Dyeing synthetic stretch velvet for rug hooking

Name: Dianne

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Country or region: CA

Message: I am dyeing synthetic velvet using Cushing direct dye, but citric acid turns the solution lavender, so I have ordered retayne. Will that stop the process and make the fabric take up the dye as citric acid does? I am hoping it will allow me to get deeper tints and spot dye. Thx so much.

What is the fiber content of your synthetic velvet? Rayon velvet is easy to dye, and nylon would not be too bad, but polyester velvet requires boiling in disperse dye, or heat transfer of disperse dye iron-ons.

If you're dyeing rayon velvet, Cushing direct dye should work, but I much prefer fiber reactive dye. If you're dyeing nylon, you should use acid dye, instead.

Why are you using citric acid? Is that included in the Cushing recipe? Citric acid is a good choice to use with acid dyes on nylon.

Not sure the content of the velvet I can get locally for rug hooking. Needs to be stretch. Silk or rayon velvet good for braiding but not hooking as it frays. Cushing says vinegar and salt to set. I used citric. Is retayne not a good setting agent to make the fabric take up the dye and water clear? Thx

Most synthetic velvet is made of polyester. There is nothing you can add to any dye made by Cushing to make it set on polyester. W. Cushing & Company does not make polyester dyes.

Retayne dye fixative is helpful for fixing poorly washfast dye, especially direct dye, on natural fibers. It is not able to make the wrong type of dye stick to polyester, though. It's very important to use only polyester dye, when you're dyeing polyester.

Cushing makes two kinds of dye. Cushing Direct dye is intended for use only on cellulose fibers, such as cotton; since rayon is made of reprocessed cellulose, Cushing Direct dye will work well on it. Cushing Direct Dye will also work on 100% natural silk, but the colors are apt to come out wrong, since they are premixed from multiple colors of dye. Premixed dyes often produce different colors on different types of fibers. Cushing Direct Dye is not supposed to be used on nylon at all. You will get superior results on cotton or rayon if you quit using Cushing Direct dye and use a fiber reactive dye instead, as fiber reactive dye is much longer-lasting and less likely to bleed in the washing water. (See "About Direct Dyes" and "About Fiber Reactive Dyes".)

Cushing Acid Dye is intended for use on wool and other animal hair fibers, as well as nylon and silk. (See "About Acid Dyes".) Like Cushing Direct Dye, it does not work well on polyester.

Citric acid or vinegar are good for setting Cushing Acid Dye on wool, silk, or nylon, but they will not set any type of dye on polyester. Changing the pH of a dyebath can change the apparent color of the dye in the water, but it does not have a permanent effect, since the citric acid and vinegar will wash completely out of the fabric after dyeing. It makes no difference to your final product if the citric acid happens to temporarily change the color of the dye in the water. The final color of the dye will be determined by the pH in the fabric after it is dry, not by the pH of the dyebath.

In looking at a fabric store online, the only stretch velvet I see available is a blend of 90% polyester and 10% spandex. This is a bad combination for dyeing, since polyester requires high heat to dye, while spandex is supposed to be protected from heat. If you look at the care label for any clothing that contains spandex, it will tell you to wash it in cool or warm water, never hot water, and certainly not the boiling water required for polyester dyeing. Since you're not worried about changing the shape of your fabric, though, when you dye it before hooking a rug, it's possible that this won't be a problem for you. Try boiling a small piece of your stretch velvet in water for half an hour to see if the texture is too badly damaged afterwards. If it feels fine for your purposes after it dries, then you can go ahead with dyeing it.

You might be able to get a better idea of the fiber content of your stretch polyester is from a burn test, snipping a tiny piece of the material and burning it carefully to see what ash it produces, and what odor. Nylon produces a celery-like smell, while polyester smells more like burning plastic. It's easier to distinguish cotton and wool: cotton and rayon smell like burning paper, while wool and silk smell like burning hair.

In order to dye polyester, you will need to order some disperse dye. Disperse dye is the only type of dye that works on polyester. (See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".) You can order Jacquard iDye Poly (not plain iDye) from Dharma Trading Company or an art supplier like Blick Art Materials; they have eight colors available. Alternatively, you can order a much wider range of colors of disperse dye from PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts or Aljo Mfg in New York.

For an inexpensive test, you could go to a local fabric store and buy some Crayola Fabric Crayons, which are disperse dye in the shape of a crayon; you color a design onto paper, and then iron it on to the fabric according to the package instructions. Do not try this with regular crayons! Fabric transfer crayons are a completely different product than ordinary wax crayons, although they look almost identical.

I would advise you to do a test with the fabric transfer crayons, similar to my test shown here: "Iron-on Fabric Crayons for Synthetic Fibers". If this method produces brilliant colors, you should then order some disperse dye powder online to use for your stretch polyester, choosing the colors you really want. There are many ways to apply disperse dyes, either by boiling the fabric in the dye or by ironing it on. Every method for dyeing polyester requires both disperse dye and heat.

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Posted: Sunday - March 04, 2012 at 01:21 PM

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Dyeing synthetic stretch velvet for rug hooking

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