Name: ggardin
Message: I have fabric that has water stains, mildew probably, that I would like to cover up with dye. Do you have any specific recommendations ? Thanks so much.

What kind of fabric gets water stains? Only fabric that is not supposed to get wet. The solution to water stains on a dry-clean-only dress is to immerse the dress in water; if the dress survives this treatment, simple water stains will be gone. Unfortunately, stains caused by the effects of water on water-soluble dye are less treatable; sometimes an inferior fabric marked 'dry clean only' will appear to have been dyed with water-soluble dye.

Mildew stains are quite another matter. They can sometimes be removed by treatment with dilute chlorine bleach Of course, chlorine bleach will destroy most synthetic fibers, as well as all animal fibers, such as wool.

Covering up a dark stain with dye almost never works, because dye is transparent. Even as the background color gets darker from the dye, so does the stain in the foreground, so the stain continues to be darker than the rest of the garment. A darker color may make a stain less noticeable, however, especially if it is applied for a mottled effect, such as that obtained from low water immersion dyeing. A major problem is that not all fabrics are dyeable - see "AboutDyes" - and no garment that is truly dry-clean-only can be dyed at all. Since you did not mention the fiber content of your fabric, I cannot comment further.

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