Name: Kelly
Message: Hi, I hope you can help me.
I recently bought a cream dress made from 100% Polyester. I wore it the once to a party but when I got home I noticed a huge stain on the back which i can't seem to wash out. I'm not sure what it is but it is like a yellow colour. I don't want to throw the dress away as it cost me a fortune & I really like it. Can you tell me if it is possible to dye the dress...I don't mind it if have to change the colour to black if it makes it easier to hide the stain?? If the dress can be dyed will it look like it's been dyed? Is it likely to have patches of darker colour is certain areas? Can I find anyone to do it professionally in case i make a mistake?? Please help....I'm really scared about ruining the dress anymore.

I'm sorry, but dyeing a polyester dress would require boiling it for an hour with a special kind of dye called disperse dye, plus a toxic carrier chemical. The pot you use to boil it in cannot be a cheap one, because it must be non-aluminum and large enough to allow the dress to move freely throughout the boiling process (to avoid having some regions darker and some lighter), and yet it should never be used for food again afterwards, because textile dyes are not considered safe for use in food containers. The cost of the pot might exceed that of another dress. 

There is also the question of whether or not the dress would survive such harsh treatment without problems with the stitching or the trim. There is no dyeing service that will be happy to try to dye a 100% polyester garment. For more information please read: "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".

A third problem is that, as dye is transparent, stains will continue to show up as a different color even after dyeing; for more on this topic, see "How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing?", which covers a similar problem.

I'm afraid that dyeing is not an answer to the problem of your stained polyester dress.  It might still be possible to remove the stain, however. Avoid the use of chlorine bleach, as it can damage polyester badly, leaving a permanent yellow stain. Try using an oxygen-based colorsafe bleach, such as OxyClean or OxyBoost, or the 3% hydrogen peroxide sold as a disinfectant; also (not at the same time) try a reducing agent such as Rit Color Remover, which removes color much like bleach, but without damaging the polyester, when used according to the instructions.

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