Name: Holly
Message: What's the problem with baking soda instead of soda-ash? I've tried baking soda on cotton materials, and it worked just fine. Is soda-ash better for other materials, could you please explain the difference to me?

What kind of dye are you using? I will assume a fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye, since that is the most popular dye for artists and craftspersons. This sort of dye works best at a pH between 10 and 11. (See What is the effect of pH in dyeing?.) All-purpose dye performs poorly on cotton at any pH.

Sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, does not produce as high a pH as does sodium carbonate, or soda ash. Bicarbonate generally produces a ph around 8, while carbonate can raise it to 11.

A neat thing about bicarbonate is that it turns to carbonate in the presence of heat, so if you are baking or steaming your dye reactions, the pH will get to the ideal pH. In that case, baking soda is just as good as soda ash - better, in fact, if you wish to delay the dye reaction until you are applying the heat.

If you are not baking, however, and are using bicarbonate with fiber reactive dyes, you will have to use more dye, because so much of the dye you use will be wasted at the low pH; alternatively, your dye will not be nearly as well attached to the fiber, and will be much less washfast as a result. It really does work best to use the correct pH.

Name: Tabatha
Message: Hello, I was wondering if it is possible to lighten or bleach a polyester garment? Is it the same as if I were to try dying it? Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, polyester fibers are easily damaged by bleach. Another commonly used color-removing agent, sodium hydrosulfite, which is sold as Rit brand Color Remover, is also unsuitable for use on polyester; the Rit dye company strongly advises against its use.

Dye is transparent, and will not cover up a darker color. Instead, it can only darken the existing color.

There is no practical home method to lighten dye on polyester.

Message: I am trying this site because I don't know what else to do. My family's tan clothes and most recently the 4 sets of tan, high quality towels I just bought at JC Penny's get orange blotches and spots on them after washing 2 or 3 times of washing. I made sure there was no bleach in the name brand laundry detergentI use, made sure detergent was dissolved in water before putting towels in, and still it happens. I'm so frustrated that this is happening since my boys' favorite shirts have been ruined and I just wasted money on new towels. Can you help me by telling me what you think is going on? Thank you so much.

It sounds like acne medication - the skin cream type. Does anyone in your household use any product that contains benzoyl peroxide? It's amazing what this can do. Just drying the face in the morning, even after washing the acne stuff off, will ruin a towel.

Or could it be rust stains from the washing machine? Is it lighter or darker in color than the original tan?

[mail to Tina bounced back]

Name: Aimee
Message: Hello! I'm wondering if you know how to dye aplix/velcro? I've been told that it works with RIT dye, but I want something that is colorfast. Thanks for any help!

Velcro is made of woven nylon (reference), which means that it should be possible to dye Velcro with acid dyes.

It is actually not a bad idea at all to use Rit or other all-purpose dye for this purpose. You are familiar with the tendency of all-purpose dye to fade when used to dye cotton, because the cotton dye used as part of all-purpose dye is a non-colorfast type called direct dye. All-purpose dye also contains a type of dye called acid dye, which just washes right out of cotton. Since acid dye works well on nylon, and is a rather more satisfactory product than direct dye, all-purpose dye works better on nylon than it does on cotton.

All-purpose dye is expensive per pound of material to be dyed - direct dye alone costs a mere fraction per unit of fabric, when purchased from a company such as http://www.prochemical.com. However, if you are dyeing very small quantities, less than a pound of material, as seems likely, you should find that the Rit brand all-purpose dye that can be found in many stores is not too expensive to use.

Name: Douglas
Message: Hi! Great site with lots of info. However I couldn't find anything about making a photographic backdrop. I have bought muslin and would like to dye it brown with a splotchy or mottled effect. . any ideas? I bought RIT dye to do this with. Is this a good brand? If you would like a sample like the drop I am trying to duplicate, I can send you a very small jpeg. .
Thanks in advance for your help!



There are several reasons why most dye artists recommend against dyeing cotton with all-purpose dye. (Rit is one brand of all-purpose dye.)

For best results, all-purpose dye should be simmered with the fabric for half an hour or an hour on the stovetop, in a cooking pot which will never again be used for food (since the dye is not food-safe). All-purpose dye can be applied in the washing machine, but the results will not be very permanent, because the water never gets near the optimum temperature for the dye to stick to the fiber. Even when used correctly, this type of dye is not very colorfast in the laundry.

