I stumbled across your website and I was hoping you could help out with some questions that I have. I recently bought and subsequently ruined a pair of very light pink velvet pants.  I've had them dry cleaned to no avail and I was wondering about the viability of dyeing them black.  They are made of 98% cotton and 2% spandex. Do you have any tips on what type of dye to use on velvet and if you think this would even work? 

Since they are cotton, they can be dyed, if you can wash them. Many dry-clean-only garments actually can be washed by hand, or in a lingerie bag on a delicate cycle in a washing machine, in cold water. If washing destroys them, they cannot be dyed. You'd better stick to lukewarm water (under 100 degrees Fahrenheit) for dyeing, to avoid shrinkage and undue wear.

Do not bleach the pants, because bleach is bad for spandex.

You should use a cool water fiber reactive dye. Do not use all-purpose dye, because it must be heated in order to attach well to the fiber. A very good type of cool water fiber reactive dye to use is Procion MX dye. One good choice would be to mail-order "PRO MX Cotton Black #602A" from ProChem. For black, use two to four times as much dye as the recipe requires. You will also need ordinary noniodized salt, and soda ash (sodium carbonate, also called 'dye activator'). Follow the instructions for "Immersion Dyeing using PRO MX Reactive Dyes", except for avoiding the use of hot water for washing if it might be bad for the garment.