Name: JANE
Message: I HOPE YOU CAN HELP ME. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND SOME BLACK DYE TO DYE MY SON PANTS BLACK FOR WORK. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER TOWN AND OTHER TOWNS TOO. NO ONE HAS BLACK DYE. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING A LONG TIME WHAT CAN I USE INSTEAD. PLEASE HELP ME.

You can find better dye, at a better (bulk) price, by mail-ordering it. First you should decide what kind of dye you want, though.

All-purpose dyes, such as the kind you can find in grocery stores or pharmacies, tend to work poorly on cotton, washing out a little every time they are washed, so they do not stay dark for long. I do not recommend their use. They are also expensive since each box will only dye a single garment. If you try to dye anything black with all-purpose dye, use four to eight times as much dye as the package recommends, and simmer your garment in the dye plus water for half an hour. Then apply a commercial dye fixative such as Retayne. Salt or vinegar will not set the dye.

"Dylon Permanent" brand black dye is an excellent cold water dye, sold in some crafts stores or fabric stores, but each packet costs almost $3 and will dye only a single adult-sized t-shirt. However, the dye is extremely good quality, it is very black, and it lasts very well in the wash. You can mail-order it from Amazon; if you use the following link, they will give my site a small percentage of the cost, at no additional cost to you: Dylon Permanent Fabric Dye - Black

The best prices by far on dye, however, are obtained by mail-ordering from a company that specializes in selling dye. I recommend PRO Chemical & Dye. Their MX dyes are the best dyes for cotton, very dark, long-lasting, and easy to use (no boiling needed!), and their instructions on their website are top-notch. Their Liquid Fiber Reactive Dye in black is the same dye that is found in the black Dylon Permanent Fabric Dye, but you need only a single teaspoon of the dye for each shirt, instead of a whole packet. You can find contact information for PROchem and other dye suppliers listed on my page of Sources for Dye Supplies Around the World at http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml.

For instructions on how to dye in a washing machine, see http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/washingmachine.shtml. For dyeing anything black, always use four times as much dye as you would use to get a lighter shade in some other color.

What are your son's pants made of? You cannot dye them yourself if they are polyester, but if they are cotton it should not be at all difficult to dye them with fiber reactive dyes. Nylon is possible to dye with acid dyes, but you will need more information in that case.

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