Name: June
Message: I live in the sandhills of South Carolina -- a high-acid environment -- and our well water, which is our only viable source of water for dyeing, is highly acidic. Should I attempt before dyeing cellulose fibers with Procion MX dyes to bring the dyebath water up to a more neutral pH? If so, do you think I should mix in a small amount of soda ash or is there another chemical that would be better for this process? Thanks!

You are right that it is very important to use the correct pH in dyeing with fiber reactive dye. You may need to use a larger quantity of soda ash. I would recommend it rather than any alternative chemical, however.

The very nice thing about soda ash is that it has a fairly narrow range of pH that it can produce, so that if you put in way too much, the pH will still not be over 12. Ideally, you should use a pH of 10.5 to 11. The simplest way to determine this is to buy some pH paper and check to see how much soda ash you need to use, per unit of water, in order to get the desired pH.

If you are using your dye concentrate solutions the same day, the pH of the water in which you have dissolved the dye probably does not matter much, but for short-term storage (up to a week at room temperature, or longer in the refrigerator), it would be best to bring the water to a neutral pH, around 7, before dissolving the dye in it. Fiber reactive dye tends to degrade faster in water that is basic OR acidic. You could use soda ash (sodium carbonate), or baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, which can produce a pH up to around 8, or a few drops of NaOH if you were working in a lab. If you use a large quantity of baking soda or sodium carbonate, the sodium itself may have some effect on your dyeing.

See "What is the effect of pH in dyeing? " and "Do I need to use salt, in dyeing?".

Name: John
Message: I was wanting to know how to tie-dye large quantities at a time. Is there special equipment avaliable to purchase? How many pieces can you tie-dye per run? I am very interested in learning about this. Thanks for the help!

I'm not interested in mechanized tie-dyeing, myself, but rather in the slower, more laborious use of tie-dyeing as a true art form, so I can't be of much help.

Cheap tie-dyes are produced either by hand in countries where people are willing to accept very low wages, or mimicked by the use of machine fabric-printing techniques.

Immersion dyeing is more economical for mass production than direct dye application, and could be scaled up by the use of large heated industrial dyebaths, but only one color at a time can be produced in this way. Multi-color immersion dyeing requires labor-intensive re-tying.

Name: Kimberly
Message: Good afternoon! Your website is terrific!!! I am just getting my feet wet in the area of textile dyeing. I couldn't help but notice that you are in the Houston area. Can you recommend a studio/shop/? that gives lessons in dyeing (batik, tie dye, shibori)? Thanks so much for your time and your fabulous website.

No, I don't know much about local sources for dyeing lessons. However, I have seen some notices posted at Texas Art Supply on Montrose, which might be worth looking into.

You should also be sure to check out the Houston International Quilt Festival, which often sponsors workshops on this subject; the 2004 International Quilt Festival will take place November 4-7, 2004, with classes beginning on November 1.

Name: Kristi
Message: Hi, I am wanting to dye my slipcover a rust color to match a new chair. The slipcover is for a sofa and is a beige on beige color with little rose designs. It is 55% cotton and 45% polyester. I have never dyed anything before and didn't think it could be that bad, but it is sounding more complicated as I am researching! I am not sure what kind of dye to use or how to do it! If you could please let me know I would really appreciate it!!

The 45% polyester portion of the fabric will not dye, but the cotton portion can be dyed in the washing machine with fiber reactive dye. The result would probably be a pastel or heathered effect, depending on how much dye you use.

See ProChem's instructions for more information on how to dye in the washing machine. Buy the dye by mail-order, and buy the soda ash at the hardware store (sodium carbonate is sold as a pH Increaser for swimming pools).

Beware of shrinkage, though, which would ruin the slipcovers.

I have a question about removing wax , but first let me thank you for having the most definitive dying site online. I would be lost without it. Anyway , my nearest wholefoods store has liquid castile soap but it is not Dr. Bonner's. Is this the same thing ? I'm removing it from a hanging and am eager to try it. Also how much soap do you use ?

I would use any liquid castile soap - it should do exactly the same thing as the Dr. Bronner's. It may vary in strength or in scent, but the important fact is that it is soap and not detergent. (Detergent is great for many things, just not this.)

How much? I don't know. I just squirt some in. Very unscientific, I know. I suppose that a squirt might be about a tablespoon or half an ounce.

