Sophia looked at the instructions, and read through them with interest.
“Want to stand out from the crowd, celebrate your creativity and take pride in what you’re wearing? Read on for our guide to tie-dying your diapers.
First you need to prepare your materials. We recommend you start with plain white diapers, available from all your favourite manufacturers and suppliers. Although baby print disposables are sooo cute plain white ones will capture your personality and show off your favourite colours so much better.
Pick your dyes. We recommend powdered dyes, that way you can mix them up for the strength of colour you choose. Which colours? It’s up to you! Be bold, be subtle but always, be you. You’ll also need some string or rubber bands, and finally some water.
Remember, always play safe. Wear one of the old boring diapers you’ll be replacing and protect your hands with nitrile gloves so that you don’t dye your own fingers. We recommend a nice apron too; a bib may not suffice for this one.
First up, mix your dyes. You can go for a single colour, or choose multiple. You can even mix the dyes to create new ones – the possibilities are endless. Express yourself and impress everybody else. Follow the instructions though, to be sure your dyes will take hold and create the visual splendour you’re seeking.
Now unfold your disposable and stretch it out – remember, disposables absorb more if you stretch them first. Now fold it, squidge it, squeeze it into new shapes, screw it up or do all of these things. Then tie it in that new shape, using the string or rubber bands. Not the normal use for rubber in your life 😉 This is where you get to segment the diaper so that the dyes create fun and interesting patterns. You can even meticulously tie the diaper incrementally to create intentional geometric patterns.
Now the fun part! Take your pre-prepared dyes and use them to colour individual parts of the diaper, as segmented by how you’ve tied it. Take your time, stay between the lines and choose your colours to create the patterns you want to wear.
You’ll want that dye to stay moist while it soaks in and forever changes your disposable diapers. As long as the moisture can’t escape your diaper the dye will work but you can’t rely on the diaper to keep it in – that only works when you’re wearing it, and you need to finish the dying before you wear these ones. You could pop each one into a sealed plastic bag (we use freezer bags) or wrap it in clingfilm but keep that diaper from drying out for around 8 hours to be sure.
After waiting that long you’ll need to rinse away the unused dye, otherwise it’ll stain everything you wear over your new brightly coloured diaper and your furniture – and you! A pretty multi-coloured adult baby may be just what your carer wants but they should do that themselves deliberately; they’ll be disappointed in you if you accidentally dye yourself.
First snip and remove the string or rubber bands, then unfold your diaper. Already you can see and admire the fantastic patterns but you need to rinse away that spare dye first. Hold it under a running tap until the water dripping from it runs clear. Now pop the diaper into the washing machine and put it on a rinse/spin cycle. This will finish the rinsing and also accelerate the drying process.
Finally you just need to dry the diapers before wearing. Don’t use a dryer, most disposables will melt and you’ll lose all your hard work. Instead hang those diapers to dry overnight and you’re ready to look your best!”
That sounded a lot of work but Sophia was inspired. Except she didn’t wear diapers, Olivia did. She called her over.
Olivia crawled over obediently. She’d learned already not to upset Sophia; every day was cruel infantilisation, her movements restricted, her choices limited, her behaviour controlled. That included her bodily functions, forced to wear diapers, locked into clothing which prevented her accessing them, left her having to use them.
Sophia made Olivia kneel up so she could quickly remove her dress, unlock and strip off the romper suit, then undo the tabs on her diaper. It fell to the floor, a wet splat showing Olivia hadn’t wasted it.
Olivia shivered. It wasn’t cold but this deviated from the normal routines, and changes were seldom good. Sophia noticed and sought to reassure the young woman she so easily dominated. “Don’t worry, we’re just going to have some fun with some tie dying.”
Oliva kept kneeling as she watched Sophia don some plastic looking gloves, mix coloured powder with water into bottles and line it up on some plastic sheeting on the table.
“Now,” said Sophia, “Just need to tie before we apply the dye.”
She laid more plastic sheeting on the floor, told Olivia to sit on it then took up several long cotton ropes.
“Let’s see what pretty patterns we can dye you in,” said Sophia as she started tangling Olivia’s limbs together with the ropes.