Name: Briana
Message: I have a shirt that is 90% polyester and 10% spandex, I was wondering if I would be able to disperse dye it anyways. It's a red almost satin-looking material and it is corset style shirt that has plastic boning in it, zipper in front and ribbon ties in back. Thank you.

No. I'm sorry, but polyester/spandex is an impossible fiber combination to dye. These two types of fibers must be dyed separately, before they are ever combined together into one piece of fabric.

Dyeing polyester requires boiling the garment for an hour with disperse type dyes and a carrier chemical. However, according to the care labels for spandex clothing, spandex blends should not be subjected to even hot tap water, which is not nearly as hot as boiling water. I am not sure how damaging hot water might be to spandex, but it seems certain that boiling spandex will destroy the fabric.

The only option for changing the color of polyester/spandex clothing is fabric paint. Perhaps pigment "dyeing" will meet your needs. Be careful in your color choice, though. Most fabric paints, like dyes, are transparent. You could use a darker color on your red satin polyester/spandex, but you cannot use a lighter color, unless you specifically purchase some fabric paint that is clearly marked 'opaque'. Metallic and pearlescent fabric paints will also show up even on a dark background, and can create spectacular effects. If possible, do not limit yourself to the fabric paints available in your local crafts store, unless it's an exceptionally good one; check the list of different companies that sell dye supplies by mail-order for sources for Jacquard Lumière metallic fabric paint or Neopaque opaque fabric paints, PROFab Textile paints, Versatex fabric paints, and so on. Please note that while Pearl-Ex Pigments make the very best metallics, they do not include a binder to attach them to your fabric; to use them, you must buy some clear extender medium for fabric paint, such as Versatex or Lumière, and mix the Pearl-Ex pigment with the binder for use as a fabric paint.


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