Is it a mistake to dye a dry-clean-only polyester dress for a single wearing as a Halloween costume?

Name: Laura

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Message: I read through your polyester dyeing page because lo and behold I have a polyester dress that is dry clean only that I'm trying to dye. I only need this for one night which is Halloween. It doesn't have to look perfect and after I'm finished with the dress I plan to throw it out. Will dyeing it still not be a good idea?

The standards for dyeing costumes are lower than those for dyeing an outfit you want to look perfect again and again. If there's a little tear in a costume, you can sew it up. If the hem comes out, you can tack it up temporarily, instead of needing to do a proper job of rehemming. If there's some inconsistency in color, well, the light will probably be dim enough that no one will notice.

I'm not sure whether you will want to truly dye this dress, or if it will be enough for you to use fabric paint on it. Fabric paint wears off with time, and never looks nearly as smooth and even as dye, but it can be applied at room temperature and heat-set with an iron, unlike polyester dye, which requires extensive boiling. You won't care about the wearing-off problem, since you'll be wearing this dress only once, and you might not mind inconsistencies in the color. For the most dye-like effect, you can use a very thin fabric paint like Dye-Na-Flow or Dharma Pigment Dye (which is actually a fabric paint, not a dye). Like dyes, most fabric paints work only to turn a light-colored garment to a darker color; neither of these will cover a darker color to make it lighter, but another fabric paint, called Neopaque, will, though it requires more paint to cover, and will mess up the feel of the fabric more.

If you think you'd rather use dye, since it gives better results than fabric paint (though for more trouble), before you spend money on the dye, wash this dress in very hot water. If it survives, then yes, you can go ahead and dye it for your costume, using disperse dye. If it doesn't survive washing, throw it away. Lots of dry-clean-only garments will survive washing, so, if you don't mind risking having to throw the dress away, you may as well try it. It's not worth buying the dye until after you've determined that the dress will survive washing.

Don't ever try to dye polyester with a dye intended for natural fibers, such as Rit all-purpose dye! It won't work for even one wearing. It will come out of the polyester fabric the first time you wash it, and yes, it is essential to wash a dress you've dyed, even if you will wear it only once. If you don't wash the dress out after dyeing, dye particles left in the fabric will rub off onto you and anything you touch, including any furniture or car seat you sit on.

The only type of dye that will work on your polyester dress is called disperse dye. If you have a very good art supply store nearby, they might carry this dye in the form of "iDye Poly", which is made by Jacquard Products. If you can't find this dye locally, then you will have to order it online, or you can order another brand of disperse dye from PRO Chemical & Dye or Aljo Mfg. The dye must be applied in boiling water, and you have to keep it boiling for some time; it's not enough to just heat the water beforehand. This means that you will need a large cooking pot to boil the dress in, with the dye. The large cooking pot is by far your biggest expense for this project.

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Posted: Wednesday - October 19, 2011 at 09:04 AM

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Is it a mistake to dye a dry-clean-only polyester dress for a single wearing as a Halloween costume?

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