What goes better with camp than tie-dye?

In recent years it seems that we facilitate more and more tie-dye here at Camp Magruder. Its a classic arts and crafts project done by most camps and people who consider themselves hippies. I think its a perfect way to breath new life into clothes with pit stains or other unsightly spots and blemishes. We generally run tie-dye once a week for various program camps that we have on site. This week is the exception to that. It's Tuesday and we've already lead this particular activity 4 times.

I remember being a kid in the early 90's coming to Camp Magruder and getting to participate in tie-dye. Back then we used a bucket of water and a box of Rit dye. You dunked it in the bucket and had a shirt that was all the same color, let it sit overnight and washed it out with vinegar. The color usually washed out after a few washings and you were left with a dingy looking shirt to remember the awesome time you had at camp. Oh how things have changed.

Now there are all sorts of fancy chemicals to tear the fibers of shirts up, make the powder dyes more potent, and special washing soap to seal the cotton fibers back up. We have had a long time camp supporter named "Crazy Tie-Dye Betsy" who is about a billion years old and still donates most of our tie-dye supplies. Some of us have even been so lucky as to have been taught a thing or two about making "real" tie-dye. She's got an opinion about every project, but the thing about her is that she won't let any one's project turn out bad. In recent years she's let me know where she gets the dye. It's a company called Dharma and Company. You can find them on the Internet and they have everything you'd need to make everything you could ever want.

The secret to Camp Magruder's tie-dye success all these many years are a few tricks learned from "Crazy Tie-Dye Betsy," You never want to see any white parts left on your project, always wear a plastic bag as an evening gown and gloves to protect your clothing and hands, and always have fun.