How big are your backdrops going to be? I find it hard to imagine a cooking pot large enough to dye a backdrop in!

All-purpose dye is also extraordinarily expensive for large pieces of fabric. One box of a commonly available brand costs $2.75 and will dye only 1.5 yards of fabric to a medium intensity. In contrast, a $4 jar of a good fiber reactive dye (MX fiber reactive dye from http://www.prochemical.com) will dye 14 yards of muslin - almost ten times as much!

Fiber reactive dye is much easier to use than all-purpose dye, as well. Instead of heating it, you just add soda ash, to enable the reaction between the dye and the cotton.

I recommend that you mail-order some brown MX fiber reactive dye (one shade or, even better, several different shades) from http://www.prochemical.com or another company on my page of sources for dye supplies at http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml, and follow the recipe for low water immersion dyeing, at http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/lowwaterimmersion.shtml . You will need soda ash, but you will not need urea, and salt is optional.

If you are planning to dye a very large piece of fabric, I recommend that you do a test run of dyeing a cotton t-shirt or something else small, first, just to make sure you understand how to do it. It is more difficult to handle large pieces of fabric, though it helps a great deal to be doing it all at room temperature.

Sugggestions for better type of fabric dye and how to reach the company from Canada?

I don't know a dye company in Quebec, but the good dyehouses are all mail-order anyway, and actually will save you quite a bit of money compared to the all-purpose dye sold in local shops, besides providing much more suitable dye. G&S Dye in Toronto is excellent. I recommend that you order your dye from them.

Do NOT use all-purpose dye such as Tintex Hot Dye or Rit. You would have to simmer the shirts in it for half an hour, or longer, for good results. I cannot imagine taking on the job of boiling 150 shirts! Use a "fiber reactive" dye, which can be used in cool water, and which also produces brighter, prettier, and more permanent results. Using the right dye is the most important part of dyeing, by far. G&S sells Procion MX dye, which is the favorite of dyers in North America and Europe.

The Starter Kit at http://www.gsdye.com/Canada/ProcionMX.html will dye up to 24 t-shirts, for about $30 Canadian. For 150 people, I would want to have at least nine ounces of dye. (One ounce is about 28 grams.) I recommend that you buy 100 grams each of 405 Hot Pink (actually a good magenta for mixing), 208 Bright Yellow, and 510 Turquoise (all other colors, except for the dark ones such as black, can be mixed from these three colors), plus (optionally) 50 grams of one of the blacks. Getting more dye than you think you'll need is not a bad idea, and if you have a favorite color among the pre-mixed colors G&S sells, you could go ahead and buy some of that, too. A little bit of black on a shirt makes the other colors look brighter.

You will also need urea, and soda ash (sodium carbonate), see http://www.gsdye.com/Canada/chemicals.html , and rubber gloves for everyone, which you can usually buy in a local pharmacy or hardware store, and plastic squeeze bottles with yorker caps (http://www.gsdye.com/Canada/accessories.html) to put the dye mixtures in, for squirting onto the tied, soda-ash-soaked shirts. You do NOT need any salt or sodium sulfate, as these are used only in immersion dyeing, not in tie-dye. Synthrapol or TNA Soap is better than other laundry detergents for washing out excess dye afterwards, but regular laundry detergent can be used. Don't forget vast quantities of rubber bands - smaller ones are best. Be sure that everyone wears old clothes while dyeing, as the dye will spatter and ruin good clothes.

Be sure to use only 100% cotton shirts. 80% cotton will work, but 50% cotton will produce pale colors. Use 50% cotton only if you want pastel colors.

You should try dyeing just a few shirts at home first for practice. Instructions are on my web site and others, and will also come with the dye. Color placement is a key point in how the results will look. Also see http://www.dharmatrading.com/info/groups.html .

Name: Mechelle
Message: What country did the United States get Tie-dying from? We are haveing a Celebrat Asian Pacific Ameriacn Heritage Month at work and we wanted to know so we could put it on a quiz sheet.

Tie-dyeing was surely invented repeatedly in many different locations.

You can find some information on this subject on my web site, and links to other sites that have more information on this subject. See http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/history_tiedye.shtml .

Message: Can I put the dye in a front loaded washing maschine,will it stain my drum i have a stainless steel drum and will it stain clothes after I dyed?


