I'm making a bed canopy for my daughter Jaime's room. She wants her room done in an underwater theme. I want to make a blue canopy out of netting and velcro some small sea creature stuffies on it. I saw a canopy that would be perfect at a store except it was white and I wondered if that kind of nylon, tight netting material can be dyed. I would love to know your thoughts if you can possibly take the time to reply. Thank you for your reply and your wonderful web site!

Nylon is usually pretty easy to dye. Although I do not recommend "all purpose" dye, such as Rit brand dye, for use on cotton, it works quite well on nylon. The process requires heating the nylon with the dye in a pot of very hot water, with a bit of vinegar, and often it is best to use longer times than the package suggests, unless you want pale pastels.

The biggest problem, as I see it, is finding a pot large enough to simmer the nylon in. If this is a large canopy, you might try the washing machine instructions, even though the water won't be quite hot enough. I doubt that you will be washing the canopy much, after all, and washing is what fades this sort of dye.

Beware of anything that is labeled "dry clean only", though. If it can't be washed, it can't be dyed.