Name: penney 
Message: Hi, I'm an airbrush artist that does costumes for major theme parks, I have trouble keeping the paint looking good because of the many washes and perspiration of performers, and they are usually synthetic fabrics, I notice the fabric already printed holds up better, can I put the airbrushed costume in that soda ash I've heard you speak of, in the washer? do you think that would work? any help is greatly appreciated

No, sorry, soda ash will not help unless you are using fiber reactive dye. It will do nothing for fabric paints or other types of dye. You can use fiber reactive dyes in an airbrush, but they do not work on synthetics, only on cotton, silk, rayon, and similar fibers. Acid dyes can be used on nylon, but they last best if they are steamed for half an hour or longer, before rinsing.

Heat transfers made with disperse dye should last better on synthetics than airbrushed fabric paint, because the heat drives the vaporized dye a little farther into the fabric. This is the method used for the preprinted synthetic materials. It might be possible for you to prepare similar iron-ons by airbrushing with disperse dye paint onto paper and then using a heat transfer press to transfer to the fabric. We can do the transfer at home with an iron, but the professional heat presses are hotter and larger and therefore give better results. Of course, they cost considerably more. See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes" for more general information about disperse dyes, and follow the links to PRO Chemical & Dye to purchase disperse dyes. (I am not affiliated with their site.)

Please be very careful not to inhale any droplets of dye or paint from your airbrushing. I've heard some bad things about airbrush safety lately. Even 'non-toxic' paints can be quite hazardous when inhaled.

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