Name: Margaret

Message: I was using RIT dyes before I found your website. I would like to refresh the colors on some shirts with fiber-reactive dye that were previously dyed with RIT dye that have been losing color with each wash because I didn't know I needed to use Retayne to keep the color. Do I need to remove the RIT dye first before using the fiber-reactive dyes for best results?  If I mess up or need to alter the shade after dying with fiber-reactive dye, is there anything besides bleach I can use to remove or lighten the color?

You should pre-wash your shirts, preferably in hot water (if the shirts can handle it). Hot water will remove some of the all-purpose dye, especially if you soak with hot water. We like to use Synthrapol or other dyer's detergent, along with some extra soda ash for added cleaning power, in the hot water pre-wash, but any hot water wash should do. After this, any remaining Rit dye will continue to wear away in the wash, but it will not interfere with the fiber reactive dyes. The Procion dyes will be able to access the cellulose molecules in your cotton shirts in order to react with them.

I would prefer to try to remove as much of the all-purpose dye color as possible before over-dyeing, just so as to have a better idea of the eventual color of the shirts. However, this is not required, as long as you've prewashed them. 

Instead of chlorine bleach (also referred to as hypochlorite bleach), I prefer to use Rit Color Remover, which contains a reducing agent that removes the color from most dyes, without damaging the fabric like chlorine bleach does. See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?". I don't recommend all-purpose dyes for dyeing cotton, but I do like Rit Color Remover. You can use it in hot water in the washing machine; it works better with hotter water on the stovetop, but the washing machine method is so much easier that that is what I always use. 

Unfortunately, not all dyes respond equally well to bleach or to color removers. Some will be nearly eradicated, but others will change to a duller color or an entirely different color, and some will remain unchanged. Interestingly, sometimes bleach will work when color remover does not, or vice versa, so it can be worthwhile to try one, after washing, if the other one does ot work. Unlike with other dyes, we do have some information of which of the Procion dyes can be removed with bleach or with color remover; see "Which Procion MX dyes discharge the best? Which are good at resisting chlorine bleach?". The "hypochlorite" column gives you info about chlorine bleach, while the "reductive discharge" column gives you info about the results of color remover.

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