Name: Kate Whitaker

Message: Hi I really need to know how to dye a white dress I purchased for a costume. The dress is of towelish material..like dresses that go over swimsuits..but all the sites I find on the internet are how to tie dye not just dye like a plain color and Im confused on what I should do. Please help the dance is on sunday and Im going to be the Blue Powerpuff girl. thanks a bunch!!

(Your email bounced....I guess you mistyped it into the form.)

What fiber is the dress made of? There is a big difference between dyeing cotton terrycloth and dyeing synthetic terrycloth. Dyes that will work on one will not work on the other. Cotton is easy to dye, but polyester and acetate are quite difficult and require specialized dye and other chemicals. I will assume that you have a cotton or rayon dress, because anything else is pretty much hopeless for you to do. Nylon can often be dyed with acid dye, depending on whether or not there is any surface treatment that resists the dye; all-purpose dye contains acid dye, so you can use it on nylon.

Your dress will probably shrink if you dye it in hot water, so using a hot water dye, such as Rit brand all-purpose dye, is not a very good idea. All-purpose dye also bleeds in the laundry for the life of the garment, but that doesn't matter much if you plan to wear it only once, or if you are willing to wash it separately from all of your other laundry.

If you have access to a good art supply store or crafts store that sells it, cool water fiber reactive dye would definitely be the best type of dye to use, because fixing the dye in cool water will not shrink your dress. (In dyeing, "cool" is defined as being between 70 and 100 degrees F. or 21 to 38 degrees C; do not dye with icy cold water!)

The best way to buy fiber reactive dye is by mail-ordering from one of the many companies listed on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page. Unfortunately, you don't have enough time to mail-order even by express mail, so you'll have to see what you can find in local shops. Different brands of fiber reactive dye that might be available in stores are as follows:

• Rainbow Rock
• Tulip One Step Fashion Dye Blue
• Dylon Cold Water Dyes (*not* Dylon Multi-Purpose dye!)
• Procion MX Fiber Reactive Cold Water Dye
• Dylon Permanent Fabric Dye

Be sure to check your local sewing stores, crafts stores, art supply stores, and quilting supply stores. Call around and ask them if they sell Jacquard Procion dye, or Dylon Cold water dye, or Rainbow Rock dye. If you are in Canada or the UK, you should be able to find Dylon Cold Water Dye or Dylon Washing Machine Dye, but it is more difficult in the US. Any fiber reactive dye is easy to use in a large bucket or a washing machine. Use soda ash (also known as sodium carbonate, or washing soda, or dye fixative) to fix fiber-reactive dye. Solid color dyeing is simpler than tie-dyeing, though it requires a lot more stirring. See, for example, Dharma Trading Company's recipe for bucket dyeing. The easiest way to use fiber reactive dye to in solid-color dyeing is in the washing machine.

If none of your local stores sell fiber reactive dye, then you are stuck using all-purpose dye, which is really quite unsuitable for dyeing ready-made garments that will be worn repeatedly, but is easy to find even in grocery stores and pharmacies. All-purpose dye requires a great deal of heat to make a long-lasting attachment to the fiber. Ideally, you should dissolve the all-purpose dye and salt in a large pot of water (which you must never use for cooking again, as all-purpose dye, like most dyes, is not safe for human consumption); add the dress and slowly bring the temperature of the water to a simmer (190 degrees F. or 88 C.), using a thermometer so you are not surprised by a boil-over. Then continue to simmer the fabric in this dye bath for half an hour or longer. For pale shades, you can use less time, or less dye, or both; dyeing in the washing machine is the easiest way to apply the dye, though less effective than hotter water.

If you are concerned about shrinking your dress, you will have to use your all-purpose dye in hot tap water. This is definitely for costume use only, as hot tap water is simply not hot enough to allow all-purpose dye to do a good job. It may work well enough for one-time use as a costume, however. Expect the dye to mostly wash out in the laundry.

I would like to urge you to plan ahead next time, so that you will have time to buy good fiber-reactive dye, and can avoid using inferior types of dye. Be sure that any garment you choose to dye is washable, and 100% cotton, linen, or rayon, and is free of any permanent press or anti-stain finishes, as these will interfere with dyeing. The best dresses to dye are those that are labeled as PFD (prepared for dyeing); an excellent source for these in the US is Dharma Trading Company.

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[Updated June 8, 2008.]