Yes, you can dye in a front-loader. The machine will not be ruined, and will not stain clothes washed later. However, some dyes may color the machine itself, especially turquoise dye. This does no harm to the further use of the machine. One solution is to follow any dyeing with a load bleaching towels and similar materials.

Message: how do I write a word or number on a shirt that I'm going to tie dye? I was thinking wax. brush on and the dye won't go where I put the wax. True? please help.


True. See the various ideas at http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/peace_sign.shtml and http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/letters.shtml . Also see http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/howtobatik.shtml .

Message: I am trying to get a Cub Scout Activity lined up for our summer graduation party. We have asked each boy to bring a white cotton tshirt to our party. We wanted them to be able to decorate them without too much of a mess. We were hoping to hang the shirts up on hangers on a clothes line and let them spray/squirt them with different dyes using squirt bottles. I've read some of your stuff and I'm thinking this won't work. What should I do? Hellllpppp. We are doing this at our Church so I wanted to use squirt bottles on the lawn to keep things simple. Hellllpppppp!!!!

Do NOT use all-purpose dye, such as is sold in little boxes in most grocery stores and pharmacies, because you have to boil the shirts in a pot of dye, which is completely inappropriate for your plans. You need fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX type dye, so that you can use it without heating it. You can mail-order an appropriate-sized "tie dye kit" from companies such as http://www.dharmatrading.com , which will contain squirt bottles, dye, urea, and soda ash. Make sure everyone brings old clothes to wear that can be stained with dye - NOT their uniforms! You can also buy cheap plastic aprons, and be sure to get plenty of cheap latex gloves. If you want spray bottles (and it looks like you do), you will need to buy them separately, but they are available from the same source.

The mail-order dye places charge so much less for their dye that you can pay for expedited shipping, if necessary. Two ounces of Procion MX type dye will dye 14 shirts, permanently and brightly; a $2.75 packet of "all purpose" dye will dye only one or two shirts, and then wash out badly.

One way we do the dyeing is with a bucket of soda ash dissolved in water, which they soak the shirts in until the shirts are thoroughly wet (about five minutes), then wring them out by hand and hang them up on *plastic* hangers (metal will rust and stain the shirts), then spray with Procion MX type dyes mixed with water and powdered urea. More commonly, people cover large tables (or sheets of plywood on sawhorses) with plastic drop-cloths and let the children lay the shirts flat to squirt or spray on the dye. Very commonly, we have them tie their shirts with rubber bands before they come, then have them soak the shirts and proceed as above, using squirt bottles, not spray bottles. If you hand an untied shirt on a plastic hanger on a line, you can apply dye at the top of the shirt and watch it drip down; the results can be very nice. This is not tie-dyeing, since you don't tie the shirts at all, but everyone calls it tie-dyeing anyway.

If you lay the shirts flat on the lawn, after you pre-soak them and wring them out, and put nicely-shaped leaves on them, you can use a spray bottle to mist dye on the shirt. (Make sure everyone wears a cheap dust mask! Don't let them breathe the dye mist.) The leaves act as a stencil to make really cool results. See http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/example19.shtml . You have to flip the shirts over to do the other side.

Warning: use spray bottles only with children who will not be tempted to spray each other! How easily controlled is this particular group of boys?

If you need things to be neat, as for example for use indoors, you could get Pentel fabric crayons or any brand of fabric markers to draw directly on the fabric. Crayola fabric crayons work only on shirts that are 50% to 100% synthetic material; to use them, the children draw on paper, and then an adult irons the resulting designs onto the shirts. Crayola fabric crayons will not work on 100% cotton. Everything else requires cotton, but Crayola fabric crayons require synthetics.

As you can see, there are many possible alternatives. Good luck.

Name: rizwan bhatti
Message: sir i hope u fine plz i am requested to u that mail me the whole files
of the website server plz i am very thank ful to u

No, I'm afraid I can't do this. Just look at the website, please. There is no reason to mail them, because all the the pages are already available on the web, and e-mailing would be far too much trouble.

I know you said that it is very difficult to remove screen printing and to use sandwashing (how could I go about that) or sandpaper. I am in charge of a hockey team and we had to sets of 25 Jerseys donated to us with the idea that we would remove the print from the jerseys and place our own print on them. Is there anyway we can get this done with out spending hours slaving over it with a piece of sandpaper? Can one screan print over previous print? Thank you for your time and help... it is greatly appreciated?