Name: Rev Carl Cutting
Message: Ineed to know of a supplyer in south africa or near there that will sell methose large barrels of paint and emulisions to make them heat set for acrilic paints for batik.can you help?need large ouanitys for a cheeper price.want to start a villige in zambia to do batik as a means of employment.

I'm sorry, but I have been unable to locate any specific sources for dyes or paints in Africa.

My list of Sources for Supplies does include some European sources for dyes which will ship internationally. I don't know about cheap sources for paint.

A number of Asian companies which sell large barrels of dyestuffs are listed in my Dyes & Dyeing weblog under "They Want to Sell Us Dye ".

Name: Karen
Do you know of any web sites with instructions for specific designs?

A good summary may be found at ProChem's page on "Knot Tying" at http://www.prochemical.com/directions/Folding.htm .

For more detailed instructions, I recommend that you buy a book, such as Sulfiati Harris's "Rainbow Tie-Dye ", or pre-order Michael Fowler's DVD "The Art of Tie-Dye".

Nothing can beat trial and error, though.

Name: Judy
Message: Do you know anyone who will dye some clothes for me? I have a few black things that need to be re-dyed.

There are dye artists who will be willing to re-dye your clothing for you, for a fair price, but only if your clothing is 100% washable and made of natural fibers or nylon.

Almost nobody wants to dye synthetics other than nylon. See the Custom Dyers Listing for contact information for some professional dyers; see Disperse Dye for Polyester for more information on dyeing synthetics.

The easiest and cheapest way to redye a bunch of black clothing is to use the washing machine instructions for Procion MX dye or Cibacron F (Sabracron F) dye; see "Immersion Dyeing in the Home Washing Machine using PRO MX Reactive Dyes" and "Immersion Dyeing in the Home Washing Machine
using Sabracron F Reactive Dyes". Buy the dye by mail-order, and buy the soda ash at the hardware store (sodium carbonate is sold as a pH Increaser for swimming pools).

Name: Kevin
Message: Can you please contact me regardiong some tye dye tapestry. I need 3 imediately for a photo shoot and I hope you might have them in stock.
Thank you


I don't. Try Michael Fowler at Tie-dyed.com.

--
Paula Burch, Ph.D.
http://www.pburch.net

Name: Dorothy
Message: please send me everything there is to know about the history of tie dye

Surely you must be joking! Are you asking me to send you all of the books in the library that touch on this subject?

Name: Valerie
Message: I'm in Nor California and I am a costumer. I have always found materials in the colors that I've needed that are period appropriate, until now. I picked up a great deal on some apricot colored cotton. The problem is that the color is a pastel shade. I can't use it as is. The colors that I would like to use would be in the rust-burgandy-red range. My question is this. What color fiber reactive dye do I need to purchase and use to make this color usable for me?

Apricot, being pale, will have only a relatively slight effect on the color you make. It would interfere with blue or yellow, but can be pretty much ignored in making a deep or intense reddish color such as rust, burgundy, or red. Therefore, I recommend that you just pick your favorite mixed colors of Procion MX type dye from one of the companies listed on my Sources for Supplies page. Both Dharma Trading Company and Rupert, Gibbon, and Spider sell many different pre-mixed colors of fiber reactive dye and are located in California, but Rupert Gibbon and Spider supplies excellent prices only for bulk orders of eight ounces or more per color; Dharma Trading Company sells even two-ounce jars at relatively good prices.

If you wish to dye using pure, unmixed colors, you would use a magenta combined with a little yellow, to get red.

Name: to loan
Message: What is Cibacron FN? I think it's not the same reactivity as cibacron F. Is it right?



Cibacron FN and Cibacron C dyes are bifunctional monofluorotriazine-sulfatoethylsulfone dyes. This is different from the Cibacron F dyes which have only the monofluorotriazine reactive groups.

Here is the structure of a Cibacron F dye, Colour Index Reactive Blue 204:

(From R.R. Berger, 2005 [PDF].)

As you can see, this Cibacron F dye contains two monofluorotriazine reactive groups per dye molecule.

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

[Corrected and updated January 21, 2008]

Name: Judi
Message: Are there chemicals in dyes that may react to a person's body chemicals? I've recently ruined around 20 tops, mostly made of cotton, after wearing them just once or twice. They end up have several bleach-like spots on them. At first I thought it was from washing them, but I've tried different detergents and they still came out spotted. Recently the spots appeared BEFORE I washed the tops. So now I know it's me. Do you have any advice? Have you ever heard of this???

