Name: Meg

Message: I have a 100% hemp top and skirt that was a kind of mauve color but had too much brown in it.  Using Tintex dye and a hot water bath, I tried to dye them "dark plum".  I tried two times, using two packets -- but still too much brown.  Then I used two packets at once and stirred the almost boiling water for 50 minutes.  I rinsed in the bathtub in lukewarm warm water  turning to cold, then put them in the washing machine on gentle cycle for a couple of minutes (cold water), then put them in the dryer for 15 minutes.  No shrinkage, the fabric is fine but -- still too much brown!  Should I try once more with another color to obliterate the brown and keep the deep plum?  Thank you very much (this is like the hemp pants question but the opposite, I guess).

There is no getting around the fact that dye is transparent. It is easy to change purple into brown by adding some yellow, but it is impossible to turn brown into purple, unless the brown is very light in color and the purple rich and deep.

The only way to really remove the brown is just that - to remove it. You can't cover it up with purple. You can cover it up with black, however.

There are two different ways, speaking generally, to remove dye. One is to break it up with an oxidative bleach, such as ordinary household bleach. This often works, but it can be hard on the fibers. Hemp is a strong cellulose-based fiber, though, so I expect that it can probably handle it. The other is to use a reductive discharge, such as Tintex Color Remover or Rit Color Remover. These are gentler to the fiber and can also be used for silk and some synthetics. Some dyes are easier to remove with Color Remover, some with bleach, and a few cannot be removed at all. (Here's a link to my page about discharge chemicals.)

Once you have removed the brown, you can try again with the purple. I personally much prefer cool water fiber reactive dyes, rather than hot water all-purpose dyes such as Tintex or Rit, because they are easier to use (no need for cooking) and are much more resistant to fading when washed. If you want to use Tintex without having the wash-fading problem, you can apply a commercial dye fixative, such as Retayne. This can be purchased in some fabric stores, but is easier to find by mail-order.


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