No, I wrote about sandpaper to "age" a screen print. It won't work to remove enough to allow reuse of the garments, I'm afraid, and neither would sandwashing.

This situation is rather like that of a tattoo. It's so difficult to remove one that people often get a new one designed to incorporate the old one.

Opaque screen printing ink might cover up the old logo well enough, if you design the new one so that it is big enough to really cover the old one.

Good luck.

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

[Updated June 8, 2008.]

I have recently bought a dress in bright pink, but was wondering if I could have it dyed to be a red color. The dress is made of satin, and was wondering if the dress would take the color. I would appreciate any feedback!

If it's polyester, and if you are not already an experienced dyer, with large boiling pots that you use only for dyes, never for food, it's probably not a good idea. See the following page for the answer to your question:
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dispersedye.shtml

You may be surprised to learn that satin is a weave, not a fiber. Dyeing requires that you match the type of the dye to the fiber. Satin may be woven from polyester, rayon, nylon, silk, cotton, etc. Polyester cannot be dyed with cotton or silk dye. Cotton cannot be dyed with silk or polyester dye.

If your satin dress is washable and is woven from silk or cotton, a custom dyer will probably be happy to take on the job of dyeing it for you. Contact one of the dyers who list their services on the Custom Dyers Listing.

Try Rit brand Color Remover, and closely follow the instructions on the box. You may need several boxes to do this in the washing machine.

Rit brand Color Remover is sold next to Rit brand All Purpose Dye, in many stores. While I generally recommend against the use of any brand of All Purpose dye on cotton (fiber reactive dye works much better, lasts much longer on the fabric, and is easier to use), the Rit Color Remover is an excellent product.

Why did the yellow socks run? Either the wrong type of dye was used (see above), or the correct recipe was not followed, or the required washing-out steps after dyeing were omitted. Properly done, with the right kind of dye, tie-dyed socks are safer for washing with other garments than almost anything else. I routinely wash tie-dyed clothing with white clothing, and never have a problem.

Message: Dear Paula, Thank you for such a marvelously informative website! I am sure you're just the person to ask my question. I am planning on dyeing a silk veil and skirt to match (I am a student belly dancer), and want to make stripes of color, purple to turquoise to green, and I want the colors to blend into each other, rather than be harsh, defined stripes. Can you tell me the best way to do this? Thank you!

If you are using Procion MX type dyes, the best way to do this is to wait to apply the soda ash fixative until AFTER you have applied the dye - the reverse of the way tie-dyeing is done.

See, for example, http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dipdyeing.shtml , though you would only loosely pleat the fabric in one direction, to make it easier to handle than just laying it completely flat.

Silk can be dyed with the soda ash recipe OR with acid dyes. It is a marvelously versatile fiber.

You can also get this effect with silk paint, by dampening the fabric before applying the diluted paint.

Be careful to avoid placing purple next to green. Always place turquoise in between them, unless you are looking for subtle shades. Purple plus green makes brown. However, applying the soda ash last makes even the muddy colors come out beautiful, in my experience. They are very ugly in tie dye or whenever the fixative is applied first, in my experience.

Message: I am working for a polyurethane manufacturer and we are looking to obtain some samples for our dye testing. Thank you.

This is a peculiar request for me, since I do not sell dyes or anything else that you might be asking for a sample of.

There is a list of dye sellers, on my web site at http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml which you may find helpful.

Thank you, by the way, for putting together such a great site. It's nice to see someone who's put so much into an informational site, and you've done it so well.

Looks like that site is gone, all right. It was little more than the suggestion to mix dye with shaving cream and then apply the dye+foam to fabric that has been pre-treated with soda ash.

The technique has been discussed on the DyersList mailing list, which has archivers. Go join that list so you can view the archives. See https://list.emich.edu/mailman/listinfo/dyerslist . Then search for "foam" at http://list.emich.edu/~dyers/ . The combined information that you will obtain in that way is actually much better than the missing page.

Message: I did tie dye, it came out beautiful, but when I washed it the next day, it all turn pink, what did I do wrong.

Either you used the wrong type of dye (such as all-purpose dye, which works very poorly if used without heat), or you used the wrong type of dye for the fiber (such as cotton dye for polyester), or you did not follow the instructions.

See http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/howtotiedye.shtml and http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/howtodye.shtml to see what you should have done.

On cotton, use fiber reactive dye, such as the PRO MX dye sold at http://www.prochemical.com . Don't forget the soda ash!

