Name: Amanda 
Message: I have a dress I bought from H&M about almost a year ago. I got what I think is a red wine stain on my dress....I tried getting it out with a stain lifter and it made it worse, almost like a big pink faded tie-dye spot on a yellow 95% Rayon and 5% Spandex dress. I would like to dye it maybe a plum purple or a forest green. What dyes should I use. I understand spandex is hard to dye, I just didn't know how to dye the mixtures of fabrics. Please help me save my favorite dress!!!!!

Fortunately, rayon and spandex work pretty well together. The spandex is heat-sensitive, but the rayon is best dyed with cool water dyes, anyway. See "How to Dye Spandex/Lycra/Elastane".

Do not use a hot water dye, such as all-purpose dye. The hot water will ruin the shape of the spandex. Use a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. (See "About Fiber Reactive Dyes".) You can order this from a good dye supplier such as Dharma Trading Company or PRO Chemical & Dye; see "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World", for contact information for many good dye supply companies. Get soda ash (sodium carbonate) to set the dye. This is a common household ingredient, found in most laundry detergents, but you must buy the pure stuff for dyeing.

You can also buy Procion MX type dye locally, though the cost per garment is higher that way, and the color selection poorer. Some superior crafts stores carry Jacquard Products Procion MX dye, which gives an excellent selection of both pure and mixed dye colors. Lesser crafts stores might still carry a Jacquard Products Tie Dye Kit, which contains the pure colors turquoise, fuchsia, and lemon yellow, plus everything else you would need for tie-dyeing. Procion MX type dye is also found in Dylon Cold dye, and in Tulip One Step Easy Fashion Dye. (Avoid all-purpose dye, such as Tintex Easy Fabric Dye, Rit All Purpose Dye, or Dylon Multi Purpose dye!) Dylon Permanent can be found in some sewing stores and contains another sort of dye which prefers warmer temperatures, but it will still work if you use the maximum water temperature for your dress, which is probably 105°F. Do not use hot water on spandex-containing clothing! Temperatures up to 105°F (41°C) are safe for spandex blend clothing.

Don't try to dye your rayon dress a single solid color, unless you choose an extremely deep dark black, and at least double the amount of dye you are using, compared to what the package advises. The trouble is that dye is transparent. The area where the stain is will always be darker than the rest of the dress! Instead, try a different way of applying dye that creates new patterns, to better hide the stain. If you like tie-dyeing, it's a perfect way to solve the problem, but that is not your only option. An even easier-to-do form of dyeing, called low water immersion dyeing, creates subtle mottled colors which are more beautiful than a solid color but which cover up a stain much better than a solid color ever could. For an interesting color mixture, you can do low water immersion dyeing with both plum and green at once, but for a subtler approach do it with just choose one color, or one color plus black. See "How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing". Also note that, as dye is transparent, and as yellow is the opposite color to purple on the color wheel, you cannot overdye a yellow dress to make it purple unless it is very pale; you might be able to lighten it (and possibly the stain) first using a discharge chemical such as Rit Color Remover. Otherwise, yellow and purple combine to make brown.

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