Lion Brand Yarn TRON

Easy Way to Hand Paint Yarn with Kool-Aid, Not Just for Wool!

Home/Tips & How ToEasy Way to Hand Paint Yarn with Kool-Aid, Not Just for Wool!

Easy Way to Hand Paint Yarn with Kool-Aid, Not Just for Wool!

- Guest
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Editor’s Note: This post was updated on July 11th.

How to Hand Paint Yarn with Kool-Aid | Lion Brand Notebook

Have you ever come across a yarn that you loved the feel and gauge of but couldn’t find the color that you wanted? Well, being the savvy crafter you are you don’t have to let that stop you! I found myself in a similar predicament shortly after I started working at Lion Brand. The smooth softness of the Casey yarn made me melt but it only comes in confetti colors suited for baby items. Since I rarely make baby projects, I tried to put the yarn out of my mind. But occasionally I would be digging through the yarn closets in the office and my fingers would brush a skein of Casey yarn and I would fall in love again. Then it hit me, I could dye it to make it fit my needs!


Yarn dyeing can seem like a daunting project but it doesn’t have to be! There is very simple way to dye yarn using Kool-Aid. Kool-Aid is easy to get and you won’t have to deal with harsh chemicals–it essentially works as an acid dye and it’s food-safe.

Since this was my first time dyeing with Kool-Aid, I looked up tutorials online. All of the tutorials that I found on dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid only referred to wool yarn. But did you know that it is actually possible to dye any natural protein (animal) fiber and even nylon? Here are some useful facts about dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid:

  • Kool-Aid will work for use as a dye on any protein fiber such as wool, silk, mohair, alpaca, and camel hair. It will also work on nylon which is a synthetic protein fiber.
  • Since Kool-Aid is an acid-based dye it won’t work on plant fibers such as cotton and bamboo. Other natural and commercial dyes will work, but these fibers will need to be prepared differently. Jenny Dean’s Wild Color is a great resource for this information, as is this online article from Knitty.com.
  • If you are not sure about how a certain yarn will take dye you can (and it is strongly recommended that you do)  test a small portion of it. As long as your dye to yarn ratio is the same you will get the same outcome with a full skein.
  • Synthetic/natural fiber blends (as long as the majority of the percentage is a natural fiber or nylon) can be dyed. Only then natural or nylon fibers will take the dye so you might end up with a mottled effect or a more pastel color.  You will see this in the experiment that I did. Since Casey is a 60% rayon from bamboo/40% nylon blend, only the nylon fibers took the red dye and the yarn came out looking pink.
  • You can dye yarn that has previously been dyed as long as it is a light color. Once again, you can see this with my project. The yarn already had flecks of blue which accepted the dye (creating a darker indigo), and the blue did not run.

Important Note: Check the care instructions for your yarn before starting to make sure it can be set. Certain yarns cannot be subjected to high temperatures or they will melt.

Now that you’ve gotten the basics, let’s dye some yarn!

How to Hand Paint Yarn with Kool-Aid | Lion Brand Notebook

I’m pretty pleased with my first attempt at Kool-Aid dyeiing, and I hope you’ll share some of your dyeing experiments with us in the comments!

Share this post

50 Comments

  • Very usefull, indeed. Thanks for sharing! I’ll try it out. So good that I am coming to the US where I can buy the Kool-Aid. 🙂

    • at any store pretty much

    • Sweetie, I’d be more than happy to send you some kool aid… my email is dragonflyincrafter@gmail.com
      Just send me your mailing address and I’ll put it in the mail or ups it today… 🙂

      I’m Anne Germann and I live in Reading Pennsylvania USA

      Feel free to ask for any colors…

      • It’s not a good idea to post your real name, location, and email address on a public forum.

  • Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this!

  • You might want to try a vinegar and salt rinse before washing. It should help set the color and help with less “bleeding of color” when you wash it.

  • What do you use to “set” the koolaid dye? and how do I wash it after with out the colors running?

    • The process of steaming the yarn as described in the above steps will set the dye. If you wash the yarn thoroughly after dyeing it you will remove excess dye and prevent bleeding.

  • Having dyed before, I was under the impression that it was nylon that reacted like animal fibers and took acid dyes whereas rayon from bamboo would need a procion dye (like used for cotton).

    • Nylon can be dyed but is resistant to it. It will usually take repeated dye baths and you have to use a very dark color. The color will fade significantly after a washing it a few times as well. It also will usually only work with harsher chemical dyes, Kool-Aid probably wouldn’t be strong enough to effect it very much. Your best bet is to only try it on nylon that is blended with a natural fiber.

