Anything made of cotton canvas (or linen, hemp, etc.) will dye up beautifully, as long as it is not water resistant. Of course you can't fold the shoes and tie them like a shirt, but you get a similar effect simply by presoaking in soda ash and then squirting on the dyes. You must never use a hot water dye, such as Rit, on shoes. A good tie dye kit that contains cool water dyes will be perfect. Go to a crafts store and look for a kit made by Dylon, Jacquard, Tulip, or Rainbow Rock, and then follow the instructions for the kit as closely as is reasonable.
Remove the laces before dyeing. If your laces are made of synthetic fiber, buy some cotton shoelaces from Dharma Trading Company, and dye those to match. Remove the insole, if it is not glued in.
See the link below for complete, detailed step-by-step instructions.
Comments
Anything made of cotton canvas (or linen, hemp, etc.) will dye up beautifully, as long as it is not water resistant. Of course you can't fold the shoes and tie them like a shirt, but you get a similar effect simply by presoaking in soda ash and then squirting on the dyes. You must never use a hot water dye, such as Rit, on shoes. A good tie dye kit that contains cool water dyes will be perfect. Go to a crafts store and look for a kit made by Dylon, Jacquard, Tulip, or Rainbow Rock, and then follow the instructions for the kit as closely as is reasonable.
Remove the laces before dyeing. If your laces are made of synthetic fiber, buy some cotton shoelaces from Dharma Trading Company, and dye those to match. Remove the insole, if it is not glued in.
See the link below for complete, detailed step-by-step instructions.
Tie Dye Converse
You can't really tie-dye them but batik could work. There are instructions on this link.
http://www.craftown.com/batik.htm
You could also use fabric paint on them. With batik, the wax gets removed with heat, like an iron, and it might be difficult to do that with shoes.
Hope this helps!