Questions about a bleach-damaged cotton/spandex suit

Name: Claude

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Country or region: USA

Message: My white w/ little tan2% spandex/ 98% cotton suit was damaged by Clorox when attempting to take out an ink stain. The pants also have a small hole. I was planning to use Procion MX fiber reactive cold water dying. 1) Should I sew the hole closed before or after dying? I would like to dye it white if not the exact color but white is not available. The lightest shade on your website seems to be ECRU or yellow. 2) Is white available? Of course your website suggests using Soda Ash as presoak and synthapol post-dye washing. However, I don't understand the UREA part as it is also not for sale. Does it apply to me?

Several points:

There is probably additional damage that you can't see. Spandex should never be bleached, because it is highly sensitive to the hypochlorite that is the active ingredient in Clorox and other brands of household bleach. You can expect to see more holes developing every time you wash this suit. It is probably too late for neutralizing the hypochlorite to do much good, but, if you are going to keep the suit, it's worth a try. The simplest method is to buy a bottle of ordinary 3% hydrogen peroxide from the first aid section of your local pharmacy, use it to drench the bleached spots, and then wash the suit again with water. See "How can I neutralize the damaging effects of chlorine bleach?".

If the hole was caused by the bleach, I'd give up and throw the suit away now, but if the hole is unrelated, it would probably be best to sew it up, using mercerized cotton thread, before you wash or do anything else with it again. Every bit of wear will increase the size of the hole. Depending on the size and shape of the hole, you might do better to patch over it instead of stitching it closed, perhaps with some sort of appliqué. To hide the hole as much as possible, apply the patch on the reverse side of the fabric.

There is no such thing as a white dye. You cannot use dye to lighten a color from tan to white. Since dye is transparent, dyeing can only darken a color, never lighten it. For lightening the color of a garment, use a color remover, not dye: see "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".

Dyeing bleach-spotted garments is a problem, because the white spots remain lighter than the rest of the garment even after you dye the garment. The best solution is often to fill in the lightened spots with a permanent fabric marker before dyeing the entire garment a darker color. If you can find a fabric marker of the exact right color to fill in the spots, dyeing the entire garment may not even be necessary. See "How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing?".

The recipe you saw which advocates pre-soaking in soda ash before apply Procion MX dye is an excellent choice when you want to dye one piece in multiple colors. (The urea is used as a humectant in direct dye application; see "What is urea for? Is it necessary?".) Procion MX is an ideal dye for dyeing cotton/spandex blends. However, this method of dye application is not the best choice for dyeing a garment a single solid color. Instead, I recommend that you dye your suit in the washing machine: see "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?". You will need Procion MX dye, soda ash, and several pounds of ordinary non-iodized table salt. Urea is not needed for high water ratio immersion dyeing. You can use ordinary laundry detergent instead of Synthrapol, if you prefer.

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Posted: Sunday - April 17, 2011 at 09:10 AM

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Questions about a bleach-damaged cotton/spandex suit

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