For this post, I have put together a collection of the best tie dye kits currently available.
Our Top Picks
- Best Overall: One-Step Tie Dye Kit (Tulip)
- Best Value: 18 Bottle Tie Dye Kit from TheBestCraftsStore
- Best For Beginners: Be U Tie Dye Explosion (Chad Valley)
We’re not surprised tie dye is so popular, it’s fun for both children and adults making the ideal afternoon craft for family, friends or birthday parties.
At the end of it you’ll be left with some homemade colour and unique personal design to your wardrobe, be it t-shirts, dresses or even your duvet or tote bags. The possibilities are endless.
How We Selected
Unlike the last revival of 70s you’re lucky – there are a multitude of excellent tie-dye kits on the market. They are designed to be easy to use and many I have selected are perfect for smaller children – of course with adult supervision.
Different kits come with different tools and accessories. These will include a mix of the dyes, setting agents, gloves, rubber bands, spray cans and instructions guides.
You can get ones with four colours or up to 32!
Different dyes (and kits) require differing amounts of time to develop. If you’re hosting a children’s birthday party you’ll want to pick a kit with a quick acting dye.
The kits that take longer such as 4-8 hours will give long lasting colour and you can see the results the same day. For the absolute best depth of colour you can opt for kits that take up to 24 hours to develop.
All of my recommendations have excellent feedback from buyers.
Also see my guides to the best science kits, slime kits and wooden play kitchens.
So here is my list of the the best tie dye kits.
Tie Dye Kit 18 Bottles (TBC The Best Crafts Store)
Top bestselling kit contains 18 separate squeeze bottles.
- Complete starter kit including 18 separate bottles of dye, 12 protective gloves, 90 rubber bands, a reusable surface cover, carry case and instruction sheet.
- Great for entertaining a large group of children or fun family project.
- Pros: This kit is easy to use and fantastic value for money.
- Cons: Nothing to dye is provided with the set.
- Consumer Score: Number one bestseller and buyers love this kit. From excellent ratings this scores an average 4.8 out of 5 and a whopping 83% give it the maximum 5 stars.
Be U Tie Dye Explosion (Chad Valley)
This kit from Argos includes four bottles of dye and items to dye.
- Items include a tote bag, coin purse, pencil case and baseball cap.
- You’ll also get four squeeze bottles of highly pigmented dye.
- Pros: To help you magic up your fantastic creations there are step by step instructions and several pairs of protective gloves and rubber bands.
- Cons: You need to tie dye the items in one go.
- Consumer Score: Super popular kit with amazing reviews. 99% of buyers recommend this and it scores a huge 4.7 out of 5.
- Great gift for children and will provide a lot of fun for an afternoon and creations to last years.
Deluxe Tie Dye 7 Bottle Kit (FabLab)
Aimed at 8 years and above this all round kits comes with 7 bottles.
- Also good for adults this includes 7 bottles of bright colours, rubber bands and PVC lab gloves.
- Pros: Contains an instruction booklet and FabLab also have a number of tutorials available online.
- Red, turquoise, blue, purple, pink, yellow & green premium cold-wash dyes.
- Cons: Not reusable.
- Consumer Score: Very well reviewed tie-dye kit with over good ratings of which 92% give this 4 out of 5 stars, scoring an average of 4.6.
Large Tie-Dye Party Kit (Tulip)
This party pack includes 14 vibrant colour dyes and up to 36 projects so it makes a good choice for parties.
- Along with 14 colour dyes you’ll receive gloves, rubber bands, plastic surface cover and a reusable plastic storage bin.
- Features a straightforward one=step process that will work on both wet and dry fabric.
- Pros: Perfect for large groups – one buyer used this kit successfully for 20 kids!
- Hard to find a large kit with better feedback from buyers.
- Cons: The bottles are quite small.
- Consumer Score: From fantastic ratings this kit scored an average of 4.8 out of 5 and 86% gave this 5/5.
One-Step Tie Dye Kit (Tulip)
This kit is a good option for beginners and includes 5 fabric dyes.
- Along with the 5 dyes you’ll also receive a pair of craft gloves, set of rubber bands and instruction booklet.
- Colours include Violet, fuchsia, turquoise, lime, yellow.
- Pros: Enough dye and supplies to create up to 30 projects.
- You have to leave dye for up to 8 hours so might not be the best pick if you or little ones can’t wait that long!
- Tulip is a well respected US brand.
- Cons: Bottles are quite small.
- Consumer Score: From excellent ratings this kit scores an average 4.7 out of 5 and 83% of buyers gave this the maximum 5 out of 5.
