Country: United State
Message: Paula,

I have a white corduroy trench coat that has leather accents, on the belt and sleeves. My dry cleaners ruined the coat when I tried to have it cleaned. There is a large blue stain on the front now.  I received money for it but I'm not ready to let the coat go, its so warm! I asked someone online if they could dye it but she said the leather could shrink so they would not dye it for me.  Do you have any suggestions? Could I hand dye it instead of dipping it? I really like this coat and I'm trying in any way to be able to salvage it.

If it's unwearable with the stain, then you might as well try washing it. Washing might ruin the coat, but, then again, it might not. If the coat survives washing, then you can dye it. You cannot dye anything that cannot be washed. You should do the dyeing in the washing machine, and you should match the dye type to the fiber content. If the coat is 100% cotton or other natural plant-based fibers, other than those leather accents, then you should use a cool water fiber-reactive dye such as Procion MX dye. It's undoubtedly a mistake to use a hot water dye, such as Rit, not only because it gives poorer results, but also because hot water will be more destructive to the leather than cool water will be. See "About Fiber Reactive Dyes" and "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".

A different approach that you might try if you're not willing to risk washing the coat would be to use a good fabric paint. You can't get a perfectly smooth, solid color with fabric paint, but you can apply designs that will cover up or distract from the stain. Be sure to use only paints that are specifically labeled for use on fabric. If your coat is made of synthetic material such as polyester, you can still use fabric paint if you are careful to buy the right brands. All fabric paints made by Jacquard Products, such as Lumiere, Neopaque, Dye-Na-Flow, and Jacquard Textile Colors, are said by the manufacturer to work on polyester. Dye-Na-Flow is the thinnest, so it acts more like a true dye. Dharma Trading Company also sells a fabric paint called Dharma Pigment Dyes which can be used on polyester, as well as other fibers, as long as there is no water-resistant or stain-resistant finish. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers".

However, if the coat is water-resistant, so that water beads up when you sprinkle it on it, then you won't be able to dye it or paint it, because the water-resistant coating will also resist all dyes and all fabric paints.

If the coat is made of at least 50% polyester or other synthetic fiber (but not rayon, which acts like a natural fiber), then you can make iron-on designs with a special sort of fabric transfer crayons. See "Iron-on Fabric Crayons for Synthetic Fibers". This could work well to camouflage a stain.

Even if you dye the coat a solid color, the stain will still be darker than the rest of the garment. This means that you will probably get better results with anything other than a smooth solid color. Consider Low Water Immersion Dyeing, or tie-dyeing, or fabric painting, to mask the stain.

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