Name: Erin

Message: My coat is winter white but has some coffee stains on it that won't come out.  It is dry clean only and the blend is 42% cotton, 37% acrylic, 11% wool and 10% polyester; the lining is 100% polyester.  I did check the FAQ's, and from that I understand that dyeing the coat could shrink the lining.  You also mentioned that something that cannot be washed cannot be dyed.  It's a perfectly good coat, but the stains are very obvious and I don't want to have to spend money on a new coat.  Is there ANYTHING at all I can do?  Thank you in advance for your advice.  

If the coat is ruined and unwearable, you may as well try washing it. Some clothing that is marked "dry clean only" will survive washing in the washing machine on delicate, though others will be ruined. 

Washing will remove many stains that dry cleaning will not. This might solve your problem right there—if your coat survives the washing. If the lining to your coat shrinks, look at it closely and decide whether you might be able to cut it out and still wear the coat. Stain removal methods that are water-based are chemically different from dry-cleaning stain removers, so it's worth trying again to remove the stain.

After washing the coat, if it has survived, then you can consider dyeing it. Unfortunately, the fiber combination in your coat is not designed for easy dyeing. Cotton can be dyed with either fiber reactive dyes (like Procion dye) or direct dye (which is found in all-purpose dye mixtures). Wool can be dyed with acid dyes (including those found in all-purpose dyes). However, acetate and polyester cannot be dyed with either of these dyes; polyester in particular can be dyed only with disperse dyes, which require extended boiling. I doubt you have a cooking pot large enough to immerse your coat in, while allowing it to move freely enough to get a solid color on the coat. Dyeing this coat would be an incredible pain.

Probably the best answer is to apply some sort of design to your coat using fabric paint, instead of dye. You might be able to do this even without washing the coat first, if it does not have any sort of water-resistant finish. Don't try to get a single smooth solid color with fabric paint; you won't succeed. Instead, paint or print a repeating design onto your coat. Use a high quality fabric paint, not house paint or artists' colors, because fabric paint is relatively soft and smooth, while other kinds of paint are stiff and scratchy. A good brand of thin fabric paint that will not affect the softness of the fabric much is Dye-na-Flow. You could buy or make a stamp in the shape of a leaf, say, and brush fabric paint onto the stamp, apply it to the coat, and repeat. There are many different colors that you can choose, since your coat is white. Consider whether a metallic fabric paint, such as Lumiere, would look nice, probably only as a highlight for a solid color of fabric paint.

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