Galaxy Tie Dye One Step Kit With Crystals (Tulip)
This small 5 bottle kit includes 96 crystals to jazz up your designs.
- The colours include turquoise, black, purple, pink and fuchsia.
- Good small starter kit with 5 mini bottles of one-step batik dye.
- Pros: Kit also comes with 96 individual iron-on crystals, 2 pairs of protective gloves, 20 rubber bands and a project inspiration pattern guide.
- Best suited to tweens, teens and adults.
- Great reviews with an average score of 4.5 out of 5. 71% of parents gave this a score of 5/5.
- Cons: The decals are quite small.
- Consumer Score: Many buyers comment that the colours are durable and dark with little fading.
32 Colour Tie Dye Kit (Lensbes)
This large comprehensive kit contains a whopping 32 bottles of colour.
- Along with 32 bottles of every colour and shade you can imagine you’ll also receive 150 rubber bands, 12 pairs of plastic gloves and step-by-step instructions.
- Pros: Unlike many other kits you’ll also get 3 plastic aprons to keep clean and 3 spray nozzles.
- You then have the option to either squeeze the bottles or use a spray action for a different effect.
- Great reviews from parents using this for large groups or many crafternoon sessions with their children.
- Cons: Colours aren’t as strong as some.
- Consumer Score: From good ratings this bumper tie-dye kit scored an average of 4.5 out of 5 with 77% giving this a perfect 5 out of 5 score.
Large Traditional Tie Dye Kit (Jacquard)
Well respected tie dye brand this kit is a good introduction to the world of tie dye for adults and children.
- Set includes three dye powders (1 each in Red, Blue and Yellow), 4 bottles, soda ash to fix the dye, gloves and rubber bands.
- Pros: There’s also a DVD that shows multiple folding patterns and instructions with various tying patterns.
- Enough dye for up to 15 adult sized shirts.
- Cons: More gloves in pack would be handy.
- Consumer Score: Outstanding reviews – from 83% gave this kit 5 out of 5 stars.
- Many buyers comment that the die from the Jacquard brand is the best colouring they have seen.
Tie Dye Kit With Cushion Cover And Canvas Bag (Copper Top)
All you need to get started kit with 4 colours and is good for both adults and children.
- Enough dye for up to 10 items of T shirt sized clothing.
- Set includes plain tote bag, cushion cover, fabric paint in 4 colours, rubber bands, 4 pairs of gloves, large protective cover, soda ash.
- Pros: There is also a handy 8-page instruction guide full of different tie dye techniques plus tips.
- Cons: Only four colours.
- Consumer Score: Really positive reviews – from great ratings this set scored an average 4.5 out of 5.
Indigo Dyeing Kit (Etsy)
Simple tye die kit if you’re looking for something other than the brightly coloured options.
- This large kit includes 20g Pre-reduced Indigo, 50g Reducing Agent, 100g Soda Ash, rubber bands, glove, sticker and detailed instructions.
- A basic kit designed for beginners.
- Pros: It dyes up to 20 t-shirts in deep blue.
- Cons: Just the one colour.
- Consumer Score: Really excellent reviews – this scores a maximum 5 out of 5.
How To Tie Dye
- Put a protective sheet down to stop your surfaces from getting messy.
- Twist, fold, pleat the material you are using and tie with rubber bands.
- Squeeze out your dye onto your fabric, rinse with cold water then repeat.
- Let your fabric dry, wash in machine, dry again then iron before use.
FAQ’s Tie Dye
If you are a beginner then one of the kits i’ve suggested above is ideal as you should have everything you need in it.
You will need access to a sink and washing machine.
Some kits don’t contain items to dye, so you may need some white/ light items of clothing to tie dye.
Prices vary but you can pick one up from around £10.
You can, but the results won’t be as bright as they would with a tie dye kit.
Cheap Tie Dye Kits & Today’s Bestsellers
Final Thoughts
My best value pick overall is the 18 Bottle Tie Dye Kit from TheBestCraftsStore because it’s a large comprehensive kit suitable for groups or many fun afternoons for the family.
It’s easy to use, with clear instructions and receives outstanding feedback from children and parents alike.
I hope this list of the best tie-dye kits was helpful.
If you think I left any out that should be included or have a suggestion for a future article, let me know in the comments below.
Nicola
Last Updated: June 2022
- Added ‘How We Selected.’
- Updated Image.
- Added Top Picks.
- Added Pros/Cons on all products.
- Added ‘How To’.
- Added FAQ’s.
- Added Final Thought.
