Name: Alva
Message: I have a cream colored sweater, all cotton, that I want to dye solid black. Will it work? What method/products do you recommend? I have no dyeing experience! Thanks

Cream is a good color to start out with. Since your sweater is cotton, it should dye very well, unless it has a stain-resistant coating or perma-press finish that blocks the dye from getting inside the fiber. Normally, one uses two to four times the quantity of dye, when dyeing black, as one would in dyeing any other color, so be sure to make this correction to whichever instructions you choose to follow.

The easiest way to do a good job of dyeing cotton a solid color is by using the washing machine method, with fiber reactive dye. Order a two-ounce jar of black Procion MX or Cibacron F (Sabracron F) dye from one of the companies listed on my Sources for Supplies page, along with soda ash (also known as sodium carbonate), and buy several pounds of non-iodized salt from your local grocery store. Follow ProChem's instructions for "Immersion Dyeing in the Home Washing Machine using PRO MX Reactive Dyes", or "Immersion Dyeing in the Home Washing Machine using Sabracron F Reactive Dyes", or Dharma's instructions for"The Vat (Washing Machine Tub, Bucket) Dye Method". Personally, I omit the Calsolene oil that is called for in some recipes, since it is somewhat toxic to work with; though it may improve results, I find I get good results without it.

If your sweater can tolerate hot water, the hot water will work much better in pre-washing the cotton and in rinsing out excess dye (be sure to do your first washing-out with cold water, and only then use hot water). However, you can use this method anyway, substituting water of a safe temperatiure for washing, if your sweater requires cool water only. Heat is not required for the dyeing step, and the lack of heat in the washing afterwards will just make washing-out less efficient; it will not make the project unworkable.

You will find that results are much better looking, and far more colorfast, when you use fiber reactive dye, as opposed to all-purpose dye. I recommend against the use of all-purpose dye on cotton.