How to Tie-Dye Canvas Sneakers

Tie-dying is a fun summer craft which you can do to keep your kids busy for a few hours. Buy a tie-dye kit and some items to dye and you are set!

Watch our video or keep reading for photos and instructions on tie-dying canvas sneakers. Find links below to purchase your supplies for tie-dying from Michaels and have your items shipped or pick up in the store. If you purchase through our links, we get a small commission and you help us to keep making more fun craft videos!

Tie-dying is a fun craft which can be done by kids from toddlers up to adults. Keep in mind that the dye can stain your clothes so wear something you don't mind getting colors on! Wear the gloves in the kit to protect your hands from being dyed.

What you need for this craft:

* Tie-Dye Kit (our kit came with colors, gloves, table cover, rubber bands and project book)
* Canvas Sneakers
* Plastic Grocery Bags (for putting the dyed items in to sit for 6-8 hrs. One bag per item)
* Paper Towels (for covering your surface and cleaning spills, etc)
* Paintbrush or Foam Paint Brush
* Disposable Plastic Cups

Basic Dye instructions:

Dye can only be used one day, so if you have a lot of colors, only mix up the colors you plan to use. The instructions say that the dye loses it's intensity over time. You can get refill packets from the manufacturer, but from what I found, they seemed expensive. It seemed to me that it would be less expensive to purchase a new kit.

We recommend you plan to tie-dye several items in the same session to get the best use out of your dye.

The instructions say to pre-wash the fabric, but we did not wash ours first and we got nice results.

Basic Tie Dye Steps:

1. Mix Dye
2. Apply Dye
3. Wrap in plastic wrap or place in a plastic bag for 6 - 8 hrs. You want it to stay damp. We left ours for a little over 8 hours. If you want more intensity of colors than we got, you can try leaving the dye on longer.
4. Rinse under water until the water runs clear. Rinse each item separately and don't let them touch even after they are rinsed. Cut off rubber bands while you are rinsing and keep rinsing until the water runs clear.
5. Wash each item separately in your washing machine using the large load setting and a small amount of soap. I also had Color Catcher sheets and I put one or two of those in to catch the color. Dry in your dryer or hang to dry.
6. Wash and dry tie-dyed items separately for the first few washes.

Keep reading to see how we made the galaxy sneakers.

Tie Dying Canvas Sneakers

For the dying of the sneakers in the galaxy style, use a foam brush to apply colored dyes on areas of the shoes. Rinse your brush in water between colors. Apply all of the colors to the shoes first. Then fill in between with the black.

After the dye is applied, carefully place each shoe into a separate plastic bag. Tie the bag loosely closed and let sit for 6 - 8 hours (or more).

Rinsing

After the items have set for at least 6 - 8 hrs, it's time to rinse! One at a time, take the items out and rinse them under cold/warm water. Rinse until the water runs clear. Put each item aside, separately. Don't allow items to touch or the colors could still bleed onto one another.

Wash the shoes in a washing machine using a large load setting and a small amount of detergent. I put a couple of color catcher sheets in the machine. We have a high-efficiency washer, so we cannot pick "large load" as the machine detects how big the load is. I just picked warm with heavy soil settings.

After Kate's Galaxy sneakers was dry, she splattered some white puffy paint on it so it would look like stars. She really likes her finished Galaxy Sneakers with Stars.

Watch our other video about tie-dying shirts and hats!

Below are some links to purchase supplies for this project. Remember that if you purchase supplies from our links, we get a small commission and you help us to keep making more videos and tutorials like this one. Thank you for your purchase!

Other fun Kids' Craft Projects

Two-color Paracord Bracelets with Beads - Click to make these fun paracord bracelets.  They can be made with one or two colors of cording and with or without beads.