Name: Claudia

Message: Hi, I have purchased some Dylon COLD A52 black dye to dye a white cotton t shirt, I have read the instructions but do i really need a fixing thing or is that them trying to get me to buy more? Thankyou, this website is great!


You really do need to use a fixative with your Dylon Cold dye. You can buy their fixative, or you can get some soda ash (sodium carbonate) from a swimming pool supply store. Be careful to read the fine print; do not buy sodium BIcarbonate, which is baking soda and will not work. Alternatively, you can use three times the quantity called for of washing soda. Washing soda contains the same chemical as soda ash, but is only one-third as strong.

Be sure to place your shirt + dye + fixative in a warm place to react, preferably 80°F or higher, overnight. At least some of the dyes in Dylon Cold Water Dye #52 Black are Drimarene K type dyes. These are a high quality fiber reactive dye, but require a little more warmth to react than Procion MX type dye. The optimum reaction temperature for Drimarene K dyes is 40 to 60°C, depending on the dye color, which translates to 104°F to 140°F.

You can see the Dylon Dye company's instructions for their cold water dyes at http://www.dylon.co.uk/colourcentre/coldwdye/coldwdye.htm . Their instructions call for one sachet of Cold Fix; substitute either 15 grams of soda ash, which is about 25 ml (five teaspoons), or 75 ml (five tablespoons) of washing soda.

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