Name: Elke
Message: hi, can you dye bath mats? I have 2 pink bath mats that I would like to dye green. I think they are made of nylon - but they have rubber backs. i don't care if the dye takes to the rubber at all! if its possible, can you please send me some hints. ie can i use rit dyes?? thanks!

There is a major problem in dyeing something pink to a green color. Dye is transparent, so the color you get will be as though you mixed two paints of those colors. Mixing pink with green is apt to result in a muddy color! It would be a good idea to do some playing with paints to get an idea of what color you can turn pink into by adding another color.

If the mats are made of nylon, you can certainly use all-purpose dye, such as Rit. It contains an acid dye that usually works well on nylon. You will have to use quite a bit of heat for the dyeing. I don't suppose you can fit the mats into a cooking pot, as is best for all-purpose dye, but perhaps you could add boiling water to further heat warm water in a porcelain or enamel tub. Expect the dye to stain plastics, however. Too much heat is bad for the rubber backing, though.

If the mats are made of polyester, this will not work at all. To dye polyester, you have to boil it for an hour with a different type of dye, called disperse dye. This would probably be fatal to the rubber backing. Try to find out what the actual fiber content may be.

Cotton and rayon can be easily dyed at room temperature with fiber reactive dye.