Can I dye small areas of my riding vest from red to green?

Name: Norman

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Neopaque is an opaque fabric paint, so white and light colors can cover a dark or colored background.

Country or region: Florida, US

Message: I am trying to dye small areas of a riding vest I wear on my bike. The areas are currently red and I want to dye them like an OD Green (dark green). I looked up to see if I could find out what kind of fabrics it is, the only thing I seemed to find was that it may be Tri-Tex Fabric and Mesh. I have the one that is black and red.

Thanks you very much for your time!

The only thing that will work to turn red to green is an opaque fabric paint.

No dye will change red to green; if you try to dye something that is red to green, you will end up with brown or black, because red and green combine to make brown or black.

As you discovered, it's hard to determine the exact fiber content of that vest, but it looks like a synthetic of the sort that won't take ordinary dyes anyway. The dye that works best on synthetics is disperse dye, but you have to boil the item in the dye, or make an iron-on dye transfer. I'd be afraid to boil that vest, for fear parts of it might shrink or melt. But, again, you can't use dye to turn red to green, so you wouldn't want to try it anyway.

The only problem with using a fabric paint for this is that paint might not stick to a slick shiny material. Buy a small jar of opaque fabric paint and test it somewhere on the inside, so that you won't have ruined anything if it doesn't work well. If the material is very slick and shiny, consider whether or not roughing it up with a bit of sandpaper might help paint to stick.

If the material feels like fabric, then fabric paint is the right product to use. If it is stiff and hard, then another type of paint might work just as well, as long as it is opaque enough to cover up the red color. Fabric paint is better for sticking to fabric, and for feeling soft after it dries, but that won't matter much if the material is stiff to begin with, instead of soft like fabric.

You might be able to find opaque fabric paint at your local crafts or sewing store, or you may have to order online. For a plain opaque color, Jacquard Products makes Neopaque brand fabric paint, but you'll probably have to mix a little black into the green to get an olive drab color; they also have a metallic olive green in their Lumiere line of metallic fabric paints.

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Posted: Thursday - May 31, 2012 at 06:47 AM

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Can I dye small areas of my riding vest from red to green?

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