Message: Hi, please forgive the question but I have no idea about any of this so I wanted to ask someone who would obviously know. I think I found the answer on your site but want to make sure. What kind of dye would one use on women's slips? (I think they are nylon or polyester)? This is something I would really like to start doing and could use all the help I can get....if you could give me any advice or direct me to the places to find the answers I would be most grateful. Thank you!

It matters a great deal whether you buy nylon slips or polyester slips. Nylon is not very difficult to dye, using acid dye, but polyester is a lot more trouble. You have to buy disperse dye to dye polyester, and boil the slips in it for an hour - will they even survive this treatment? Nylon also requires hot water, but not nearly as hot. You can soak it in dye water that is hot enough to scald, but not nearly boiling.

The fiber content of the lace and other trim is rarely specified, but is often nylon. It would be good to have the trim be the same material as the fabric, so that they dye together in the same type of dye.

Be sure to buy only a single one of each slip and test dye it, buying more only if the first one turns out well.