Message: Hi Paula,
I am Anna writing from Italy. Please, excuse my very bad English! Thank you very much for all your information on dyeng and painting. 

I have some troubles in understanding how to dye 7/8 yards of silk charmeuse per time for bridal dresses. Silk charmeuse needs to be washed in cold or warm water. From your webpage "basic recipe for Procion MX dyes on cellulose or silk how to use reactive dyes for protein fibers" you are more dedicated to tie dyeing.

I wrote to ProChemical and they suggested to use the procion MX as for immersion wool, and again they forgot the need of not using hot water. I wrote also to Kemtex and they suggested Acid Milling dyes to dye at 95oC to 100oC! What do you think?

Also, if I want to dye the dress instead of fabric, what kind of stitching do you suggest (I mean polyester, cotton, etc.) to let the dress coloured uniformly.

Hi Anna,

It is common practice to dye fabrics at temperatures that are not recommended on their care labels. Silk charmeuse is often dyed at temperatures up to 85°C (185°F). Do not use this method on garments that have already been sewn to size; instead, dye the yardage, and then, if successful, you can use the dyed fabric in your designs.

85°C is said to be the highest temperature that you should use when dyeing silk. Higher temperatures may damage the fabric. Use a good thermometer so that you can be sure that your dyebath is not too hot.

For very level (sold color) results, a good choice would be leveling acid dyes, such as PRO Chemical & Dye's Kiton Acid Dyes. These are not as washfast as other dyes, but for a wedding dress it is usually not considered important to be able to launder the garment frequently. Here is a link to ProChem's recipe. There are many acid dyes that would work for this material. Acid Milling dyes, or weak acid dyes, will work well. I advise that you follow whichever recipe you choose very closely.

I like to dye silk charmeuse at room temperature, using fiber reactive dyes, either Procion MX dyes or Remazol dyes, with soda ash as the fixative. This produces a very washfast result. However, soda ash does affect the silk. It tends to make it softer and a little less shiny, and the silk loses any stiffness. I like the resulting feel and appearance of the charmeuse fabric, but it might not be what you (or your customers) want. If maintaining the sheen and texture of the fabric unchanged is important, it would be better to use acid dyes at the high temperatures. (Note that Procion MX dyes that are used with an acid instead of soda ash function as acid dyes, not as fiber reactive dyes; in that case, you may as well order acid dyes instead of Procion MX dyes.)

If you dye the dress, after it has been stitched together, then you will need to use a dyeable thread. Do not use polyester thread for sewing items to be garment-dyed; polyester thread should be used only on fabric that has already been dyed, using polyester thread of the same color. Silk thread would be ideal, if it is not waxed, because then it will take the same colors of any dye as the silk charmeuse. (Wax on the sewing thread will repel dye.) If you use Procion MX dyes with soda ash, then cotton thread will also take the dye, but it might produce different colors for the premixed dye colors. Procion MX dyes with acid are more true to color, but they do not work on cotton; cotton requires a high pH (not acidic), in order to take the dye. If you choose one of the single-hue unmixed Procion MX dyes, then the cotton thread and the silk will dye the same color, though possibly to different intensities, even if you are using soda ash. See my page "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?", if you want to choose unmixed single-hue Procion MX dyes that will dye cotton and silk to the same colors.

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