Hey everyone! Today I’m going to talk about my yarn dye experience using Wilton Gel Food Coloring. I’m still experimenting with yarn dying, so I wanted to test this method out to see what the results would be. I’ve heard great things about Wilton gel food coloring, so I thought I would give it a try. I have dyed yarn before using Kool-Aid, which you can check out here.

To get started, I’m using some dyeable yarn that I purchased from knitpicks.com. They have a great selection of yarns to choose from, so I highly recommend checking them out if you’re interested in dyeing your own yarn. You will also need Wilton gel food coloring. You will also need some rubber gloves, an apron, a large bowl, a large pot, citric acid, measuring spoons, a large dish tub, and some wool wash. Let’s begin!

To begin, fill your bowl up with lukewarm water. Next, pour some citric acid in your bowl and mix it with the water. The citric acid will help the color adhere to the yarn. You don’t need a whole lot, but about a half a tablespoon will be just fine.

Next, tie some yarn loosely around your skein to help hold it together. I’m just using some white cotton yarn I had lying around. I tied some yarn in four different spots.

Next, submerge the skein into the bowl where you mixed the water and citric acid. You will want to let it soak for about 10-15 minutes. Be careful not to move the yarn around too much as you don’t want the yarn to felt.

While the yarn is soaking, you will want to fill your pot up with water. I filled my pot halfway. Turn the burner on high to boil your water. Once the water starts to boil ever so slightly, you will turn the heat down to low. You want to keep the water at a simmer versus a rolling boil. By this time your yarn should be ready to go.

First, you want to add in your color. For a beginner, I wanted to work with just one color. Make sure you wear your rubber gloves and apron for this part to avoid getting any dye on your hands and clothes. Wilton gel food coloring will stain your hands a little, but will wear off after a while. I used a half a teaspoon of dye and mixed it into the pot of water. You could always add more depending on how intense you want the color to be.

Carefully take your yarn out of the water and squeeze out the excess water. The dye method I’m using is called dip dyeing. This creates a sort of gradient finish. Hold your yarn above the pot and slowly dip the end into the water. You will see the color immediately. Keep dipping your yarn in and out of the pot a little at a time to get that gradient effect.

Once most of the dye has adhered to the yarn, submerge the whole skein into the water. You will keep the heat on low and let your yarn sit in the water until the water turns clear. Depending on what color you used and how much dye you used, this may take 5-30 minutes. Use your measuring spoon to check occasionally to see if the water is clear.

When you notice the water is clear, turn the heat off. You will keep the skein in the water until it reaches room temperature. The reason for this is because you don’t want to shock the yarn with two different temperatures as this would cause the yarn to felt. It may help to remove the pot from the heat source and carefully put it on another burner as this will help it to cool a little faster.

Next, fill a large tub up with lukewarm water and some wool wash (a little goes a long way). Gently lay the yarn in the tub and press down to remove any excess dye. If the water is clear, gently squeeze the excess water out and hang your skein to dry overnight. I usually let the skeins hang in my shower. If the water still has some color to it, add more lukewarm water to the tub and press down to remove excess yarn dye. Do not run the water in the tub with the yarn inside.

My result from today:

Here are some other results of my yarn dye experience using Wilton Gel Food Coloring:

I hope you enjoyed reading about my yarn dye experience using Wilton Gel Food Coloring. I hope you give this method a try and end up liking it just as much as I did.

Have you ever dyed yarn with Wilton gel food coloring before? What was your experience like? Leave a comment below and tell me about it. I’d love to hear from you!

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