Name: Wendy

Message: I'm looking for a non-toxic dye to dye cushion covers for a couch.  Any suggestions?

Use a cold water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, Remazol dye, or Drimarene K dye. Hot water dyes may shrink your cushion covers so that they no longer fit. 

As far as toxicity is concerned, many Procion HE and Remazol dyes are listed as safe even for baby clothes on the Oeko-Tex Standard 100. You must be careful to avoid breathing any sort of dye powder, wear gloves while dyeing, and wash out all unattached excess dye from your fabric after you have dyed it.

You will need to use soda ash (sodium carbonate) as a fixative for your dye. You can buy Procion MX, Remazol, and Drimarene K dyes by mail order from Batik Oetoro and from Kraftkolour, both of which are located in Australia, as your email address suggests you are. You can find contact information on my page of Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World.

In Australia, you can also find a cool water fiber reactive dye sold under the Tintex name. Look for "Tintex Low Temp Dye"; avoid "Tintex Hot Water Dye". In North America, all Tintex brand dye is hot-water all-purpose dye, which is not suitable for many purposes that require cool water dyes.

Note that you will not be able to dye your cushion covers if they are made of polyolefin, polypropylene, polyester, or acetate, nor if they have been treated with any sort of stain-resistant finish such as Scotch Guard.

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