Name: Ron

I would like to know if there are any places in new york city that will dye my polyester jacket or how I may do it myself.
Thank you...Ron. 917-696-4812

Sorry, but it's quite unlikely. If a garment is not washable, it's not dyeable, and lined jackets are almost never washable. The lining will generally shrink less or more than the shell, ruining the shape completely.

Message: I have 2 100% polyester dresses I need dyed in pastel colors for my wedding August 2004.They are washable with like colors on gentle cycle,tumble dry low.1 needs to be a lilac colr purple,the other a green pastel color.I have called all dress places and no one dyes dresses anymore.I live in upstate NY.I live near Fulton,Montgomery,and Saratoga Counties.Please help,thank you.

Please read the following page:

http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dispersedye.shtml

Message: Do you know if it is possible to dye nylon wheels (similar to plastic wheels) that are another color. I have a pair of white nylon mag wheels for my bike, that I want to change to black, but still have a professional finish.

Yes, it is quite possible to dye nylon, by simmering it in a type of dye called "acid dye". Rit brand all-purpose dye contains acid dye and can work well for this, although it does not work well on cotton fabric.

However, black is the most difficult of all colors to dye. You might end up with only a medium or dark grey. If you would be happier with grey or some other color than with the white you have now, then I would encourage you to try. If only a stark white or stark black will do, though, this may not be the right project for you.

Here's a description of a similar project:
http://astro.umsystem.edu/atm/ARCHIVES/JUN02/msg00402.html
In this example, someone used liquid Rit brand dye successfully to dye nylon black.

Message: Hi Paula, thanks so much for your great site! But i couldn't find which kind of dye to use to dye new mother of pearl buttons. Do you have any suggestions?

What I've heard suggests that real mother-of-pearl is quite difficult to dye. One woman used acid dye with vinegar (Rit brand dye, for example, includes some acid dye), and found that the luster was damaged by the vinegar, but she did get some dyeing. Her buttons turned out to be pastel, lighter than she wanted. Another woman tried Ukrainian easter egg dye and was unsuccessful. I think that the protective nature of the natural pearl finish may cause it to physically resist dye.

Artificial mother-of-pearl is another matter. The plastic buttons can be dyed to pastel or medium shades by simmering in acid dye. An easy-to-obtain acid dye is in all-purpose dye such as Rit. (I do not recommend Rit dye for use on cotton, but it can be used on nylon.) The dyebath should be heated on the stovetop. Another type of dye, disperse dye, may produce better results, but is more difficult to use and can be obtained only from a few mail-order supply houses, such as http://www.prochemical.com .

Message: My daughter wants a red prom dress. We have a white 'Cinderalla" dress - lots of tulle (11 layers) and a beaded top on silk. The dress is HUGE. can it be dyed? Are there any services in the NJ NY area that would do it? I could try it myself but I don't think I can find a container large enough - Thanks for any advice you can give

I'm sorry, but you cannot dye anything that is not washable. That dress does not sound washable.

Tulle is usually made of nylon, which can be dyed with acid dyes, like silk. Silk itself dyes easily, but the stitching is most likely polyester, which would stay white. The main problem is that the dress would probably either fall apart, or shrink more in some places than others, and become unwearable.

Some of the advice on this page is very applicable:
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dispersedye.shtml
"It is exceedingly rare to find a service that will custom dye a
single garment for you, and nobody anywhere will take the
risk of ruining a dry-clean-only garment by dyeing it. If you
want a dress in a certain color, buy fabric in that color, or
dye yardage of an easily dyeable material such as cotton
or silk, and [after dyeing] hire a local seamstress to sew it
for you."

Name: Lyn
Message: I would like to dye my loveseat ...it is yellow and I would like to dye it green or black ...but have been unsuccessful in my search for information on how to dye furniture - can I wet it first and then sponge the dye on it or should you spray it on. Hope you have some ideas. Thank you Lyn

This common question is answered in the FAQ section of this website, on Can furniture be dyed successfully?. In addition, Scarlet Zebra has a more detailed (and useful!) set of information on painting upholstered furniture.

Message: Hi, I have checked your safety FAQs so I hope this Q is not too repetitive - I would like to dye baby clothes, Dylon say don't do it, but do you have any further information on possible safe dyes? Thank you!

Babies are usually dressed in dyed clothing.