      • You are very wrong.

        • Thanks for pointing that out! I got the wrong info, I have updated the post 🙂

    • Your information is correct, the person who wrote this article is mistaken. Check out the Ravelry Group called “What a Kool Way to Dye” for better info.

  • How much hot water should you use to mix the Kool-Aid?

    • The amount of water you use will not effect the color in the end. You can just estimate based on how absorbent the yarn is. If the yarn isn’t very absorbent, don’t use too much water or the yarn will be completely saturated before it receives all the dye.

  • Should I wash it in Warm or Cool Water? Do you rinse the soap out after 1st wash? How do you keep it from getting tangled?

    • You should wash it in cold water. Yes, you rinse the soap out after the first wash. You must wind the yarn into a hank with a tie on either side to keep it from unraveling. Gently swish the yarn in the water when washing, do not wring it afterwards. This will reduce the chance of the yarn getting tangled.

  • For those who don’t have Kool-Aid – ANY food coloring will work on wool (or part-wool – I’ve never tried Rayon or Cotton – was under the impression it wouldn’t work). Just add a small amount of vinegar (the Kool-Aid has Citric Acid, which serves the same purpose) and use heat to set (just like in this tutorial). It’s Tons Of Fun!

  • My experience is that cotton does not take Kool Aid (or other food-coloring based) dyes well – it just washes out. That’s why I use it or acrylic for ties on wool skeins, it makes them easy to find again.

  • I have a huge collection of bedspread cotton, will the mercerizing affect my ability to dye? I’m too afraid I’ll go through all the work and hate the result!

    • Hi Deborah, mercerized cotton will actually take dyes in a brighter way than non-cottons. Check out this article on natural dyes that work with cotton (the acid dye described above will not work) from our site:
      http://www.lionbrand.com/Newsletters/45307.html

      Enjoy and good luck!

  • It is hard to believe that the orange and yellow kool aid you used above came out with the pink white and blue of your knitted sample. I guess you only dyed about 2/3 of the hank of yarn leaving the rest for contrast. Is this correct?

    • Obviously it is not the same ball of yarn being dyed as was knitted.

      • Yes, as you can see from the picture I only put the red dye on one side of the hank. I put yellow on the other side, since the yellow was pretty light most of the color didn’t stick and it came out looking white. You can see in the “before” shots that the yarn had flecks of blue in it before it was dyed. It might be hard to believe but that truly is the same yarn!

  • Always use vinegar to set the color, same as you do for Easter eggs. In fact every cloth, yarn, & fabric you buy (including all new clothes) should be washed in cold water with a half cup of vinegar for two reasons. One, it sets the colors. Two, it gets rid of all the chemicals used to preserve the fibers. Most companies dip everything in formaldehyde before storing to prevent molding & to deter moths.

  • Your article is full of incorrect information. Cellulose fibers require fiber reactive dyes which this is not. It is an acid dye because the citric acid in the koolaide makes it adhere to the fiber. Acid dyes are for protein based fibers and nylon. Wool is a protein fiber btw, you can dye it with koolaide. The nylon in your yarn is what took the dye, not the bamboo. If you try to dye cellulose fiber with koolaide, all you are doing is staining it. It’s going to wash out later. I feel very bad for your readers who try this based on your instructions that it doesn’t work with wool or nylon.

    • You know catching flies is best done with sugar not vinegar (which helps set dyes I understand)pointing out I think you are mistaken is much kinder than how you did it why not be kind it may make someones day

  • Ohh dear, live in England and no Kool-Aid

  • Please people; don’t go out and buy Kool Aid and try to dye 100% cotton yarn or rayon. It will all wash out. This article is wrong. The only reason the author’s yarn was dyed was because fo the nylon content. I regularly dye yarn and the only dye that will dye cotton and rayon is fiber-reactive dye (think tie-dye). Kool-Aid (an acid dye) will dye nylon, silk and wool. It will not dye cotton, linen or rayon. If you try it, it might look like it’s working, but it will all wash out when you rinse the yarn.

    • ok what will dye acrylic I always buy acrylic and would love to marble or change the colors just enough to not be monotonous when crocheting blankets

  • There is a group on Ravelry called “What a Kool way to Dye” which is full of helpful, accurate information regarding Kool-aid dyeing. Here’s a link:
    http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/what-a-kool-way-to-dye/topics
    You might have to have a Ravelry account to see the group, I’m not sure. But it’s free, and very helpful!

