Name: Ricky
Message: I want to dye a pair of black linen pants. I live in Mexico, and we have a very good dye here that I would use. My question is: Is it necessary to use really hot water, as I am afraid it may shrink the pants. Would warm water do the job?

Linen is a cellulose fiber which dyes with the same types of dyes as cotton.

The only color you can dye a black garment is a darker black, because dye is transparent. When clothing has been dyed with inferior dye which has faded, it is often desirable to dye it again.

Whether or not your dye will work really depends on what type of dye you are discussing. There are several different types of dye, each of which is satisfactory only when used on the correct type of fabric. There is no such thing as a single dye that is good for all types of fabric. Surely there is more than one class of dye available in Mexico!

If the dye that you have is 'direct' dye, it will never be as washfast as fiber reactive dye, but it will work if you use sufficiently hot water. The cooler the water, the less permanent the dye; if you use room temperature water, most of the dye will come out upon the first washing, or even rub off when worn. Even with hot water dyeing, a little bit of direct dye comes off each time the garment is washed, necessitating strict sorting by color in the laundry. When dyeing cellulose fibers such as cotton or linen with 'direct' dye, it is best to submerge the garment in a dye bath that is held at 190 degrees F or higher (88 degrees C) for a minimum of half an hour, unless pale or pastel shades are desired.

If the dye that you have is 'acid' dye, it will not truly dye the linen, merely dirty it for a time, because acid dye works only on animal fibers (plus nylon, but no other synthetic fiber).

The type of dye called 'all-purpose' dye is a mixture of 'direct' dye and 'acid' dye; it works well enough on wool, but gives relatively disappointing results on cotton or linen. Since it requires heat, it must not be used on garments that will shrink badly.

The only truly suitable dye for your project would be cold water fiber reactive dye; your 'very good' dye will not be at all appropriate for your linen pants, if it is not a cool water type of dye.

I do not know which companies in Mexico may sell high quality fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX, Drimarene K, or Cibacron F dyes. This is by far the best sort of dye to use for your purpose. Most dyes these days seem to be manufactured in Asia and exported to other countries. Orco de Mexico is the distributor for Organic Dyestuffs Corporation in Puebla, Mexico, which is located about one hour south of Mexico City. Perhaps you could contact them and ask the name of a retailer, to whom they sell dye, from whom you can purchase fiber reactive dye. Alternatively, some of the companies listed in various countries on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page, at <http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml>, will ship internationally.

If the only dye you can obtain is hot water dye, I advise you to dye only those garments that can tolerate hot water. Many fabrics will tolerate hot water before they are sewn into garments; the problem is simply that shrinkage will ruin many preconstructed garments.