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Pastel Tie Dye: 4 Easy Ways to Make Muted Pastel Colors

three pastel tie dye shirts - a rainbow spiral design, a blue, purple, and pink spiral design, and a heart tie dye design with the title "pastel tie dye"
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Pastel everything has become such a trend, especially in the world of tie dye. I made some pastel tie dye Crocs, but also wanted to show how you can make your own pastel clothes. There actually several ways you can get a pastel look so you can choose your favorite!

Be sure to check out my guide on the best tie dye kits. Also, Jacquard has been amazing and is offering my readers 20% off with code “ABCRAFTY“, they have everything you need for all types of tie dye designs and techniques!

If you make some pastel tie dye clothes, I’d love to see them! Tag me on Instagram @ab.crafty.

Table of Contents

Note: Some links in this post may contain affiliate links, which means at no cost to you, I may earn a commission.

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two pastel tie dye shirts - one with a rainbow spiral design and the other with a heart tie dye design. The title reads: step by step tutorial, pastel tie dye - abcrafty.com

Pastel Tie Dye Methods at a Glance

Method Reliability Control Over Brightness Best For
1. Diluting Regular Dye
High
Excellent (Exact Ratios)
Custom shades and using standard kits you already have
2. Pastel Tie Dye Kit
High
Fixed Light Shades
Quick prep with pre-measured pastel powders
3. Synthetic Clothing
Low
Unpredictable
Faded, vintage, or muted pastel look
4. Short Setting Time
Medium
Trial and Error
Quick experimental projects / You’re already dyeing other non-pastel items

Free Downloadable Templates

Looking to make custom shapes in pastel? Grab these free printable folding templates to make tracing and folding easy! You can download them all for free, scale them to the size you want, and print them out. You can also download them from the shop.

4 tie dye templates in the shape of a heart, pumpkin, bat, and ghost

Download the Free Templates
for the Tie Dye Patterns

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Method 1: Using a Regular Tie Dye Kit (Dilution Method)

This is absolutely the method I recommend as you can use the kit to make regular and pastel tie dye. Plus the kits are basically the same price so even if you just wanted to make pastel items, you’ll be able to make more things.

When dyeing anything, you make lighter colors by using less dye during the mixing process. So to make pastel colors, you simply need to add less dye to the mix.

Pastel Tie Dye Ratio Cheat Sheet

Here are two options to mix the dyes. One takes the pre-mixed dye and dilutes it. This is what you’ll do if you’re using a kit.

The other is if you want to measure out the dye powder yourself, so as to not waste any.

Depth of Color Using a Kit Using the Powder
Full Color (NOT Pastel)
Follow the kit’s instructions
1 gram of powder to 100ml of water*
Light Pastel
1 part dye to 3 parts water (50ml of prepared dye to 150ml water to reach 200ml)
0.25 grams of powder to 100ml of water*
Ultra-Pale Pastel
1 part dye to 5 parts water (e.g., 30ml prepared dye + 150ml water)
0.17 grams of powder to 100ml of water*

*Note: Nearly all dyes will follow the above ratios. If a dye requires more, it will tell you. For example, Dharma dyes will have an asterisk (*) next to the name, implying it needs double the dye for the same amount of water. If it has two (**), it needs 3x the amount of dye. In the example below, you can see Fire Red would need 2x the amount of dye to achieve the desrired color.

dharma fiber reactive dye in 10 fire red

Materials When Doing Pastel Tie Dye with a Regular Kit

  • Tie Dye Kit with Soda Ash (I recommend this one (which you can get for 20% off with code ABCRAFTY), but you can see all of my recommendations here)
  • Soda Ash (in case your kit doesn’t come with soda ash you can find it on Jacquard for 20% off with code ABCRAFTY or on Amazon)
  • Mixing Bottles or Containers (these bottles are great since they have the measurement lines)
  • White Cotton Shirt such as these or whichever item you’d like to dye.
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Zip Ties or Rubber bands (these are the ones I have)
  • Gloves (I always recommend getting a pair of gloves that fits well, even if the kit comes with them. I like these since I have small hands)
Jacquard Large Tie Dye Kit - Fantastic Introduction to Tie Dye - Fun for All Ages - Dyes up to 15 Adult T-Shirts
Jacquard Large Tie Dye Kit - Fantastic Introduction to Tie Dye - Fun for All Ages - Dyes up to 15 Adult T-Shirts
Baaxxango 12 Pack 8 oz/240 ml Plastic Squeeze Bottles,Scale Plastic Squirt Bottle,Polyethylene Durable Plastic with Red Tip Cap and Black Scale for Ketchup,Sauces,Syrup,Dressings,BBQ,Crafts and More
Baaxxango 12 Pack 8 oz/240 ml Plastic Squeeze Bottles,Scale Plastic Squirt Bottle,Polyethylene Durable Plastic with Red Tip Cap and Black Scale for Ketchup,Sauces,Syrup,Dressings,BBQ,Crafts and More
Hanes womens Perfect-t Short Sleeve T-shirt fashion t shirts, White, Medium US
Hanes womens Perfect-t Short Sleeve T-shirt fashion t shirts, White, Medium US
VTECHOLOGY 100Pcs Heavy Duty Industrial Zip Toes,Releasable 8 Inch BlackTie Wraps, Adjustable Tie wrap,Reusable Zip Toes Tie Straps For Garden Plant Secure Vine, Home, Office Use
VTECHOLOGY 100Pcs Heavy Duty Industrial Zip Toes,Releasable 8 Inch BlackTie Wraps, Adjustable Tie wrap,Reusable Zip Toes Tie Straps For Garden Plant Secure Vine, Home, Office Use
MED PRIDE Medical Vinyl Examination Gloves (Small, 100-Count) Latex & Rubber Free, Ultra-Strong, Clear Disposable Powder-Free Gloves for Healthcare & Food Handling Use
MED PRIDE Medical Vinyl Examination Gloves (Small, 100-Count) Latex & Rubber Free, Ultra-Strong, Clear Disposable Powder-Free Gloves for Healthcare & Food Handling Use

