Message: I have dyed towels that were light beige to dark brown & now they bleed when wet on everything

What kind of dye did you use? Was it Rit dye, Dylon, Procion, or what? Also, what is the fiber content of the towels? If you answer these questions I can tell you what went wrong and how to fix it.

Paula, the towels are 91% cotton 9% poly.  The dye I used was iDye from Jacquard.  I used hot water to dye them and the packet dissolves in the machine. Thanks Jackie

There's the problem. iDye for natural fibers is a group of direct dyes, a class of dyes that is known for poor washfastness. This dye does not form a permanent tight chemical bond with the fiber in the towels, the way a fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye will; instead, it forms a looser association and does tend to bleed.

Fortunately, there is a good solution to your problem. If you mail-order a cationic dye fixative, such as Retayne, Dharma Dye Fixative, or Raycafix, you can use this to set the dye in place. The makers of iDye have come out with another brand of this product, which is called Jacquard iDye Fixative; this should work well, too. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for whichever one of these fixatives you buy. Any good dye supplier, such as PRO Chemical & Dye or Dharma Trading Company, should carry at least one of these cationic dye fixatives. See my page on Commercial Dye Fixatives. Be sure to wash the towels afterwards only in cool water, with similar colors.

What will NOT work to set the dye in your towels would be any home remedy such as vinegar, salt, or soda ash; none of these household chemicals are able to set your direct dyes. 

If you'd rather not bother with the mail-order dye fixatives, just wash the towels in very hot water a couple of times; this will remove much of the excess dye, which will solve most of the bleeding problem but at the same time cause some fading of the dye color.

91% cotton towels should dye well, as only the 9% of the fiber content which is polyester will fail to take the dye. If you choose to dye towels again in the future, or anything else made of a plant fiber such as cotton, bamboo, rayon, or linen, I strongly recommend that you skip the iDye and go straight to a more washfast dye. All fiber reactive dyes are highly superior in their washfastness, much better than any direct dye. You can buy Procion dye wherever you purchased the iDye; it is easier to use, since it is set with soda ash rather than heat, and it will stay bright years longer. Towels that have been dyed with Procion dyes are safe to wash in hot water with white clothing without any dye transfer at all (once the initial excess dye has been removed).

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