How to dye 50% Cotton/50% Polyester

Name: **Marisela**

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Country or region: USA

Message: Hi, I tried searching "How to dye 50% Cotton 50% Polyester" and found no results. I am emailing you because I have never dyed any clothes before but I have a black sweater that I purchased over 4 years ago and I accidently left in the trunk of a car that was sitting under the sun for 3 years. I just found it and it has faded to a brownish color on the outer part. It is a Carhartt and is made of the following materials: (Outer Shell: 50% Cotton 50% Polyester) & (Inner Lining: 100% Polyester) it weighs 3lbs 4oz. I do not care about the inner lining but it is still black. I do however care about the outer shell. Can you please explain how dyes work, how many bottles I need and what I need to do to make this sweater black again. I truly love this sweater and I would really appreciate your help. I understand there is a risk as I am altering the original fabric but I prefer the risk than this ugly uneven brownish color. Thank you SO MUCH for your time.

Since there is no dye in the world that will work on both cotton and polyester, you will have to use two different dyes. One dye will recolor the cotton fibers in the sweater black, while the other will recolor the polyester fibers black. (The polyester dye will wash out of cotton, while the cotton dye washes out of polyester.)

I do not recommend that you buy Rit brand all-purpose dye from your local store. All-purpose dye does not work very well on cotton, and it does not work at all on polyester. This means that you will probably have to order your dye online. It's worth it, to get better dyes.

Before you go any farther than this, first make sure that the sweater does not have any sort of water-resistant finish. Anything that is water-resistant will also resist dye. When you sprinkle a few drops of water on your sweater, does the water soak in? It's very important to dye only things that can absorb water.

It can be difficult to dye something that is not even in color to start with. Since dye is transparent, the faded portions end up not quite as dark as the other portions, after redyeing. If you use a large enough amount of black dye, though, it will probably cover up the variation. Alternatively you could use Rit Color Remover or Jacquard Color Remover first, to remove as much dye as possible and even out the color somewhat before dyeing. These products remove color without damaging the synthetic fiber the way bleach does.

There are two different approaches to dyeing both the cotton and the polyester. One is to dye the two fibers in separate steps. The other is to buy dyes that can be mixed together and applied at the same time. The dyes that have to be applied separately are better in quality, but the dyes that can be mixed together are less trouble, and they are better than the all-purpose dye mixtures you can buy at the grocery store.

The easy way is to order Jacquard Products' "iDye" and "iDye Poly" in black, and also order an after-treatment called Retayne. "iDye" is a direct dye that will work on cotton, while "iDye Poly" is a completely different kind of dye that will work on polyester. iDye is not the longest-lasting type of dye, but it will last well enough if, after you have completely finished doing your dyeing, you apply Retayne, following the package directions. You can order iDye, iDye Poly and Retayne all at the same time. One supplier that you can order iDye and iDye Poly from is Blick Art Materials; Dharma Trading Company sells both of these dyes, as well as many others, and also sells Retayne. You will need to actually cook the sweater on your stovetop in a big pot along with both of these dyes; it's not enough to just use hot water. The pot must be large enough for the sweater to move freely in the water as you stir it.

Alternatively, you can order Procion MX dye for dyeing the cotton part of your fiber blend, and another brand of disperse dye for dyeing the polyester. I like to order disperse dyes from either PRO Chemical & Dye or Aljo Mfg, both of which, like Dharma, also sell Procion MX dyes. Procion MX dyes are among the very best and longest-lasting dyes for cotton, and they don't require heat or a cooking pot to use. They do require soda ash or washing soda to act as a dye fixative. For a beginner, doing your dyeing in a single step is less trouble, and you'll still have to boil the sweater in dye in order to dye the polyester in it.

Retayne is an easy way to make direct dyes like iDye more permanent on cotton. You can apply it by stirring a spoonful of it with the sweater in a bucket of very hot water. It also works for all-purpose dye, but, if you're going to the trouble of ordering Retayne online, you may as well order a better dye than Rit, especially since you'll almost certainly need to order online to get polyester dye.

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Posted: Tuesday - November 15, 2011 at 06:57 AM

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How to dye 50% Cotton/50% Polyester

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