Name: Emelia

Message: Hello, I want to dye an evening dress which has an orange satin underlay with a white tulle overlay (I want the whole dress to be orange - even if the overlay is slightly lighter). Is this possible? If so, which dye would you recommend?

Is the dress machine-washable? You can't dye anything that is not washable, because dyeing involves a lot of washing.

If it is washable, what fibers are the satin and tulle made of? Satin is a smooth fabric that can be woven from almost any fiber. It will be easy to dye if it is silk or rayon, but very difficult to dye if it is polyester or acetate. Tulle can be made from nylon or from polyester. Nylon tulle is easily dyed with acid dyes, but polyester tulle is harder to dye.

If the dress is washable and is made from polyester satin with a nylon tulle overlay, then you can dye the dress in the washing machine with acid dye. A handy source of acid dye is the all-purpose dye mixtures that you can buy almost anywhere, such as Rit brand dye. The colors do not always come out as advertised, unfortunately. If you dye the dress in the washing machine with orange Rit dye and some vinegar, the nylon will take the dye, but the polyester will not, since polyester will not take any ordinary dye. Acid dye and all-purpose dye will wash out of the polyester, resulting in dyed tulle on the original color of polyester satin.

This will not work if the tulle is made of polyester, as is sometimes the case. 

Polyester can be dyed only by boiling it for some time with a special kind of dye called disperse dye, which you can buy only by mail-order. I don't think you want to invest in a ten-gallon stainless steel cooking pot, large enough to dye a dress without creasing, because it is expensive. You must never reuse a dyeing pot for food preparation, so, once you have dyed your dress in a pot, the pot should be used only for dyeing afterwards. It's a great investment if you want to dye a lot of synthetics or wool, but not a good buy for a one-time use.

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