Name: John

Message: I have looked through your site, but haven't found this question: I have two all-white Chicago Cubs baseball caps that I'd like to dye a navy blue. (Can you believe out of the hundreds of styles and colors, they don't have a simple all-navy cap?  Anyway, I'm totally inept at these kinds of things.  How can I dye the caps -- or is there someone who will do it, obviously for a fee? 

What fiber are the caps made of? You can't know how–or whether—to dye anything unless you know what fiber it is made of. See my page, "About the Dyes".

Cotton hats can be easily dyed with a cool water fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye. I do not recommend all-purpose dye, such as Rit® dye or Tintex® dye, for cotton.

Polyester will not accept ordinary dyes, and I don't think you want to try using the special disperse dyes that are required for dyeing polyester. 

Cotton/polyester blends will dye only the cotton portion. An 80%cotton/20% polyester blend will dye well with fiber reactive dye, but a 50%cotton/50%polyester blend will produce a pastel color, not so good for your goal of a dark navy blue, and lower percentages of cotton will dye more poorly still.

Nylon hats can be dyed with acid dyes, including all-purpose dyes, but they must be simmered, up to 185°F (85°C), in a cooking pot with the dye and a little vinegar. (Do not reuse the cooking pot for food after using it for dyeing.) Wool can be dyed exactly like nylon. The plastic parts sometimes used in baseball caps are usually nylon and will also dye with this method. Perhaps unfortunately, so will any nylon-thread embroidery or appliques.

An alternative to dye is the use of fabric paint, which will work on most synthetic fibers almost as well as on natural fibers. Jacquard Dye-Na-Flow [see advertisement below] is a fabric paint that flows like a dye. It will be impossible to get solid color results as smooth and even with any fabric paint as you can get with dye, and the results will tend to wear off much more quickly than a good fabric dye, but the advantage is that it will work on most fibers. However, fibers that have been treated with a stain-resistant or water-repellent coating will accept neither paint nor dyes.

Sorry, I do not know of anyone who will dye your baseball cap for you. It's not a common service these days. Please look at my page on "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?". There are just a couple of companies that are willing to redye clothing from one color to another; whether they will be willing to dye your caps depends on their fiber content. I have seen various navy blue Chicago Cubs caps for sale, but they might not be the style you are looking for.


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