Name: Bridget
Message:Hello
I have a baby sling/harness that I would like to dye however as the baby will be enclosed in the sling/harness im not sure how safe it is to dye. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards

Baby clothes and gear are usually dyed. Are you thinking about giving up the use of all colored items for your baby, for fear that dye in clothing may be unsafe? That would have one advantage in that undyed clothes can be bleached with less fear of damage, but they certainly do tend to show every spill and bit of dirt.

Different kinds of dyes have different properties. Some are more permanently bound to the fiber and are therefore quite safe to wear, if the excess dye has been washed out first. Other dyes seem to be a little more likely to cause problems, though these problems as reported appear to be very infrequent, and not permanently damaging. Non-dye chemicals on the fiber are more likely than dyes to cause trouble. It's a good idea to avoid formaldehyde treatments on baby clothes.

The most commonly allergenic dyes, when they are already on clothing, appear to be the basic dyes used on acrylic socks, and the disperse dyes on polyester clothing. These are presumably more allergenic due to the fact that the dyes are less firmly attached to the fiber, so the wearer is more likely to be exposed to the dye. Dye that is permanently bonded to a fiber is less likely to cause allergies or other reactions than dye that occasionally migrates out of the fiber onto the skin. Allergies to fiber reactive dye in clothing are very rare and involve inadequate initial washout of unattached dye, judging from the reports in the medical literature, even though the dyes can be quite allergenic in their unbound, powdered form, as used by the dyer. However, it must be noted that dyes of even the less ideal types do not usually cause noticeable problems for the wearers, even for babies.

What is your baby sling made of? If it is made of a plant fiber, such as cotton, hemp, linen, or rayon, or if it is made of natural silk, then you can use fiber reactive dyes with no worries. Fiber reactive dyes are the most suitable sort of dyes for any situation in which you do not want the wearer to be exposed to even a tiny bit of dye. Popular brands of fiber reactive dyes for use on plant fibers include Procion MX (preferred by dye artists), Dylon Permanent, Dylon Hand, Dylon Cold, and Dylon Machine Dye. Do not use Dylon Multi Purpose dye, because it is not a fiber reactive dye at all; Dylon Multi Purpose dye is an all-purpose dye, which is a mixture of two different dyes which are both much less suitable for your purposes. I see that you are in the UK; there are several different companies in the UK from which you can order good Procion MX fiber reactive dye, such as Fibrecrafts, Kemtex, and Rainbow Silks: scroll down to the 'Europe' section on my page of "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World". You will also need to buy soda ash, a chemical which is found in washing soda and laundry detergent, to set the dye, and you should use a water softener, sodium hexametaphosphate, if your water is hard.

When you have used any fiber reactive dye, there will always be some excess unreacted dye left in the fabric. This unattached dye needs to be removed so that it will not affect the wearer. It is easy to do. First allow plenty of time in a warm place for your dye to react with your fabric (overnight is good, at 21°C or higher). Next, rinse thoroughly in cool water to remove all of the soda ash and any salt. Then, wash in HOT water (60°C or higher) to remove the excess dye. If the dye has been set properly with soda ash, then it will not come out at this step. Properly attached fiber reactive dye will not wash out even in boiling water. It's only the excess unattached dye that you are removing at this step.

Sometimes people do not do an adequate job in washing out the excess unattached fiber reactive dye. The way to test to see whether you have done a good enough job is called the hot press test. The press test requires that you dampen the dyed material, place it between two white natural-fiber cloths, preferably one wool and one cotton, and press it with a hot iron until dry. If no color transfers to the white cloths, then all excess unattached dye has been removed, and the fiber reactive dye remaining in the fabric will not come out even upon boiling. (This test is commonly used before combining differently colored fabrics in a quilt.) If color does transfer, soak the fabric in hot water and then wash it again, using water softener if your water is hard.

If your sling is not made of a plant-based fiber, or silk, then you will need to use a different kind of dye. Polyester is impractical for the home dyer, because it can be dyed only with a special kind of dye, called disperse dye, which requires extended boiling. It is not fun to dye in the same way as cotton or hemp. Silk can be dyed exactly like cotton, though. Nylon and wool can be dyed only with with acid dyes. The most washfast acid dyes are those in the Lanaset series. The only food-safe dye is food coloring, which works well on wool, less well on silk or nylon, and not at all on any other fiber such as cotton. It cannot be washed in warm or hot water, because it tends to wash out.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)