Name: amber

Country: USA

Message: I need help desperately.  I need to turn a dark hunter green fake crushed velvet into a white fake crushed velvet material so I can make a wedding dress. We got the material because it wes so cheap. I know I need to remove all color from it and fast. Please help! What do I do?

Don't try to do this. It will probably not work. In most cases, you cannot turn synthetic velvet from a dark green to a nice clean solid white. 

Your fake crushed velvet is probably either polyester or acetate. It might be made of rayon. If it is made of a synthetic fiber such as polyester or acetate, then you must not use chlorine bleach on it. Bleach causes permanent damage to synthetic fibers. Bleach can be used on rayon, if you take sufficient care to avoid damaging the rayon while it is wet, but not on polyester or nylon.

There are color removing chemicals that can be used on synthetic fibers, but they all require that you heat the fabric with the color remover. (See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".) Sometimes it works to use hot tap water, with the color remover, in a washing machine, but often the hotter temperatures of the stovetop are required. It will be impossible for you to find a large enough cooking pot for you to use the stove-top method for removing color from a large amount of fabric yardage, especially since the pot must not be made of aluminum. The pot has to be large enough for the fabric to move freely in the dye removal bath. A suitable five-gallon stainless steel cooking pot will cost more than buying new fabric in the right color.

Even if you do everything right in using color removing chemicals on your dark hunter green fabric, chances are that it will never turn a really pretty white. It might remain the original color, with no change at all, since some dyes resist any method of color removal. It might change to a weird orangish brown or some other color; often, dyes do not turn completely white when treated with bleach or color removal chemicals. Color removal works better as a preparation for dyeing than for use as-is, since ghostly pale colors are so much more likely than a perfect white. There is a lot less chance that you will be able to obtain a good pure white or ivory color with no discoloration anywhere.

At this point, you have two choices: either 1, learn to love the dark hunter green you have, and use it that color; or 2, go out and buy some more fabric. Don't neglect the possibilities of resale or consignment shops, which often have nice wedding dresses.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I hope that you are able to find the material for the wedding dress that you want.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)