How It’s Made

Small-batch, ice-dyed by hand in our San Diego home studio.

No shortcuts. No mass production. Just a slow, intentional process that makes every piece one of a kind.

1. Source Premium Blanks

Neatly stacked premium blank garments sealed in bags before dyeing.

We begin with thoughtfully sourced, high-quality blanks chosen for comfort, durability, and everyday wear.

2. Prep the Fabric

Soda ash being poured into a water tub to prep fabric for the ice-dye process.

Each piece is soaked in a soda ash solution to help the dye bond deeply and permanently with the fabric.

3. Spin Dry

We remove excess moisture so the fabric is perfectly prepped for clean dye absorption.

4. Shape the Design

White garment scrunched and wrapped with sinew, ready for OB Tie Dye’s ice-dyeing technique.

Scrunched, twisted, or folded by hand—this is where the foundation of the pattern is created. No two setups are ever the same.

5. Cover With Ice

Large bags of ice in a shopping cart, used for OB Tie Dye’s signature ice-dye method.

Ice is layered on top of the fabric and left to melt slowly, guiding the dye in organic, unpredictable ways.

6. Apply the Dye

Shelf with multiple jars of dharma fiber reactive dye for ice dye in the OB Tie Dye studio

We hand-apply professional fiber-reactive dyes over the ice. Our studio holds over a hundred colors, making every colorway carefully considered but never duplicated.

7. Let It Rest

two ice dye batches of colorful ice with a rainbow of fiber reactive dye colors showing the ice dye process

The pieces rest for 24+ hours while the ice melts and the dye works its magic—creating the signature splits, blooms, and depth ice dye is known for.

8. Rinse + Reveal

Colorful tie-dye hoodie with 'OB Tie Dye' logo embroidered washing out in a sink.

Each garment is hand-rinsed until the water runs clear, then machine washed with professional detergent to lock in color and softness.

9. Finish & Tag

Clothing finishing supplies including scissors, thread, and OB Tie Dye hang tags on a table.

Every piece is inspected, finished with a hand-sewn hem tag, and individually tagged—because details matter.

This process takes days — not minutes — and it’s why no two OB Tie Dye pieces are ever alike.

Want to see the process in motion? Follow along on Instagram for behind-the-scenes studio moments.