to worry about using one of your regular cooking pots because hey, it's just tea. 

The trick to getting blotchy results is to do "low immersion" dyeing, which is a fancy way of saying don't use much water. I would get the cheesecloth wet, then pour off the water. Then pour in strong tea, not quite enough to cover the cheesecloth. Bring to a simmer, keep it there for about 10 minutes, and then let cool. Don't stir. It should come out nicely uneven.


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## Lambchop (Jan 28, 2011)

Great advise. I have wanted to try this before. Thanks.


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## spinwitch (Jun 14, 2009)

Just keep it folded when you dye it and it won't turn into a tangled mess. You can't do this with regular fabric (the fold lines dye differently) but the cheesecloth is so open that it's not a problem.


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## The-Hog-Flu (Oct 21, 2013)

Cool, I'll have to try that. I've been spray painting cheese cloth but I'll have to give that a try when i want the cloth to keep its original softness.


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