Have you ever been to a floral shop and saw white flowers with blue edges, pink centers, and color all around them? These are amazing and beautiful, and many people want them. It can be fun to learn how to tie dye roses and why it’s done. Also, there are other methods for dyes, which can have gorgeous effects, too.
In this article, we are going to discuss:
* The various ways florists use dyes on roses
* Dyeing sprays
* Dip dyes
* Absorption dyes
* Tie dye
* How to tie dye a rose
* The reasons why tie-dyed roses are popular
The Various Ways Florists Use Dyes on Roses
While flowers are beautiful and majestic in their own right, some florists can breathe new life into a regular flower by using various dyes. These enrich the flower’s original color and can change the blooms to a new shade, as well. There are a variety of different dyeing methods, which allows the florist to coordinate arrangements or customize an order to find a particular color.
Also, those who like to preserve dried flowers for scrapbooking and other purposes can dye flowers beforehand. The colorant prevents your flowers from fading while they dry.
Dying Sprays
Floral sprays are often metallic and can add a golden sheen to the flower petals. However, it’s a special type of product and isn’t like aerosol cans of paint. These sprays are gentler and don’t harm the blooms. You can find a variety of colors, such as red, pink, blue, and silver.
A special airbrush machine is used to sweep color all over the flowers. Once they dry, they’re clipped and used in the appropriate arrangement.
Dip Dyes
The dip method works well when designers want to make the flower petals a deeper shade of their natural color. Flowers are cut and get dunked in a mixture of alum, water, and food coloring. Each bloom is added to the liquid (flower side down) and swished about gently. Once it dries, it looks much different. This technique can be used to tie dye roses, but it requires precision. You need multiple pots of the food coloring mixture and must be careful not to get the petals too saturated.
Absorption Dyes
One easy method for dyeing your flowers is the absorption method. Fill a large vase with a food coloring and water mixture. Then, let the stems soak in it, and the flowers show different shades. It’s possible to control the results by allowing the rose to soak a long time or a little bit. However, this is not the traditional tie dye method.
Tie Dye
When florists want to tie dye roses, they use a particular method. To get such a multi-colored bloom, they split the stem three ways. Then, food coloring and water are used in different cups, each container getting a color. Then, each of the three sections is put into one of the colors. With time, the flower looks tie-dyed.
How to Tie Dye a Rose
While we briefly explained the process earlier, it does require some patience and skill, as well as the right tools.
The first thing you need to do is get together the materials. You need white roses, appropriate food colorings, a paring knife or razor blade, scissors, and some small jars (to hold the food coloring). If you have one, it’s also possible to use a popsicle mold, cups, or any other small container.
With the scissors (they need to be sharp), you should cut the rose stems so that they are all the same length. This ensures that the stems stand up in the container.
Now, use the razor blade or sharp knife to split the stems in half or into three sections. Start from the end of the stem and work your way up to about an inch away from the beginning petals. Splitting the stems into more parts gives you a better tie-dye effect, but it is also quite hard to do without breaking the stem. This is where patience comes into play.
Put water into the containers you’ve chosen and mix it with a few drops of your preferred food coloring. Lighter shades are going to blend better and look subtle while the richer, deeper dyes are going to be spotty and dramatic.
Next, you’re going to put the stem halves (or thirds or fourths) into the containers of different dye. Wait until the flower starts soaking up the colored liquid. You’re going to see the effect in about three hours, but you should wait a full 24 hours to see your amazing tie dye roses.
Once the roses are dyed, you can remove them from the containers of colored water and put them into a vase. Remember that the stems are split, so be careful when you add them so that you don’t damage the stems.
Generally, tie-dyed flowers don’t last as long as traditional fresh-cut ones because you have to cut the stems so much. Still, they look amazing and can brighten up a room or be used in other arrangements.
The Reasons Why Tie-dyed Roses Are Popular
Many people love flowers so much that they want to experiment with them. Of course, the traditional rose is beautiful on its own. You can pick a variety of colors, and it is going to look pretty.
Still, people like tie dye roses because they are so unique and different. It’s not every day that you see a white rose with blue tips, pink edges, and yellow centers. Plus, each flower is going to have a new appearance, even if you use the same colors for all. You never know which way the dye is going to color the rose.
For most, the elusive rainbow rose has them flocking to the floral shops to find it. Most florists do not keep them on the shelves, so to speak, because they are time-consuming to do. Still, you can order them from your local florist. If you like to experiment, you can also try your hand at it from home.