Do you, or does anyone in your family, use any form of acne medication?

Yes, I use a cleanser, toner and moisturizer on my face that is for acne-prone skin (ProActiv brand).

There's your answer! ProActiv lotion contains benzoyl peroxide, a potent fabric bleach. See the ProActiv website for their lists of ingredients.

I've been using these products though for at least 3 years, and this "bleach" problem first started occuring this year.

Things change. Products often undergo changes in formulation. Or, you may be using the benzoyl peroxide-containing product more in the daytime now, instead of only at bedtime, as is common.

Benzoyl peroxide specifically tends to bleach common blue dyes; surprisingly, blue dyes may be found in many different color mixtures. Somewhat who wrote to me found bright orange spots on a khaki towel. A turquoise blue towel that was used to dry someone's face in the morning, even after carefully and thoroughly washing and rinsing, developed a large beige patch. A purple bath mat developed a pink spot, where a bit of the skin cream must have been dropped. If you even just rub your face with your sleeve, while wearing this product, you can expect the fabric to be bleached.

Some people chose to switch to an alternative, usually prescription, product, such as Retin-A Micro. Unfortunately, the fact that this product works well for one person does not necessarily mean that it will work at all well for you, given the wide range of individual variation.

However, very few users of benzoyl peroxide have such big problems as you have had. Usually, only towels, and, far less frequently, pillows and nightclothes, get damaged. Perhaps you could take more care to use the benzoyl peroxide containing products only at bedtime, and use a white towel to dry your face in the morning, after carefully washing and rinsing it. Also, be sure that you are not wearing good clothes while applying the lotion!

I have never had someone write to me with mysterious bleach spots who was not also a user of benzoyl peroxide. It's not a side effect one would expect from acne medication, is it? Interestingly, benzoyl peroxide is also an explosive, and can be used as rocket fuel.

What I have changed this year is that I started taking herbs to help me with my slow metabolism. I've already discussed my problems with the naturopath I work with, but he has never heard of this happening to clothes. Do you know anything you can share? I really don't know what to do since my wardrobe is almost down to black & white tops!

The only commonly-used herbs I can think of immediately that cause photosensitization are St. John's wort and Bergamot, but, while St. John's Wort, taken internally, can cause severe sunburn and/or uneven excess tanning on your skin, it does not affect your clothing. Bergamot is a common ingredient in perfumes, often leading to a skin rash after sun exposure, but again, I have never heard of damage to clothes.

I live in Douglas, Alaska and am hoping that you can help me.  I am a quilter and when I was in Tibet two years ago I bought 5 meters of the vibrant burgundy material that the Tibetan monks use to make their robes. 

I am now getting ready to use this fabric in a quilt, but cannot seem to get the fabric to stop bleeding when I wash it.  I do not know what kind of fabric it is, but it washes beautifully.  I have now washed and dried it at least 12 times at different temperatures and the piece of white t-shirt that I have tossed in the washer is still coming out pink.  At the suggestion of an artist friend, the last 4 times I have washed it, I used Arm and Hammer’s Washing Soda.  This didn’t work either.  Washing in only cold water doesn’t seem to help either. 

What can I use to stop the bleeding?

There's a whole page on this subject in the FAQ on my web site:
How to Set Dye in Purchased Fabric

The short answer is, buy some Retayne, or a similar product, to seal the dye in. If you have a local quilt shop, ask about Retayne there, or mail-order from one of the companies on my list of Sources for Supplies.

It's a very good thing you've been serious about pre-washing. I hate it when people write to me with this same problem after they've made the quilt, and ruined the lighter sections with color bleeding from the darker fabric. There's not much that can be done, then!

Name: Kim
Message: Hi I have never done tie-dye, and I would like to make some shirts for all of my family to wear on our trip to Disney World, in October. I need a little help,they are going to be halloween themed, but I am not sure how to make the mickey head, could you please lend me some advice/help thanks so much.

