Name: Sable
Message: I have a black 100% polyester dress with three-quarter sleeves that hits just below my knee. I'm almost positive that I can't die it, but I need to make it a dark purple color. Should I use fabric paint? How much would I need and is it possible to use paint thinner with it?

Dyeing can be used only to darken fabric, not lighten it. Since black is the darkest of all colors, it is impossible to dye it any color other than black.

Most fabric paints are transparent, so they work just like dyes, in that they darken fabric, never lighten it. The exceptions are those fabric paints which are specifically labeled as being opaque, pearlescent, or metallic.

Dyeing polyester is no fun at all, anyway. It requires that you boil it for an hour with a special kind of polyester dye, called disperse dye, plus a noxious carrier chemical, and that you do this in a cooking pot that will never again be used for food. It is often better to use fabric paint on polyester, even though paint usually gives less professional-looking results than dye.

Your difficulties in painting a dress will mostly involve getting the color even. It's probably impossible to do this perfectly. However, with some paints, this is considered a virtue. Pigment dye, which is actually fabric paint and not dye at all, is renowned for giving a subtle aged effect. 

Not all fabric paints will cling well to the slick fibers of polyester. One fabric paint which is recommended for polyester is Dharma Pigment Dye, sold by Dharma Trading Company; see their listing on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page, at <http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml>. I believe that it may be nbecessary to use the white or pearlescent bases in order to cover black fabric.

I do not know how much fabric paint you will need, as this depends both on the paint you buy and on how thickly you choose to apply it. Weigh your dress so that you know how much material you have, before you call the company from which you purchase your paint, and ask them how much you are likely to need.

Fabric paints are water-based, so you can thin the fabric paint with water or with fabric paint extender, never with paint thinner.


(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)