Steps to Make Pastel Tie Dye with a Regular Tie Dye Kit​

1. Prepare the Shirt

You’ll prepare the shirt as normal – washing it and leaving it wet, but squeezing out the excess water. Then tie it in whichever pattern you’d like (such as a spiral or heart).

Then soak it in soda ash solution for 20 minutes (you can get soda ash on Jacquard for 20% off with code ABCRAFTY).

white cotton clothing twisted and tied with zip ties and rubber bands and soaking in a bucket of soda ash solution

2. Prepare the Dye

Prepare the dyes as normal, according to the kit instructions. This typically means filling the bottles to the line with warm water and shaking to mix the dye.

holding bottles of red, yellow, and blue tie dye

3. Dilute the Dye

This is really the main difference between a normal kit and the pastel kit – the pastel kits don’t have as much dye powder in the bottle so they make a lighter color. To dilute the dye, pour 50ml of one color into an empty squeeze bottle with measurements (I like these). Then add 150ml of water to the bottle so the measurement is now 200ml (1 part dye to 3 parts water). Shake the bottle to mix. Repeat for each color.

You can test the color of the dye by dropping some on a paper towel. If you want it even lighter, feel free to add more water.

adding water with a measuring cup to a squeeze bottle that has some pink dye in it

Tip: This is a great time to mix new colors if you’d like! For example you could mix pink and blue to make purple. Just remember that the total amount of dye should add up to 50ml (not 50ml of each color).

4. Dye the Clothing

Add dye wherever you’d like, making sure to get enough dye so that it’s fully saturated, but not dripping.

fully dyed shirt with pastel pink, purple, and blue sections for a spiral pattern

5. Set and Wash

Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it set for at least 6 hours, but I recommend a full 24 hours. Rinse it in the sink until it runs clear, then wash and dry.

finished pastel tie dye shirt with a pink, blue, and purple spiral tie dye design

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Method 2: Using a Dedicated Pastel Tie Dye Kit

Using a pastel tie dye kit is the simplest method since it uses the fewest steps. The down side is you can only use the kit to make pastel colors vs some of the other methods.

Materials to Use a Pastel Tie Dye Kit

  • Pastel Tie Dye Kit (this one is similar)
  • Soda Ash (in case your kit doesn’t come with soda ash you can find it on Jacquard for 20% off with code ABCRAFTY or on Amazon)
  • White Cotton Shirt such as these or item of your choice
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Zip Ties or Rubber bands (these are the ones I have) in case you don’t like the ones in the kit.
  • Gloves (I always recommend getting a pair of gloves that fits well, even if the kit comes with them. I like these since I have small hands)
Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye Kit
Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye Kit
Hanes womens Perfect-t Short Sleeve T-shirt fashion t shirts, White, Medium US
Hanes womens Perfect-t Short Sleeve T-shirt fashion t shirts, White, Medium US
VTECHOLOGY 100Pcs Heavy Duty Industrial Zip Toes,Releasable 8 Inch BlackTie Wraps, Adjustable Tie wrap,Reusable Zip Toes Tie Straps For Garden Plant Secure Vine, Home, Office Use
VTECHOLOGY 100Pcs Heavy Duty Industrial Zip Toes,Releasable 8 Inch BlackTie Wraps, Adjustable Tie wrap,Reusable Zip Toes Tie Straps For Garden Plant Secure Vine, Home, Office Use
MED PRIDE Medical Vinyl Examination Gloves (Small, 100-Count) Latex & Rubber Free, Ultra-Strong, Clear Disposable Powder-Free Gloves for Healthcare & Food Handling Use
MED PRIDE Medical Vinyl Examination Gloves (Small, 100-Count) Latex & Rubber Free, Ultra-Strong, Clear Disposable Powder-Free Gloves for Healthcare & Food Handling Use

Steps to Use a Pastel Tie Dye Kit

1. Prepare the Shirt

Start by washing it and leaving it wet, squeezing out excess water. Twist and scrunch into your chosen pattern (such as a spiral) and secure with zip ties or rubber bands.

