I am wondering about the pot one would use to do the dyeing in. Is there a particular type of metal pot that should/should not be used?

Name: Cher

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Message: Hello, I read your information about dyeing polyester satin material. I am wondering about the pot one would use to do the dyeing in. Is there a particular type of metal pot that should/should not be used? Also, any/all other information regarding THIS area of the dyeing process would prove to be most helpful! Thanks in advance!

The best materials for a dyeing pot are either stainless steel or enameled steel.

Enameled steel canning pots are inexpensive for their size; you can find a new 20-liter (5 gallon) canning pot for under twenty dollars, or a 33-quart (8 gallon) canner for under fifty. The only drawback is that the lining of cheap enamel pots will chip easily. Once you get a chip on the inside of an enameled steel pot, the reactive steel underneath will rust, which can dramatically affect the colors produced by many dyes. However, you can repair the chip by painting over it with a heat-resistant enamel paint (don't use the pot for several days after the paint has dried). This is not safe to do with a cooking pot, since the paint is not food-safe, but it's okay for a dyeing pot.

My personal preference for a dyeing pot is stainless steel. It will not react with acids or bases, and it will not release metal ions in concentrations high enough to alter the color of a dye. You never have to worry about small chips or scratches. My own dyeing pot was relatively cheap, without an aluminum layer under the stainless steel, so it's thin enough that I would not like to use it for cooking food; soup would tend to stick on the bottom. I haven't found this to be a problem for dyeing, though. Even a cheap stainless steel cooking pot is usually more expensive than an enamel pot, especially in the largest sizes, so an enamel pot may bepreferable unless you will be using it repeatedly. A good source for 5-gallon and 10-gallon stainless steel pots is a beer-brewing supply store, such as Defalcos.com, which as of this writing sells a lightweight 5-gallon stainless steel brewing kettle for $35.

You'll need to make sure that your dyeing pot is large enough for whatever you're dyeing to move around in freely. If the pot is too small, the fabric will not move freely in the dye, and you will get uneven results. (This effect can be exploited for multi-color designs in low water immersion dyeing, which does not require nearly as large a pot.) To dye one pound of fabric (weighed while dry) to a solid color, you'll need a pot that is three gallons in size, or larger.

The general rule is that you don't want to use a metal that will react with either your dyes or the auxiliary chemicals you use with them. Aluminum is out, because you cannot use it with either acids or bases. Most dyeing recipes call for an acid such as vinegar, or a base such as soda ash (though never both together, since one will neutralize the other). Aluminum is also used as a mordant for natural dyes, and may affect the colors produced by some dyes. Cast iron is good only for dyeing black and especially dull colors, because the iron ions interact with many dye molecules, including both natural and synthetic dyes, in a way that makes the colors much darker and duller. Old dyeing manuals say that iron "saddens" the color of the dye. Copper and tin have very different effects on the colors of dye, changing the colors of some dyes unexpectedly, but copper pots are too expensive to consider for use in a dyeing pot, anyway.

Choosing a pot for dyeing polyester in can be a little easier than for natural fibers. Although I would try to avoid using aluminum even for dyeing polyester, Jacquard Products, the makers of iDye Poly, say that you can use an aluminum pot with their polyester dye. However, the recipe that PRO Chemical & Dye recommends for disperse dye calls for pre-scouring the fabric with soda ash before dyeing, and using a little citric acid or vinegar in the dyebath itself; neither of these is a good idea in an aluminum pot. Better to stick to stainless steel or enamel pots, which have the advantage of also being useable when you want to use a different type of dye.

As you probably already know, it's not considered to be a good idea to reuse a dyeing pot for preparing food, since no textile dyes have been tested for safety for use in food, and there's always the fear that a little contamination will remain in the pot, though the risk is low for a unscratched stainless steel pot. While most of the dyes used by hand dyers are low in toxicity, not all of them are, and it makes sense to be reasonably careful.

Other useful tips on dyeing polyester satin? The most important one is to use disperse dye only, since other types of dyes will not work on polyester.

As you already know, high heat is required, so polyester cannot be dyed in the washing machine or in an unheated bucket.

Another issue in dyeing polyester is that you'll also need to use a dye carrier chemical to get deep or intense colors. It's not needed for medium or pastel colors. This chemical is sold separately by PRO Chemical & Dye under the name Dye Carrier NSC, while it is included as a small plastic pouch in the packet of Jacquard Products' iDye Poly. The smell of the carrier chemical can be pretty bad. In the future, I'd prefer to use an outdoor burner to heat my polyester dyebath, rather than put up with the awful smell in my house. Even with every door and window in the house open, and a big fan in the window helping to suck out the air, I found the odor to be oppressive. I believe that it is not unsafe to use, however, even though it smells bad, as long as you have good ventilation. These same dyes are good for other synthetic fibers, as well, including acrylic and acetate; the dye carrier chemical is not needed for the other fibers, only for polyester.

Don't neglect the fact that disperse dye also works very well when applied as an iron-on, so if you have any interest in effects other than a smooth solid color, look into transfer printing. No carrier chemical is required. There's a simple example on my site, "Iron-on Fabric Crayons for Synthetic Fibers". For more information on disperse dyes and different ways to use them, see my page "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".

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Posted: Thursday - May 05, 2011 at 06:17 AM

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I am wondering about the pot one would use to do the dyeing in. Is there a particular type of metal pot that should/should not be used?

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