Name: louise
Message: i have a lemon chair and sofa, loose coveres i wont to change the colour to beige or a light coffee colour will any of these colours take on the lemon.

There is absolutely no way to predict this without knowing the exact fiber content of your furniture covers. It all depends on what they are made of. Polyester cannot be dyed without boiling it for an hour with special polyester dye and a noxious carrier chemical. However, unless it has been treated with a stain-resistant finish, cotton can be dyed easily, using a fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye, if the covers can be removed from the furniture, as long as you take great care not to shrink the fabric in the dyeing process.

You cannot dye upholstered furniture if the covers cannot be removed, because a great deal of rinsing is required after dyeing. Fabric painting can be used instead, in that situation, though reupholstering is often a better idea; see "Can furniture be dyed successfully? ", and Scarlet Zebra's detailed information on painting upholstered furniture.

Since dye is transparent, each color you apply only adds to what is there already. The result cannot be lighter than the original color. If your chairs are a bright lemon color, a pale beige will be impossible, so you will have to choose a darker brown. If they are a pale lemon, beige may be possible.

Good dyes must usually be mail-ordered; there are several sources in the UK for Procion MX dye, or other cool water fiber reactive dye. See the "Europe" section on my "Sources for Dyeing Supplies" page. Although it tends to cost quite a bit more per pound of fabric dyed, Dylon Cold Water dye and Dylon Washing Machine dye are also very good fiber reactive dyes. Do NOT use all-purpose dye, such as Rit dye or Dylon Multi-purpose dye, as these require considerable heat to properly affix to the fiber; heat will cause shrinkage, which is deadly for slipcovers.