Name: Patricia

Message: Hi -  I have a bright white wedding veil (made from that typical veil netting) and was wondering if it's possible to dye this to an off white.

Thank you so much for your time!

Is it polyester tulle or nylon tulle? The dyes are different. Nylon is very easy to dye, but polyester is more difficult. Nylon can be dyed with acid dyes, but polyester requires special polyester dye.

If you cannot determine the fiber content of the veil by looking at the information provider by its maker, then you can cut off a small shred and carefully burn it as a test.

You can dye polyester by boiling it with disperse dye (mail-ordered from PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts or Aljo Mfg. in New York). You can also buy a new brand of disperse dye which is named "iDye Poly". (Don't confuse this with the regular iDye, which is not for polyester.) iDye Poly is sold by retailers of Jacquard Products, including Dharma Trading Company.

Nylon can be dyed with all-purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex, because the makers of all-purpose dye includes acid dyes in their mixtures. All-purpose dye is easy to find in your local grocery or pharmacy. I do not recommend all-purpose dye for cotton, but it works reasonably acceptably on nylon. You should add a little vinegar to your dyebath when you dye nylon with all-purpose dye; a good amount would be 6 and a half tablespoons of white vinegar per gallon of water, mixed with dye. Use only a tiny amount of brown dye, if you want a slightly off-white color.

Disperse dyes will work on nylon, too, but they are so much harder to find than all-purpose dyes that I do not usually recommend this. Disperse dyes are less washfast on nylon, but that's probably not a big problem for a veil that is unlikely to be washed.

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