The fiber reactive dyes, once properly fixed to the fabric, are among the safest of all dyes, because they are so firmly bound to the fiber. The only danger is when the dye is in powdered form, before dyeing, when you must be sure not to breath the dye powder. (Wear a dust mask.)

You will wash the garments several times after completing dyeing, first in cold water and then in hot, to remove all unattached dye.

I dressed my own babies in clothing dyed with Procion MX type dye. I see from your address that you are in the UK; UK sources for this type of dye include George Weil Fibrecrafts, Rainbow Silks, and Kemtex Educational Supplies. See my page of Sources for Dyeing Supplies for web sites and contact information.

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

Updated September 7, 2008

Name: Jane
Message: Would a Tintex fabric dye work on 50% poly/50% cotton bed sheets - I don't see this question listed. Thank you.

Tintex fabric dye is one brand of all-purpose dye, and will color cotton. There are several problems that you will encounter with all-purpose dye, though:
1. It is not very washfast on cotton.
2. Like most dyes, it does not dye polyester at all.
3. It requires heat to attach to cotton, wool, and nylon, but the temperature that can be reached in a washing machine is far below the temperature that gives best results.
4. If all-purpose dye is used in a cooking pot on top of the stove, the pot should not be used for food again, as the dye is not food safe.
5. All-purpose dye costs about six times as much as mail-order fiber reactive dye, per pound of fabric dyed, to obtain a similar depth of shade.

A better choice for cellulose fibers, including cotton, is fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX, Cibacron F, or Drimerene K. (The Tintex Dye Company of Australia sells all-purpose dye as Tintex High Temp and good fiber reactive dye as Tintex Low Temp.) These dyes can be used in warm water, rather than hot water, so they are much more convenient to use. Tap water is hot enough, so a cooking pot need not be used. They work very well in a washing machine. Fabric dyed with fiber reactive dye, once it has been set properly with soda ash, will not fade quickly the way that fiber dyed with all-purpose dye will. After the excess dye has been washed out with first cold and then hot water, fabric dyed with fiber reactive dye does not bleed onto other garments in the laundry, unlike all-purpose dye.

Even fiber reactive dye cannot dye the polyester in your sheets, though, and the type of dye that will, which is called disperse dye, is not a good choice for novice dyers. The result of dyeing 50% cotton 50% polyester sheets with fiber reactive dye is pastel colors. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however. One can get quite nice results on 50% cotton, as long as pastel tints are acceptable. By using a large amount of dye, one can get darker shades, though they will never be as bright or intense as those obtained on fabric that contains at least 80% cotton (or other fibers including linen, silk, rayon, or lyocell [Tencel]).

Message: please can you give me some information on dyeing fabrics because i am doing a school project and i need help. Thank you for the help

Sure. What are your questions?

There are over two hundred pages of information on dyeing fabrics on my web site at http://www.pburch.net . I hope that you find them helpful.

Message: I found your website after we already dyed some tshirt. Admittedly we used Rit dye! (shame on us). This was our big Easter family project, is it salvageable? My husband mentioned a concoction using vinegar? Do you have any suggestions?

Don't use vinegar! It won't help. What you should use is Retayne. See:

http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/fixrit.shtml

Retayne will work if you followed the boiling-water recipe required for Rit dye. If you used cold water, nothing will work, because Rit is a hot water dye. Either frame the shirts as they are, or wash them out and try again with either good fiber reactive dye, or the right recipe for all-purpose dye.

Good luck.

I wondering can you advice me what to do and what brand of dye colour? PLEASE.........

Any color would be good. Only plain baby blue is considered too boyish. Even a bright blue is fine. You'll get nice purples if you over-dye a blue garment with fuchsia. Anything but orange is good. (Orange plus blue makes mud color.)

It is best to use fiber reactive dye. This is safer for babies' skin than all purpose dye, because it bonds much more tightly to the fiber. It also lasts much longer. (Don't buy "all ourpose" dye unless you are dyeing nylon or wool.) I recommend that you order a "tie dye kit" from a company such as http://www.prochemical.com or http://www.scarletzebra.com, possibly with some additional dye from their PRO MX dyes in whatever your favorite color is.

For the price of a single nice baby outfit, you can dye a whole wardrobe of baby clothes! That's what I did, for my babies.

You should also see http://www.dharmatrading.com for their adorable little white dresses and outfits to dye. If you buy Procion MX type dye from them, I recommend you avoid their "fuchsia" and substitute their "light red", as the color is very similar but the dye is easier to dissolve and therefore more reliable. People have been reporting problems with Dharma's Fuchsia.

