Name: edie

Message: I would like to know more about dying cotton yarn.  I have searched the web and am finding lots on yarn dying, but not anything on dying cotton yarn.  Should I use Rit dye?  How can I make my yarn verrigated?  I really can't use Kool Aid?  It is so much cheaper.  If I can use Kool Aid to dye other types of yarn, what is the recipe?

Don't try to use Kool-aid on cotton. Koolaid is unbelievably expensive if you divide the cost by the number of pounds of yarn you can dye! This is because it simply does not dye cotton. It temporarily stains it, but makes no permanent bond to the yarn as a true dye must. Kool-aid works as a dye on silk, wool, or nylon, but simply washes out of cotton.

Avoid all-purpose dyes also, such as are commonly found in drug stores and grocery stores. They are better than Kool-aid, for cotton, but not as good as the dyes I recommend. The colors obtained are often different from those claimed on the package, and they tend to run in the laundry or when they get wet, ruining other garments and fading quickly. Another problem with all-purpose dye is that it costs a lot for the small amount of dye you get.

Fiber reactive dye from prochemical.com or bestdye.com is much cheaper than Rit dye, but even Rit dye is much cheaper than Kool-aid, given that Kool-aid works so extremely poorly on cotton. Use Kool-aid only on wool or nylon, never cotton. If you want to dye yarn with Kool-aid or with all-purpose dye such as Rit, please find some wool yarn and dye that. Both of these types of dyes work pretty well on wool. See "Using Food Coloring as a Textile Dye for Protein Fibers".

To dye cotton yarn, use cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You can mail-order this dye for a good price per ounce from any of the dye companies listed on my "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World" page. You may also be able to buy fiber reactive dye from your local crafts or sewing store, though at a much higher price per ounce of dye, especially in the case of dyes in which auxiliary chemicals or salt are mixed with the expensive dye. Look for the brand Jacquard Procion Dye, which is the best that is sometimes available locally. If you can't find that, Dylon Cold Water Dye or Dylon Permanent Dye will work well. 

In the case of dye which is not pre-mixed with auxiliary dye chemicals, such as Jacquard, all you have to do to get variegated colors is soak the yarn  in soda ash and water, wring it out, and pour on different colors of dye mixed in a small quantity of water, following the same recipe as on the How to Dye page. For dyes that are pre-mixed with auxiliary chemicals, such as Dylon Permanent Dye, follow the package instructions to mix each dye color, and dip different sections of your skeins of cotton yarn into different colors. Cover the wet dyed cotton with plastic to keep it moist overnight, then wash out as instructed.

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[Updated June 8, 2008.]