Kool Colours In School Science Experiment
Objective:
Tie-dye fabric using dyes made from Kool-Aid (tm) and vinegar.
What You Need:
- Packets of unsweetened Kool-aid in dark colours
- Vinegar
- Small bowls
- Warm water
- Measuring cup
- Rubber bands or string
- 12-inch square pieces of white cotton fabric
- Stir or wire, and clothes-pin or paper clips
- Tray or pie pan as 'splash' collector
- Gloves
To Do and Observe
Make your dye - for each color:
1. Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into a small bowl.
2. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar.
3. Add 2 packages of Kool-Aid
4. Stir the ingredients to mix.
5. Place the small bowl in the tray or pie pan.
Prepare and dye your fabric:
1. Fold and twist the square of the white fabric.
2. Use rubber bands or string to tightly hold the twisted fabric in place. Complicated twisting will make interesting dye patterns. Experiment.
3. Dip the cloth into a bowl of dye. Squeeze excess dye back into the bowl.
4. Remove the string or rubber bands.
5. Hang the fabric square to dry.
What's Going On
Dyes are substances that colour materials. All dyes are compounds made of molecules. Material may absorb the dye or a chemical reaction between the molecules in the dye and material may bind the dye to the cloth. A mordant is a substance that helps fix the dyes to the material so that the color does not fade.
In this activity, Cool-Aid is used to dye cotton cloth. The colored molecules in Cool-Aid form a chemical bnd between the fiber and dye molecules. The mordant addded is vinegar, a traditional fixing reagent, which helps bind the dye to the cloth. This mordant is not strong enough to hold the dye permanently - it works better for art pieces than for clothes such as t-shirts.
Parent/Teacher Tips:
Try natural dyes made from fruits and vegetables. Frozen blueberries, blackberries, and beet juice work well. Prepare dyes by blending the fruit or vegetable in a food processor and filtering off the pulp. The resulting liquid makes a dye.