You need to be aware that, if you create anything with a Disney trademark on it, such as a Mickey Mouse head, you are required to pay money to the Disney company for the right to use their trademark in this way. Wearing your homemade Mickey Mouse shirts only at home, you would probably never come to the attention of the Disney corporation, but wearing them to the park is probably asking for trouble. Why not just make a set of brilliantly tie-dyed shirts without the trademarked Mickey Mouse head shape? It makes it so much easier to find the other members of your group, in a crowd, if you are wearing matching colorful shirts, especially if no one else has shirts of the same design.

Any advice on how to tie shirts for a specific design requires that you have a fair amount of experience already in tie-dyeing. A novice can always produce a bright, beautiful tie-dye the first time, *if* quality fiber-reactive dyes are used (not all-purpose dye), and the manufacturer's instructions are followed, but the specific design produced is generally not predictable until you have gained some experiece. I would advise you to pick a simple design for your family's shirts. Randomly applying rubber bands to make circles, then squirting on different colors of fiber reactive dye, works very well.

Given the above warnings, the simplest way to produce a design composed of circles is with the use of small rubber bands. Grab a point toward the center of the flat t-shirt (I prefer to tie shirts before pre-soaking them in the soda ash), and attach a rubber band, then attach two more rubber bands to form smaller circles that overlap on the upper side of the first rubber band. Getting this right would take a bit of trial and error.

Once you have mastered tying the shirts, you may dye either by dropping the shirts into a large pot of simmering all-purpose dye, and cooking them for half an hour (be sure not to reuse the large cooking pot for food afterwards, as all-purpose dye is certainly not safe for food use), or you can take the easier, and ultimately more economical route, by purchasing a tie-dye kit that contains fiber reactive dyes. Since fiber reactive dyes can be applied at room temperature, you can skip the bother of boiling the shirts (and ruining your best cooking pot!), and you will also find the results to be much brighter, prettier, and longer-lasting. Tie dye kits can be ordered from most of the companies listed on my Sources for Supplies page.

Name: San
Message: Will a clear crayon break the absorbtion of tie-dyes...allowing for someone's name to be pre-written on a white surface and remain white when the garment is dyed?

A cold crayon will do almost nothing.

This project will work only if you melt the crayon and apply it when the temperature of the melted crayon is hot enough to throughly penetrate the fabric, about 240 degrees Fahrenheit (115 degrees C). Melting the crayon over boiling water will not work, because melted wax that is too cool will solidify as soon as it hits the fabric, thus failing to penetrate the fabric well enough to protect it from the dye. I use an electric skillet to melt my batik wax.

You may find it easier simply to use a fabric paint before dyeing, to act as a resist against the dye. Dharma Trading Company sells a wide variety of fabric paints. The results of properly melted wax will generally look more professional, though, regardless of your degree of skill.

Name: monica
Message: howdy:
how would i dye a pair of boots covered in some sort of fabric/fake suede stuff? i don't know what the fabric of the boots is made of since i don't own the boots yet...but it's something like fake suede or? also, you which of your books is the best for dye painting (if that is how i would dye boots)?

You must match the dye to the fiber content. What exactly, is the fake suede made of, and is it treated with any stain-resistant finishes that will also repel dye? This may be impossible to determine in advance, and yet it is critical to the procedure. If the synthetic suede is made of polyester, and lacks any repellant finishes, you could dye it by boiling the boots in a special dye made only for polyester - see Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes. However, this treatment would probably destroy the boots. There is a reason why shoemakers dye their materials before constructing the boots.

Fabric paint would be a better choice for coloring the boots, though it will never give the smooth, soft results that dye produces. Paint will make the material stiff and scratchy. The best fabric paints, such as Setacolor, Lumiere, and Neopaque, will do this much less than others. However, there is no guarantee that the results of painting your boots would be attractive. I would tend to recommend that you use this only to try to salvage boots that you would otherwise throw away; do not buy new synthetic boots with the intention of changing their color.

The only footwear for which I strongly recommend dyeing is that made of washable cotton canvas. The results can be spectacular.

I do not know of a book that addresses the question of applying fabric paint to synthetic suede.

Name: Cathy
Message: Having just completed some canning, my utensils have become discolored by the spices I am using. Would like your advice on old-fashioned natural dyes from spices or vegetables found in my kitchen cupboards using 100% cotton or muslin. I'll sew my creations from heat setting? Don't want to get fancy ~ want to quilt, sew home items and will venture to other challenges later. Thank you!!!

