Name: SHELLY
Message: I own a set of bib overalls and coveralls made of ten mile cloth.  The Bibs are solid blaze orange and the coveralls are camoufloge orange. They both have Gortex lining. I would like to dye them another color.  Is this possible and how would I go about it?

It looks as though it may not be worth the time, hazard, or expense. Apparently Ten Mile Cloth® is a brilliant orange fabric made of 100% Acrylan®, which is an acrylic fiber, with a DWR (durable water resistant) finish. To truly dye acrylic, you must obtain a special form of dye, either disperse dye, for pale shades, or basic dye, for darker shades. All-purpose dye will not work, and no form of cool water dye will work.  The instructions provided by the dye retailer indicate that you must heat the garments with the dye to boiling, and then maintain this temperature for an hour, in a non-aluminum pot large enough to allow the fabric to move freely. The largest expense comes from the fact that then you must never use the pot for food again; given the cost of such a large non-aluminum pot, you'd probably save money by just buying new clothing. 

Of course, boiling is never recommended for Gore-Tex® clothing, though I am not sure how much damage it may actually do. Typical care instructions for Gore-tex call for temperatures under 105 degrees F. (41 C.), while acrylic takes dye best above 140 degrees F. (60 C.).

It is often possible to use a kind of fabric paint called "pigment dye" (actually not a dye at all) on synthetic fibers, but paint may not stick to a fabric that has been treated with a water-repellent finish, unless you can remove it. If you can remove the water repellent finish by machine washing, then you will be able to use "pigment dye" or another form of fabric paint, even though the fiber is synthetic. The results will not be as even and smooth as those you can expect from a dye, but at least you should be able to make the garments less eye-catchingly bright, though they might not be as pretty.

For more information on dyeing acrylic fabrics, see "How to Dye Acrylic with Basic Dye". For more information on fabric paints, see "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers".

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