Tie-Dye Fabric Dyeing Simulator

Fold Pattern

Dye Color

Click / drag on the fabric to dab the selected dye. Folding makes one dab land on several layers at once.

Resist ties 2

Soak speed 3

Readouts

Soak time

0 min

Dye coverage

Dabs applied

How it works

Dye molecules dissolved in water move through wet cotton fiber by Fickian diffusion, spreading from high concentration to low:

∂C/∂t = D·∇²C

D  = local diffusivity (fiber wetness)
∇²C ≈ C(x+1,y)+C(x-1,y)+C(x,y+1)+C(x,y-1) − 4C(x,y)

The simulator solves this on a grid explicitly, redrawing the result onto the fabric each frame. Two things shape the final pattern:

Folding. Tie-dye fabric is folded before dyeing, so a single dab of color soaks through several stacked layers at once. Unfolded, those layers land at symmetric points — a spiral fold gives rotational symmetry, a bullseye gives concentric rings, accordion pleats give mirrored stripes, and a loose crumple gives none.
Resist. A rubber band cinched around the fabric compresses the fibers so tightly that D ≈ 0 there — dye cannot cross the tie, leaving the crisp white lines that define classic tie-dye.

Soak speed advances the diffusion clock in bigger steps per frame — physically, the same effect as leaving the fabric to sit longer before rinsing (diffusion distance grows with √(D·t)).

Dyed fiber Undyed / resist

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