Country: Australia

Message: I have a compression stocking made from 57% Polyamid and 43% Elastic which I would like to tye dye for a friend. I have done a search and have not been totally sure what to do the stocking cannot take any real heat.

Please, can you help me? I really would like to succesfully colour my friend's pressure stocking its a terrible colour to have to wear 24/7 for her but I do not wish to ruin the shape nor the structure.

Looking forward to any hints, tips and ideas. Thank you so much.

kind regards Therese

If the stocking could take some heat, I'd recommend acid dyes for the polyamide (nylon) content of the stockings, in particular either Lanaset dyes or, in Australia, KraftKolour's Premetalised Acid Dyes. However, I'm sure you're right that the elastic content of the stockings cannot take exposure to heat.

What this leaves as an alternative is fabric paint. There are different types of fabric paint, some thick and others almost as thin as dye. Obviously, you want the latter. Sufficiently thin fabric paint can be applied like dye; this process is called pigment dyeing, although it does not involve the use of dyes. Most fabric paints call for the application of dry heat after the paint dries, to set the paint, but some will cure well if left to dry for a minimum of one month, and there is also a acrylic catalyst paint additive, called Jacquard AirFix, that can be added to acrylic paints to make them cure in one day at room temperature, though it can be hard to find.

In the US, the best choices would be either Dharma Trading Company's Dharma Pigment Dyes, which can be diluted considerably and are therefor the most economical choice, or Jacquard Products' Dye-Na-Flow. Since you're in Australia, you'll want Australian sources. You can order from the US to Australia, calling on the phone and requesting the slowest form of shipping for economy's sake, but a local source is more convenient. The Thread Studio, which sells their products by mail-order throughout Australia, carries Jacquard paints and dyes, including Dye-Na-Flow. You can dilute Dye-Na-Flow with up to 25% as much water, and you can tie the stockings, dip them in compatible colors of Dye-Na-Flow paint, and squeeze the paint through, just as you would apply the dye for tie-dyeing with true dyes. Call the Thread Studio to ask whether they carry Jacquard AirFix, or whether they can special-order it for you.

Another method would be to use some thick fabric markers to draw on the nylon blend; they are supposed to work beautifully on almost any fabric, natural or synthetic. The thick Tee-juice brand pens, which are also carried by The Thread Studio, allow a good amount of the fabric paint in them to flow at a time. Unfortuately, they do require heat-setting. However, Marvy brand fabric markers do not require heat-setting, and they are available in Austrlaia from retailers such as Birch Haberdashery & Craft; it's worth checking any crafts store in your area for these. While you cannot tie-dye with fabric makers, you can draw similar designs, mimicking examples of true tie dyes that you like. 

If you have only one color of stocking to work with, you should still be able to make it brighter and more cheerful than it is now, though the original color of the stocking will always show through, darkening any color you apply. If you can possibly obtain the same stockings in white, those will show your colors much more brightly.

The Jacquard Lumiere fabric paints include some very nice metallics and pearlescent colors, which show up well even against a dark background. Perhaps a few dots of metallic gold, or some design made with that, would brighten the stockings for your friend.

The Jacquard Lumiere fabric paints include some very nice metallics and pearlescent colors, which show up well even against a dark background. Perhaps a few dots of metallic gold, or some design made with that, would brighten the stockings for your friend. If you dilute them by 25% and dip damp fabric into the paint, then squeeze it out, you get a subtle colored sparkle. They do require heat setting to make them permanent through the laundry, but letting them dry for a month will help to cure the paint without heat setting, and Jacquard AirFix, if you can get it, solves the heat-setting problem altogether.

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