Name: Isis

Message: I am going to purchase a dress that is rayon/spandex blend. The majority of the dress is black and there are areas at the top of the dress that are a bone color. I want the dress to be all black. How can I achieve this without ruining the fabric? I am desperate and leary...I have seen so many conflicting sites and information. Thanks! 

There is no guarantee that a dress that you buy will dye well, unless it is sold marked "PFD" (for Prepared For Dyeing), which this dress is not. The best blank dresses for dyeing are sold specifically for that purpose, by companies such as Dharma Trading Company (which sells a great many different styles of dresses).

There is one type of dye that can be safely used to dye a rayon/spandex blend, but the black may turn out to be a different shade. Try comparing different items of clothing you have now that are black. If you put them side by side, you will see that there is a lot of variability. Would it look right if you get a different shade of black?

Another problem is that any stitching on the dress that is now bone colored will remain that color after dyeing. Almost all clothing is sewn together with polyester thread at the seams. Look closely at the dress you want to dye to see if there is any light-colored stitching that will ruin the look you want.

If you do dye this dress, you must avoid all hot water dyes, since the dress contains spandex. Do not use an all-purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex, because these dyes require hot water, but hot water is very bad for spandex. The dye you want to use is fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You will probably need to buy this dye by mail-order, unless your local crafts store carries either Procion MX dye or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye in the color you want. (Tulip One Step Fashion Dye contains Procion MX type dye.)

If you want the bone-colored parts of your dress to become a perfectly smooth solid black, you must stir it constantly, for something like an hour, in a five-gallon bucket with the dye, salt, and soda ash, or you can dye it in the washing machine, though the machine will require that you buy a much larger quantity of dye. Since rayon is very fragile when wet, you must be careful not to strain the fabric in any way while it is in the dye bath.

See also the following two pages:


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