Name: Joe
Message: I have a London Fog jacket that I want to dye black, but I do not know what it is made out of. The jacket says it is dry clean only and I know you said they cannot be dyed. However, I will not wear the jacket if it stays its current color, so is there a way to just try to dye it or would it destroy the jacket?

If you would just throw the jacket away otherwise, you may as well try it!

Sometimes dry-clean-only clothing turns out to actually be washable. The main problem there is if the jacket is lined. Usually, the lining will shrink either more or less than the outside, ruining the way it looks. Unlined clothing can often be washed, either by hand or on a delicate cycle in a washing machine, using only cool water in either case. So, your first step is to wash the jacket, and see if it is still wearable afterwards. If gentle washing shreds or shrinks the jacket, just throw it away.

If the jacket has a rain-repellant finish, it will also resist water and dye. No hope of dyeing it well, in that case.

If you don't know what fiber your jacket is made of, it's really just guesswork as to what sort of dye to use. Is there no fiber content label on the jacket? Dye that works on polyester will not work on cotton or nylon, while dye that works on cotton or nylon completely fails on polyester, so how can you possibly know what dye to use? So-called "all-purpose" dye, which works reasonably well on wool and nylon, and somewhat poorly on cotton, requires hot water to attach to fiber. Heat is a bad idea in cases in which shrinkage may be an issue, so all-purpose dye is likely to be a poor choice. Fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX, works extremely well in lukewarm water on cotton, but, in the recipe that works for cotton, has practically no effect on wool or nylon. What fiber do you think that your jacket might be made of?

One way to try to guess the fiber content of an unknown fabric is the burn test: see Fabric.net's instructions.