Name: Sherry
Message: I am trying to dye new white hotel towels dark deep black. I used RIT in the washing machine, it came out grey (ugh) I was unsure of how much to use. I used 4 boxes in a full washing machine tub of hot water. I rewashed it before it drained too. I dyed 4 bath towels (med size) 4 hand towels and 4 washcloths. Can you advise me please? What should I do to get rich deep black? I have so many to do. If I have to order a dye, fine but I want to make sure it will work.

I cannot recommend all-purpose dye for use on cotton. It works poorly unless you simmer the fabric in the dyebath at 190 degrees F. for half an hour or longer and then treat it with a mail-order after-treatment fixative such as Retayne or Raycafix so that it does not bleed in the laundry. Boiling a lot of towels would be a huge amount of work, especially when you consider that the cooking pot you use with the all-purpose dye should never again be used for food. Fiber reactive dye is much easier to use, and produces richer deeper colors which last far longer in the laundry.

Are your towels 100% cotton? A towel that is 50% cotton can never come out darker than grey, because the polyester portion cannot be dyed except by a rather unpleasant process.

What I would advise you to do, if your towels are 100% cotton, is rewash them several times in HOT water, without fabric softener, to remove excess dye. Purchase some high quality fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, and then redye the towels according to the instructions on "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?" . You should use one ounce of Procion MX type dye per pound of fabric, in order to get black. (Lighter colors require much less dye!) You will need to weigh your towels in order to know how much dye to use. You will also need 10 pounds of salt and three-quarters of a pound of soda ash, for every five pounds of towels that you dye black.

The two recommended types of fiber reactive dye that are available by mail order in the US are Procion MX dye and Cibacron F dye. PRO Chemical & Dye is the best source for Cibacron F dye, which they call Sabracron F. Procion MX dye is available by mail order from most of the dye suppliers around the world listed on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page.

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