Name: Karen

Message: Can I use a store-bought tie-dye kit (party pack at Michaels Arts & Crafts) to dye cotton/polyester blend pillowcases?  My daughter wants to have this as her craft at her birthday party next week.  I thought it would work but now am worried about the polyester in the pillowcases.

If you want bright, intense colors, then don't use the cotton/polyester blend pillowcases. Target and some other stores sell some 100% cotton pillowcases for reasonable prices. Or, if you order today and select two-day shipping, it's not too late to order from Dharma Trading Company; they sell wonderful 100% silk satin pillowcases, for $10 each, which can be dyed exactly like cotton, but are much more beautiful after dyeing, and they feel nicer against your skin, as well.

The problem with polyester is that you can't dye it, except by boiling it in a special polyester dye; this is far, far more trouble than tie-dyeing cotton, and not suitable for your party. Polyester will not take any dye that works on cotton. The polyester portion of the blend will remain undyed.

How much of a problem the polyester presents depends on how much polyester is in the blend. If your pillowcases are 80% cotton and 20% polyester, they will dye up pretty well. 

If they are 50% cotton and 50% polyester, then you can use the brightest, most intense dye colors, but only the cotton will take the dye. The result will be a light pastel. This is not too bad for some girls. If you mix up a bright red dye, it will produce pink; if you use bright blue dye, you'll get baby blue; if you mix deep purple, you'll get lavender. You can use 50% cotton/50% polyester for tie-dyeing only if your girls will be happy with light pastel colors. The results can look quite pretty. If your girls want intense bright colors, then go out and buy some 100% cotton or 100% silk pillowcases.

If your pillowcases are MORE than 50% polyester, don't even try to tie-dye them. The colors will be too pale and washed-out. Don't use tie-dye dyes on 65% polyester.

Michael's Arts and Crafts sells some good tie-dye kits. Avoid the Rit tie-dye kit and the Magic Strings tie-dye kit, because they container inferior hot-water dyes that fade quickly. You are much better off with any other brand of tie-dye kit, which contains cool water dyes, which work at room temperature (70°F and above). Some good brands include Jacquard Procion MX, Tulip, Rainbow Rock, and Dylon, but there are others, as well.

Be sure to wash all of the pillowcases before you dye them, using the hottest water your washing machine can manage, along with detergent and some extra washing soda or soda ash for added cleaning power, if you have it. Washing twice would not be a bad idea. Sheets and pillowcases often have surface finish treatments that can interfere with dyeing, but very hot water helps to remove them.

There is an alternative for pillowcases that contain more than 50% polyester. You can either use a good fabric paint instead of dye to decorate the pillowcases, or you can use Fabric Transfer Crayons to make designs on paper which can then be ironed onto synthetic-fiber fabric by an adult. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers" and "Iron-on Fabric Crayons for Synthetic Fibers". (Don't confuse Fabric Crayons with ordinary wax crayons! Ordinary crayons will not work on fabric that will ever be washed.)

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