Name: Shams
Message: We are running a hotel and we have a number of good terry cloth towels which are stained from use by the crews. We have been wondering if we could dye them dark burgundy to match our carpets and and use them as pool towels.. It will be a shame to just throw them away. Any suggestions and how to go about it.

Yes, you can dye 100% cotton towels in a washing machine, using fiber reactive dyes. Avoid all-purpose dye, which bleeds forever. You will need to mail-order Procion MX dye from any of the companies listed on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page. (Here is a direct link to burgundy Procion MX dye at Fiber-arts.com; for custom color matching of large quantities of dye to your carpet color (5 pounds or more of dye), contact PRO Chemical & Dye directly.

My web site includes a page about how to dye in the washing machine.

While stains are almost never completely hidden by overdyeing, they do usually look better on a dark color than on white towels.


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