Name: Christine

Message: Hello.  I just graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Fashion/Costume Design and Photography.  I'm coming up with an idea for my first business now and would like to revamp, restore, and rejuvenate vintage lingerie to sell.  I would like to dye many of them but have no experience in dyeing fabric.  Many are nylon, but who knows whether the straps, etc. are also nylon.  Some are rayon, and some are a combination.  Some are also silk.  I'm trying to figure out which type of dye I should invest in.  I thought acid dyes, but them discovered dispersive dyes.  Remember, not all the lingerie will be dyed, mostly the plainer nylon ones.  Thank you so much for your time...Christine


I would prefer acid dyes to disperse dyes. Disperse dyes are less washfast on nylon, and they are more trouble to use. Also, disperse dyes will not work at all on silk or rayon. Acid dyes will work on both silk and nylon, though not on rayon.

You will need disperse dye if you wish to dye polyester or acetate, but delicate underthings may not survive the process of boiling required for the application of disperse dye.

The straps are more likely to be nylon than another fiber, I think. I've found that the trim, such as lace, on polyester lingerie tends to be nylon, even if the fiber content label does not mention it.

Rayon cannot be dyed with disperse dyes, and with good fiber reactive dyes, it cannot be dyed at the same pH as nylon. Nylon will take dye under acid (low pH) conditions, while rayon, like cotton, dyes under basic (high pH) conditions. You can dye rayon and nylon with the same fiber reactive dyes if you first adjust the pH to about 10 or 11 by adding soda ash, as in the usual recipe for using these dyes, leave the dye to react long enough, and then add acid (such as citric acid or glacial acetic acid) to reduce the pH low enough to dye nylon, between a pH of 4 and 6, then heat the garments in the dyebath, as is required for dyeing nylon. Use a non-aluminum cooking pot for dyeing nylon, and do not reuse it for food later on.

An alternative for garments that contain both rayon and nylon is to use all-purpose dyes, which are generally a mixture of acid dyes and direct dyes. The two dyes in the mixture are selected to give more-or-less the same color. The acid dyes will dye nylon (as well as silk or wool), while the direct dye will dye rayon (as well as cotton and linen). The direct dye will also stain silk, in most cases. The problem with all-purpose dyes is that the acid dye they contain is of the leveling acid type, which is very poorly washfast, while the direct dye they contain is poorly washfast as well. They both will wash out if washed in warm water or if washed too many times. The only solution that makes all-purpose dye acceptably washfast is to after-treat with a cationic dye fixative such as Retayne.

The best dyes for use on nylon and silk are the Lanaset dyes. Unlike other acid dyes, silks and nylons dyed with Lanaset can be washed in hot water without their being ruined by dye loss. They are more expensive per package, but each package will go a long way. In fact, per ounce of fiber dyed, the Lanaset dyes are cheaper than the boxes of Rit dye you can buy at the grocery store, because there is only a very small amount of dye in each box of all-purpose dye, enough to dye up to 250 grams of fabric, or half that if you are using black. The Lanaset black is the most-recommended black dye for use on silk or nylon. It will not, of course, work on cotton or rayon, since they are not polyamides, but it may stain them to some extent.

In conclusion, my preference in your situation would be to invest in Lanaset dyes for the silk and nylon, and Procion MX or another fiber reactive dye for the rayon, cotton, and also silk. 

Please see the following pages for more information relevant to your project:

"About Dyes"

"Lanaset Dyes: A Range of Reactive and Acid Dyes for Protein Fibers"

"All Purpose Dyes"

"About Fiber Reactive Dyes"

"Leveling Acid Dyes (Kiton type Dyes)"

"Dyeing Protein Fibers"

"Who Sell Lanaset Dyes?"

"Commercial Dye Fixatives" (for use on all-purpose dye)


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