Be careful not to breath any of the dye powder when you mix it up. A dust mask is a good idea.

The easiest method for dyeing is low water immersion dyeing - see
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/lowwaterimmersion.shtml
- though I do love tie dye on babies, too.

Your older kids would probably love to have some shirts re-dyed in their favorite colors, too.

bcos although phosphoric acid also swells cellulosic fibre and same as the case with the soda ash they both make di sodium hydrogen phosphate. please suggest can it prove to be a better alkali than soda ash bcos this formulation will give lower cost as compare to soda ash as the formulation becomes concentrated on reactiON with acid

It does not really matter what chemical you use to adjust the pH. I cannot tell you how much to use. What you must do is use pH paper or a pH meter to determine, by trial and error, how much of these chemicals to add in order to obtain the correct pH for the dye which you are using.

Many fiber reactive dyes work best at a pH between 10.5 and 11.5, but you must check with the manufacturer of your dye to find out which pH you should be striving for. See also what is the effect of pH in dyeing? and what is soda ash used for?.

If the question merely concerns the effect on the fiber, and not on the dye reaction, I cannot help you. I know less about fiber chemistry than dye chemistry. The book "Cellulosics Dyeing", edited by John Shore, has some information on this subject.

Message: I would like to dye a men's 100% wool suit from an emerald or light green to a forest or dark green. would you please recommend an at home process and product?

No. You cannot dye a garment which is not washable. If hot water is required, it is apt to shrink the suit and make it unwearable. Beware especially of sudden temperature changes, which will cause wool to felt.

If the suit is machine washable, than use any dye recommended for wool that is sold by http://www.prochemical.com or a similar supplier.

Message: im about to start tie-dyeing for selling and i need some strond advice on how to start how to get pple to buy them and get interested thanks

You can start by selling a few items on eBay, but it is very important to learn more about how to run a small business. This is not my area of expertise. (I have a day job as a scientist.)

A key point is finding a way to price your goods high enough to pay for not only your costs but also your labor, taxes, health insurance, etc., yet low enough to sell.

I think that baby clothes and socks are easier to sell than t-shirts, but you may find this not to be true for you.

Do not use "all purpose" dye, whatever you do, as the results are poor and impermanent.

Try a web search on "running a small business".

Good luck.

Message: Hi i read your articles on tie dying and batiking. I tried batiking on a hirt with 60-40 parafin to beeswax mix, and a cold water die. After letting it sit for 3 hours i rinsed all the die out of the fabric. i then boiled it in a pot of water with dish soap. i also tied liquid hand soap. The first soap didnt work at all and the second soap worked better but there is still alot of residue on the fabric. When i boiled it the wax that came to the top was white and flaky and very crumbly. Also u said to keep the fabric in the pot and let it cool with the wax on the surface but how do u keep the fabric not floating. It seemed to me that as soon as the pot started to cool the white wax formed and stuck to any fabric that was near the top. I was wondering if u could tell me if i am doing anything wrong or how i could do this and recieve better results. If u could take the time to answer this as soon as possible i would be very grateful and appreciative.

I use a rack or something to weigh down the fabric under the surface of the water. Don't use anything that will rust, as I did once! The rust stained the fabric. A glass measuring cup has also worked for me.

Results seem to be much better if you use a true *soap*, instead of a detergent. Both your hand "soap" and your dish soap were detergents. True soap works much better for this purpose. I have had the best success with Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap, from the local whole foods store.

Detergent has nice properties for other purposes - notably the lack of soap scum after cleaning with it - but, in my experience, it is not ideal for assisting in removing wax.

Message: what are the active chemicals in disperse dyes? what is the chemical that actually turns into a gass when heated

The answer to your question is - the disperse dye itself. The individual disperse dye is both the active chemical and the substance which is vaporized to condense upon the polyester fiber.

Do a web search for each disperse dye of interest to you, or, better, request that the manufacturer of the disperse dye you buy tell you the full chemical name (if this is not proprietary information, as is generally the case for in-house color mixtures). For example, C. I. Disperse Red 60 has the chemical name of 1-amino-4-hydroxy-2-phenoxy-9,10-anthracenedione. Each color has a different chemical structure. Some different chemical structures produce similar colors, however.

Some disperse dyes are considered carcinogenic. Others are not.