My Review of the New Folk Art Ultra Dyes

Folk Art Ultra Dye comes in 14 Intense colors

If you love rich colorful fabric, art work and table top items, then you are going to enjoy

the new Folk Art Ultra Dyes which can be used on fabric, wood, and other natural fibers.

Beyond the beautiful 14 colors that the Folk Art Ultra Dye is available in, you can also mix the colors to create new colors and for creating Ombre Effects on natural fiber projects.  These colors are rich and a little goes a long way. I decided to paint the dyes on some unfinished wood die cuts to see how they applied and how opaque each color was.  

These are the different colors of the Folk Art Ultra Dyes that were sent to me.

I first saw these dyes in the Plaid Booth Winter at the 2016 CHA Mega Show.  The display for this dye was a beautiful selection of colorful objects that caught my eye as I walked by.

Look at how bright the Folk Art Ultra Dye is on these unfinished wicker balls

Below are some of the beautiful items on display that were dyed using the Folk Art Ultra Dye.

Folk Art Ultra Dye on Fabric

I was so excited when I heard I going to be sent some bottles to test out.

Folk Art Ultra Dye on Unfinished wood

The box came from Plaid and I was so excited to see they had sent me one of each color.

Folk Art Ultra Dye on Wooden Hoops

The dyes are sold in 8 oz white bottles and are available at JoAnns, Hobby Lobby and AC Moore Stores.

The colors that I got are:

• 5601 Pucker Up
• 5602 solar power 
• 5603 Infrared 
• 5604 Hot Flash
• 5605 Turquoise
• 5606 Blue Bayou
• 5607 Rendezvous
• 5608 Purple Rain
• 5609 Hot Pink
• 5610 Venom
• 5611 Emerald City
• 5612 Lady Marmalade
• 5613 Raspberry Beret
• 5614 Tantalizing Teal
• 5618 Satin Varnis (a coat of this will protect the surface of the dyed project)

There may be more colors in the future but I have to say this are a pretty great selection.  The paints come in opaque bottles which is probably to protect the pigment in the dyes but don't quote me on that.  Anyway, these dyes are rich and really pigmented, as you can see below.

Folk Art Ultra Dyes used on a Recollections Water Resist Cube

I used three of the dye colors on one of the new Recollections Water Resist Cubes and it worked great.

Here is what the paperwork says about the dyes:

• They are self-sealing.
• Great for dying wood, natural fibers and some porous surfaces.
• The brush on bold with vibrant color (pigment)
• They can be used to create ombre Effects.
• The dyes can be used for stenciling patterns
• The dyes are non-toxic

I can not wait to get started planning what items I am going to dye to test out some of the above claims.  I love colorful objects and these dyes are perfect for so many different types of projects.  I will be posting some projects using this dyes over the next few months.  Today I decided to test it out on some unfinished wood just to see what the coverage was like and I am impressed.

I found that the yellows were very light on the first application, however the color can be built up by adding more layers of the dye onto the wood.

The Orange color (5612 ) on the other hand, went on very rich and only required one application.

I found that a little goes a long way on these dyes, so in order to control how much dye poured out of the bottle I left the protecting metal piece.  I  then made a small hole in each lid and gently poured out a small amount.

A dime size amount was enough to paint the unfinished wood dye cut, a large piece of wood (24 x24) with quite a bit still left over (I decided to work on multiple projects at the same time to avoid wasting the dyes).

Some of the Folk Art Ultra Dye colors are more intense than others (like the 5607 versus 5603) but I found adding a small amount of water to the color would lighten the hue a bit.

The photo below has a piece of wood I painted with the dye and below it is a canvas that I painted with the same color of dye.

Folk Art Ultra Dyes painted onto Recollections Water Resist Cubes and Unfinished Wood

The difference is the intensity of the color.   I added water to the dye to lesson the intensity of the hue, which worked great. I love the lighter shade and it looked great on the Recollections Water Resist Cube.  I found that the Folk Art Ultra dyes are really versatile dyes and so easy to use.  Plaid recently put up a free ebook on how to use the Folk Art Ultra Dyes, so if you want to read more tips on how to use the Folk Art Ultra Dyes or see some Free Easy Folk Art Ultra Dye Projects, go check it out:  Plaids Beginner Guide to Ultra Dyes


Hint: Wear gloves while working with dyes to keep your hands from getting stained.  Also, clean up as you go so because these dyes will sink into any porous surface.  I used just a bit of water, paper towels and a baby wipe to keep my work area and tools clean while I tested the paints. Don't worry I did not throw out the paper towels, they are currently drying so that I can use them for a future project (why waste a now beautifully stained surface). The colors looks so great on the paper towels, I just knew I could use them for other projects.

They don't look like much in the picture above, but once I opened them up to let them dry, I realized these would be great for back grounds on cards and other projects.