Option: soak in a soda ash solution (1 cup soda ash per 1 gallon warm water for 20 minutes) if using standard dyes, though one-step kits already have soda ash mixed in. You can find soda ash on Jacquard for 20% off with code ABCRAFTY or on Amazon

putting a rubber band around a twisted up white cotton shirt

2. Prepare the Dyes

Put on gloves and mix dye according to the kit instructions by filling to the line with warm water and shaking until dissolved.

holding the tulip ombre tie dye kit's dye bottles filled with dye

3. Dye the Shirt

Add dye to the shirt. For a pastel rainbow spiral, add orange next to pink, blue next to orange, and purple next to blue.

adding blue pastel dye to a shirt dyed with pastel pink and orange for a spiral tie dye design

4. Set, Rinse, and Wash

Wrap in plastic wrap and let set for at least 6 hours (24 hours recommended). Rinse in the sink until water runs clear, then wash and dry.

fully dyed shirt with pink, orange, blue, and purple dye wrapped in plastic wrap

These are my completed shirts using the pastel tie dye kit – the pastel rainbow spiral shirt and then you can follow these instructions to make the heart tie dye shirt.

You can also customize them further using the sublimation technique to add text or graphics!

finished rainbow spiral pastel tie dye shirt
finished pastel tie dye shirt with a tie dye heart design

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Method 3: Using Partially Synthetic Clothing

An easy, though possibly risky way to make pastel tie dye clothes is to use synthetic clothing instead of cotton.

If you try to dye synthetic material with dye from a tie dye kit, some of the dye will likely still dye it. Most will wash off, but some of the dye will stay and therefore it will naturally create a pastel look.

Keep in mind, it’s also possible that none of the dye remains (which has happened to me before), so if possible, try and find something that has a small amount of natural fiber such as these shirts that are only 25% cotton. The more cotton you have, the less pastel and more vibrant the color will turn out.

Materials When Doing Pastel Tie Dye with Synthetic Clothing

  • Regular Tie Dye Kit with Soda Ash (I recommend this one, which you can get for 20% off with code ABCRAFTY)
  • Soda Ash (in case your kit doesn’t come with soda ash you can find it on Jacquard – use code ABCRAFTY for 20% off!)
  • White Item to Dye made of partially synthetic or purely synthetic materials (in my case I used these joggers that were 100% synthetic, but this shirt would work great at 25% cotton)
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Zip Ties or Rubber bands (these are the ones I have)
  • Gloves (I always recommend getting a pair of gloves that fits well, even if the kit comes with them. I like these since I have small hands)
Jacquard Large Tie Dye Kit - Fantastic Introduction to Tie Dye - Fun for All Ages - Dyes up to 15 Adult T-Shirts 7%
Jacquard Large Tie Dye Kit - Fantastic Introduction to Tie Dye - Fun for All Ages - Dyes up to 15 Adult T-Shirts
$19.99
Jacquard Products Soda Ash Dye Fixer, 1 Pound Bag 23%
Jacquard Products Soda Ash Dye Fixer, 1 Pound Bag
$9.99 ($0.62 / Ounce)
Bella Canvas Women's Triblend Short Sleeve T-Shirt
Bella Canvas Women's Triblend Short Sleeve T-Shirt
VTECHOLOGY 100Pcs Heavy Duty Industrial Zip Toes,Releasable 8 Inch BlackTie Wraps, Adjustable Tie wrap,Reusable Zip Toes Tie Straps For Garden Plant Secure Vine, Home, Office Use
VTECHOLOGY 100Pcs Heavy Duty Industrial Zip Toes,Releasable 8 Inch BlackTie Wraps, Adjustable Tie wrap,Reusable Zip Toes Tie Straps For Garden Plant Secure Vine, Home, Office Use
MED PRIDE Medical Vinyl Examination Gloves (Small, 100-Count) Latex & Rubber Free, Ultra-Strong, Clear Disposable Powder-Free Gloves for Healthcare & Food Handling Use
MED PRIDE Medical Vinyl Examination Gloves (Small, 100-Count) Latex & Rubber Free, Ultra-Strong, Clear Disposable Powder-Free Gloves for Healthcare & Food Handling Use

Process for Synthetic Clothing

  1. Follow the standard dyeing process as if using a regular kit.
  2. Make sure to let it sit for at least 6 hours (I like to do a full 24)
  3. When rinsing, prepare for nearly all of the dye to wash away.

