How can I dye my 100% cotton blouses without a washing machine?

Country or region: New York, NY

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5 Gallon Bucket w/Measurements

A five-gallon bucket is ideal for immersion-dyeing a pound or so of clothing

24" Plastic Stirring Spoon

You'll need a long-handled spoon to stir with. It should be plastic or stainless steel, and not shared with your cooking utensils. A long wooden spoon will work, but only once, since it absorbs the color.

Message: I'm thinking about dying a few blouses; they're white, 100% cotton. My concern is that I don't have a washer/dryer in my apartment, and I'm a bit leery of using the ones in the building for a project like this; I don't want to be the neighbor who was responsible for dyeing someone's underpants purple. Can I do this without a washing machine?

Sure. Washing machine dyeing shouldn't ruin other clothing, if you run a wash cycle afterwards to wash out your newly-dyed clothes, and make sure to wipe out any splashes of dye that occur above the waterline, but it could be uncomfortable to dye in a group washing machine.

You can use a five-gallon plastic bucket to dye up to one and a half pounds of clothes a single color (weighed while dry). Five gallon buckets are sometimes given away free by restaurants or delis, still dirty and needing to be washed out, and are sold pretty cheaply at hardware stores. You will also need a long-handled spoon, either plastic or stainless steel, long enough to reach the bottom of the bucket and have enough sticking out to keep your hands out of the dye. Gloves are a good idea.

Do not use all-purpose dye, such as Rit brand dye. All-purpose dye is drastically inferior in quality, bleeds in the laundry every time you wash it, and is a real pain to apply, too, since it works best in boiling hot water.

Instead of Rit, buy some Procion MX dye, which is a type of fiber reactive dye. It's superior in every way to all-purpose dye, lasts a hundred times longer, and doesn't require hot water. In the northeast a good online source is PRO Chemical & Dye. You can also buy it from a store in Manhattan called Aljo Mfg., in person or by telephone order.

Here's a link to a good set of instructions for dyeing in a bucket, and here's another, "Immersion Dyeing USing PRO MX Reactive Dyes" [PDF]. You'll need dye powder, soda ash or washing soda (buy with your dye), and a large quantity of salt.

All of the above is for dyeing a single solid color, which requires a lot of water and a lot of stirring. A much easier form of dyeing involves putting a blouse in a smaller container, scrunching it up first, and pouring the same type of dye and only a small amount of water over it, only enough to barely cover the fabric, then pouring over a little dissolved soda ash and leaving it to react. No stirring is required. This method is called low water immersion dyeing, and it creates a more interesting multi-shade or multi-color effect, though much subtler than tie-dyeing. For instructions, see How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing.

After you're done dyeing, there's a lot of unattached excess dye that has to be washed out. Wash first in cool water, then wash twice in very hot water, if the clothing can handle it. After this initial washing is completed, it's safe to wash different-colored clothes together at any temperature, because Procion MX dye is very permanent. If the clothing can't tolerate a hot-water wash, just wash it separately from other colors for a few months.

If the blouses are permanent press, the color might end up lighter than you expect, but dyeing should still work well. If they are stain-resistant, they can't be dyed. In almost all cases, the stitching at the seams is made of polyester and will stay white.

There is a small risk in dyeing purchased clothing that's not labeled PFD ("Prepared For Dyeing"). Sometimes, rarely, one part of the shirt may take dye differently from another part, due to having been cut from a different bolt of fabric, or to an accident with the invisible surface finishes that are used on fabrics. You're taking a risk when you dye anything, but it almost always works out.

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Posted: Wednesday - June 27, 2012 at 11:07 AM

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How can I dye my 100% cotton blouses without a washing machine?

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