Name: Danielle

Country: United States

Message: I have an orange dress, 94% viscose and 6% spandex. I need the dress to be purple...is that possible for me to do at home?

I'm sorry to have to say that it's impossible to dye anything that is orange to make it purple. The yellow color in the original orange dye will combine with purple to make brown. Dyeing an orange dress purple will result in a brown or rust color. The original color always shows through when you dye anything, unless the new color is one that can cover that particular color.

If you could remove the orange dye, then you could dye the dress purple. In some cases, dye can be removed from a garment with a product such as Rit Color Remover (which contains sodium dithionite) or Jacquard Color Remover (which contains thiourea dioxide). Unfortunately, both of these chemicals work best in very very hot water, while the spandex in your dress will be damaged by heat. Your dress may permanently lose its shape if you put it in water over 140°F. It's best to obey the garment's care instructions, which probably tell you to wash it in water no warmer than 105°F. Household bleach, which contains hypochlorite, will do even more damage to spandex, leaving holes in it after even a brief exposure. It's not a good idea to ever try bleach on a spandex blend. See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".

I think you'd better concentrate on colors that you can dye an orange rayon/spandex blend dress. Orange can be dyed to make it red, or rust brown, or dark brown, or black. You can certainly do any of those at home yourself, preferably in the washing machine. Would any of these colors suit you better than the color you have now? If so, be sure to use a cool water dye, such as Procion MX dye. Avoid using a hot water dye such as Rit All Purpose dye, since heat is bad for spandex. See "How to Dye Spandex". Viscose rayon can be dyed with the same dyes that work on cotton; see "How to Dye Rayon".

Some local crafts stores carry Jacquard Procion MX dye; Michael's carries Tulip Permanent Fabric dye, which is a brand of Procion MX type dye, while Joann's Fabrics carries Dylon Permanent dye, a warm-water fiber reactive dye that, like Procion dye, performs much better than any all-purpose dye. For mail-order sources of economically-priced high-quality dyes, see the page "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World ".

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