Testing Tip: Test this method on a small, hidden spot on the item first to confirm the dye takes before processing the full garment.

finished tie dye joggers with a light pastel tie dye pattern with blue and grey spots

Method 4: Changing the Setting Time

This method is simple enough – you’ll use a regular tie dye kit such as this one and dye the item per the usual instructions.

However, the one change you’ll make is the setting time. Normally it’s recommended to set the dye for at least 6 hours (though I always recommend a full 24). Instead, you could set it for a short amount of time – such as only 30min-1hr.

Tip: If you want to use this method, I recommend testing a small area by rinsing the dye off in that area. If it looks okay then you can continue to rinse the rest of the item. But if it isn’t as vibrant as you’d like, then let it set a little bit longer.

Which Dyes Make the Best Pastel Colors?

When diluting regular dyes, certain concentrated shades turn into gorgeous pastels:

  • Turquoise dilutes into a dreamy sky blue.

  • Magenta / Fuchsia dilutes into a soft baby pink.

  • Lemon Yellow dilutes into a muted butter yellow.

  • Deep Purple dilutes into a soft lavender.

You can also custom mix colors during the dilution step! For example, mix pink and yellow dye together to make pastel orange. Just make sure the total amount of concentrated dye adds up to 50ml before adding 150ml of water.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pastel Tie Dye

Why did my pastel tie dye wash out completely?

If all the dye washed away, your garment was likely made of 100% synthetic material like polyester, or you didn’t soak the fabric in soda ash before applying fiber-reactive dye. Fiber-reactive dyes require natural fibers such as cotton, rayon, or linen to bond properly.

Can you add water to any tie dye kit to make it pastel?

Yes! Adding extra water dilutes the dye pigment concentration. A 1:3 ratio (1 part prepared dye to 3 parts water) works best for a standard pastel shade.

Do you still need soda ash when making pastel tie dye?

Yes! Soda ash raises the pH of the cotton fibers so the dye can permanently bind, even when diluted. Without soda ash, diluted dye will wash out during rinsing.

More Tie Dye Projects to Try

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three pastel tie dye shirts - a rainbow spiral design, a blue, purple, and pink spiral design, and a heart tie dye design with the title "pastel tie dye"

Pastel Tie Dye Shirt (Dilution Method)

Learn how to easily make a pastel tie dye shirt using a regular tie dye kit and the dilution method!
Yield 1 Pastel Tie Dye Shirt
Print Pin Share Tweet
Project Time 20 minutes
Setting Time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 20 minutes

Materials
  

  • 1 Regular Tie Dye Kit
  • Soda Ash
  • 1 White Cotton Shirt
  • Plastic Wrap
  • Zip Ties or Rubber Bands
  • Gloves

Instructions
 

  • Wash the shirt and leave it damp. Twist and fold it into your chosen pattern (like a spiral), then secure it with zip ties or rubber bands. Soak in a soda ash solution (1 cup soda ash per 1 gallon warm water) for 20 minutes, then squeeze out the excess liquid.
    1 White Cotton Shirt
    twisting a wet white cotton shirt from the middle
  • Put on gloves and mix the standard dye bottles with warm water according to the kit instructions.
    Zip Ties or Rubber Bands
    holding bottles of red, yellow, and blue tie dye
  • Pour 50ml of prepared dye into an empty measuring squeeze bottle. Add 150ml of water to reach 200ml (a 1:3 ratio) and shake well. Repeat for each color.
    1 Regular Tie Dye Kit, Gloves
    adding water with a measuring cup to a squeeze bottle that has some pink dye in it
  • Place plastic wrap or plastic sheeting on your workspace. Apply the diluted dye to the shirt sections until fully saturated, but not dripping.
    Plastic Wrap
    adding blue pastel dye to a shirt dyed with pastel pink and orange for a spiral tie dye design
  • Wrap the shirt tightly in plastic wrap and let it set for at least 6 hours (24 hours is recommended).
    fully dyed shirt with pink, orange, blue, and purple dye wrapped in plastic wrap
  • Rinse it in the sink until it runs clear and then put it in the washer and dryer. Take it out and your pastel tie dye shirt is ready to wear!
    finished rainbow spiral pastel tie dye shirt
Keyword Clothing, Pastel, Shirt, Tie Dye, Tie Dye Design, Tie Dye Kit
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Daniela Kretchmer

Daniela is a lifelong crafter who loves to share her passion for crafting. Through classes or learning on her own, she likes to say she'll do pretty much any craft aside from scrapbooking. Her current personal obsessions include garden crafts, felting, and spinning yarn.

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