Dye Fun With My Sneaks

Plain white sneakers are just so blah!

Posted by edie d.

About

I was feeling bored yesterday and decided to have some fun distressing out my sneakers. Plain white sneakers are just so blah and I needed to have edgy kicks for biking around the nabe this spring. So working with a mono-chrome selection of Rit dyes, I layered some brushstrokes of this and some sponge painting of that to create these little street-savvy bad boys. Whatdaya think? Might still hit them with a touch of the sandpaper to rough up the fabric here and there but the color's where I want them.

Here's how I made them if you're up to make a pair for yourself:

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You Will Need (10 things)

  • Rubber Band for laces
  • Sponge & brushes
  • White laced Sneakers
  • Rit Dye : Tan, Cocoa Brown & Dark
  • Measuring Cup
  • Plastic Container(s) & spoons for each colour
  • Plastic dish pan & Liquid Soap
  • Rubber Gloves
  • Paper Towels
  • Plastic Table Covering

Steps (2 steps, 60 minutes)

  1. 1

    I used all liquid dye for this project but you can substitute with powder dye easily. Just remember that ½ cup of liquid equals one box of powder dye. OK, on with the recipe...

    Mix ½ cup Rit Tan dye with 1½ very hot 140˚ water. Brush on the dye using broad strokes. Note: If your tap water's not hot enough, just heat some up in the microwave or tea kettle.
    Mix ½ cup Rit Cocoa Brown dye with 1½ cups very hot water. Randomly sponge paint the dye on the sneakers.
    Mix ¼ cup Rit Dark Brown dye with 1 cup of very hot water. Sponge on the sneakers as an accent.
    Let sneakers dry for 24 hours. Rinse in cold water. Then wash in warm water with mild soap, rinse and air dry.

  2. 2

    To stripe up the laces:
    Wash laces with soap in warm water and rinse. To create the stripes, fold laces and tie with rubber bands. Mix ½ cup Rit Cocoa Brown dye and ½ cup Rit Tan dye with 1 cup of very hot water. Immerse laces in dye bath for 20 minutes. Rinse in cold water, cut rubber bands and wash with mild soap in warm water. Air dry.