Message: Hi, I'd like to dye a fleece coat. Is it exactly like dying any other polyester? (it's not dry clean) Many Thanks

There is one problem shared by many 100% polyester fleece coats. In order to keep the fleece fabric from letting water through, it is common to use a DWR (Durable Water Repellent) coating on the surface of the polyester.

A DWR coating is good for your comfort when wearing the coat, but it torpedos any chance you might have of dyeing the fabric successfully. Not only will it repel water, but it will also repel dye. The result of a DWR finish is fabric that will dye to a much paler color than desired, or it may produce unpredictable splotches of uneven color. You will not be able to completely remove a DWR finish.

If your fleece coat is completely free of any water-resistant coating, you can dye it by boiling it with a special polyester dye in a very large non-aluminum pot, one that is large enough for the coat to move in freely as you boil and stir it. If the pot is too small, or if you do not stir enough, or if there is any sort of invisible dirt on the coat, then the dye will not take evenly, resulting in different shades of the same dye color on different regions of the coat. Another problem is that you should not plan on reusing the pot for cooking, because textile dyes are not tested to be food-safe. A cooking pot large enough for a coat to move in freely will be very expensive.

Ordinary dyes will not work on polyester fleece. The only type of dye that will work on polyester is disperse dye. I see from your email address that you are located in France. I don't know of a retail source for disperse dye in France; mail-order sources for disperse dyes in Europe include Kemtex Educational Supplies  in the UK, and Zijdelings in the Netherlands. Fibrecrafts in the UK also carries Jacquard iDye and iDye Poly.

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