Name: Janice

Country: USA

Message: I could not find my question and it is simple. I am sorry to burden you!
I wish to purchase a 100% cotton broad cloth dress with some cut out design, all white and dye it black. Is this advisable for this material? 

100% cotton broadcloth is great to dye, but only if it is free of fabric coatings such as a permanent press or stain-resistant finish. The best dye to use is a fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye or Dylon Permanent dye. All-purpose dye is far less satisfactory, because it fades quickly and bleeds badly in the laundry. Use an all-purpose dye such as Rit only if you're going to wear the dress only once or twice, or if you have some Retayne dye fixative to make it permanent.

However, unless you buy a PFD garment such as the ones sold by Dharma Trading Company, the stitching at the seams will be made of polyester, which will stay white when you dye the dress. (See the previous question in my hand dyeing Q&A blog, "The pants became black, but all the stitching on the pants remained tan".) Almost all commercial clothing is sewn with polyester thread, even if the label says that it is made of 100% cotton. Polyester stays white when dyed with any cotton dye. Is the style of the dress appropriate for having white stitching? If you don't want the dress to have white stitching, but can't find a dress you like that is sewn with cotton thread, then you could have a local seamstress sew a dress for you, using cotton or cotton-wrapped thread.

The dress should also be sturdy enough for machine washing, and you should pre-wash it in the hottest water it can tolerate, before you dye it. If you want to dye the dress a single smooth solid color, I recommend that you dye it in the washing machine. For a more interesting blend of shades or colors, consider Low Water Immersion dyeing, which is the easiest of all methods of dyeing.

For dyeing a solid dark black, no matter what type of dye you use, you must use a lot more dye powder than you would use for any other color, because darker colors require more dye (of course). Although I recommend five tablespoons (or 38 grams) of Procion MX dye powder to dye a five-pound washing machine load of clothing a medium color, it's better to use over a cup of dye in a washing machine to color five pounds of clothing black (or 150 grams of dye). You will also need soda ash or washing soda, and a large amount of ordinary table salt.

If you're using a cool water dye such as Procion MX dye, you can dye a single garment in a five-gallon plastic bucket instead of the washing machine, if you prefer, using about one-fifth as much dye powder as I just specified, but the recipe requires that you stir it for an hour, so, in that case, be prepared to do a lot of stirring. If you don't stir the garment you're dyeing, some regions will come out lighter, and others darker.

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