  • You need to do more research! Cotton will NOT take Koolaid dye. You need to dye Cotton or Bamboo with dyes like Tie Dye Kits or Dylon. The Nylon content will DYE with Koolaid and so will Wool, Alpaca Fibers, and other Natural Fibers. Cotton will stain with the koolaid but comes out of your washcloth or yarn in the washing machine. You need to check in with Ravelry with more of the experienced Dyers.

    • Thanks for pointing this out! I got the wrong info and have updated the post 🙂

  • The article has been partly corrected but now contradicts itself a little. While yes, nylon can be dyed and many people only think of sheep’s wool when they think of “wool” yarn, the title of the article is a very broad statement that implies more than it should.

    More importantly, there is still a line that says “ANY natural fibre” (not true), “and even synthetic blends” (only one kind of synthetic, and again, this implies a lot more than it should.

    Your last bullet-point on over-dyeing is rather confusing and seems to be making two different points in one. The first half of the statement says you can dye yarn that has been previously dyed if it is a light colour. This is true, dye-able protein fibre of any colour can be over-dyed to create a new colour, a darker shade, tonal of variegated varieties, based on normal colour theory. However, the second half of your statement refers to something entirely different. Here you refer to the blue flecks in your yarn remaining blue. This is because the blue are non-dye able fibres, it has nothing to do with their colour, these fibres just won’t pick up anything. If the blue flecks were any variety of wool, or were part of the nylon content, your red over-dye would have turned them purple.

    Finally, there’s your statement that one could make “a simple gradient like I did” but your photos do not show a gradient of any kind. There is some mottling and variegation due to uneven application of the dye and blended fibre content, but there is no gradient and no evidence that a gradient was attempted.

    All in all, this was, and still is, a very poorly researched and written article.

  • For those truly interested in Kool-aid dying with Lion Brand products, the best starting point is the traditional Fisherman’s wool. The Baby Wool would probably be an excelent starter yarn for over-dyeing, but I personally have not seen it in stores, so I can’t say for certain, likewise the Superwash Merino, Angora, Alpaca, Cashmere, and Martha’s Merino and Roving should all be successful candidates.

  • Thanks for the corrections!

  • gosh….everybody gets so pissy in their remarks…..it’s just fun….lighten up!!!! i’ve dyed my hair with koolaid too….if it doesn’t work…..you’re out what…..$3-5???

    • Although if one goes to the effort of hand dyeing, it’s frustrating to find out that the colours will not remain in the finished object. Potentially even more of a problem would be colour bleeding onto another garment and damaging it.

      • i absolutely agree…..i know from dying clothing….different blends take the color differently…..if i was going to color yarn, i would stick with cotton, and try using tie dye color rather than koolaid…..but i’m lazy, that’s too much work…..and i’ve also discovered that the cotton yarns (i make dishclothes) tend to bleed and fade…..even washing them in cold…..

    • FYI….Kool aid will not just “wash out of your hair”. I put it in my daughters hair last august 2012 and now one year later it is still visible! Cheapest hair color EVER!

      • what color did you use and how did you do it??? i had a friend who used it to dye her blond hair bright orange…..it looked awesome, i tried a raspberry and it barely showed…..what did you mix it with??? definitely cheap hair color!!!!

  • what is the shrinkage rate when steaming wool for 30-45 minutes?

    • Hi Jacquie, sheep’s wool will actually relax when steamed (water will make the hairs more malleable). This is why “blocking” allows you to stretch and shape a project. It is agitation that makes animal hairs lock together and shrink (as when you felt a project). If you’re wondering about a particular yarn, we always recommend that you make a test swatch and try it out, since there are many different types of sheep’s wool (and other animal fibers) which might react differently to each other.

      • Thank you, Zontee. I appreciate the reply and now am willing to give this a go, knowing I won’t need extra yarn to cover for shrinkage.

  • Several people apparently didn’t read this article closely. The article said: Since Kool-Aid is an acid-based dye it won’t work on plant fibers such as cotton and bamboo. Other natural and commercial dyes will work, but
    these fibers will need to be prepared differently.

    It won’t work on cotton. She is clear. And the author also posts the yarns it will work on.

    • Leave A Comment

    You must be <a href="https://blog.lionbrand.com/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.lionbrand.com%2Feasy-way-to-hand-paint-yarn-with-kool-aid-not-just-for-wool%2F">logged in</a> to post a comment.