Mere heat setting is not sufficient, for dyeing with natural dyes; you must, in general, boil the fabric with an equal weight of the dye material, as well as a carefully selected mordant chemical, perhaps for an hour, and then allow the fabric to cool in the dyebath overnight. Instructions vary according to the specific dyestuff.

I'm inclined to recommend against using spices to dye fabric for quilting, that is, when you are quilting with cotton, as most do. Most natural dyes tend to run in the laundry, which usually distresses the owner of the quilt. Items dyed with natural dyes should, in general, be washed separately from other colors. Be sure to test all fabrics, before using them to quilt, by dampening them and then pressing them with a hot iron on plain white fabric. Only if no color transfer occurs is the fabric suitable for quilting. However, you could make a beautiful though much subtler quilt by accepting that the colors will run, and washing them together before quilting. There's also the possibility that Retayne, widely used to fix dye in purchased fabric before quilting, might solve the problem.

If you decide, instead, to quilt with silk or another animal fiber, you will find natural dyes to be considerably more satisfactory. It is easier for various types of dye to attach to animal fibers than to plant fibers.

Turmeric makes a wonderful bright yellow dye, on silk or cotton, and saffron on silk makes a lovely orange. Most other spices and vegetable matter create various shades of brown. It is important, when embarking upon natural dyeing, to get some good books on the subject, as you do not want to waste your time by learning, by trial and error, all the things that do NOT work.

An excellent book on the subject of natural dyes is Jill Goodwin's A Dyer's Manual. You cannot get this from Amazon books, except in the outdated 1982 edition; the 2003 edition is much better (and cheaper!). The best source for this book, even for those of us who are in the US, is its own web site, or you can look for the 2003 edition elsewhere using a web search. Do not buy the 1982 edition.

Another very popular book on natural dyes is Jenny Dean's Wild Color, which is readily available. It has very pretty pictures, although the distinction between dyeing plant and dyeing animal fibers is pretty much glossed over.

Name: Debraj
Message: I am doing research on dyes. Last time when I accessed your website I saw chemical structures of some procion MX dyes. However I didn't download them at that time and decided to do so later. This time I could not get link to some of them. It would be great if you can provide me with chemical structures of the following dyes.
blue MX-2G
orange MX-2R
brown MX-GRN
yellow MX-8G
turquoise MX-G.
I am pretty sure that structures of the above dyes were there when went through your site last time. I have already purchased them. I can't proceed further unless I know the chemical formula.

There has been no change, since January 2000, in the page on the chemical structures of dichlorotriazine dyes on my web site. (This is in the FAQ section, under "procion dyes". You can also find any page in the FAQ by using the search function on my web site, or by using the box at the top of the FAQ page.)

Sorry, but I have never seen a structure for turquoise MX-G, nor, in fact, for any of the other dyes you list. I would love to, but the manufacturers are not required to make this information public, and I suppose that they don't want their competitors to have the information. Turquoise MX-G is reputed to contain a copper atom.

Name: Nina
Message: I purchased a 100% cotton jacket (corduroy material) a while back at a steal of a price - $5! (The original color was a burnt orange.) Unfortunately, the last time I washed, I wasn't paying attention to the items in the machine & accidently put bleach in the load. Now there are patches of lighter colors scattered over the jacket, but I don't want to throw it out.
I would like to dye the lighter colors a complimentary color (i.e. a dark blue or maybe even a purple). I have never done anything like this before & wouldn't know the first place to start.
How do I know which type of dye I need, since I only want to color the bleached areas?
What process do I go about doing this?
What other colors would compliment - and show up - on the original burnt orange color of the jacket?
Thank you so much in advance for your help on this!

If your only purpose was to correct the problem, I'd refer you to "How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing? ". However, since you want to dye the spots navy or purple, the answer for you is direct dye application, using cold-water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX type dye. The results should be quite interesting! Almost anything but yellow or orange would show up against the burnt orange, but all colors will be different when applied on top of orange than when applied on white fabric, as dye is transparent. Note that purple applied on top of the orange will produce brown, while it will remain purple when applied over white or sufficiently light areas. Dark blue over orange will make a brown or a black, depending on how dark it is and how intense the orange.

The only type of dye which is good for direct application of dye is fiber reactive dye. All-purpose dye requires that you immersion-dye the garment in a pot of simmering hot water, not what you have in mind at all. You can obtain fiber reactive dye from most of the companies listed on my Sources for Supplies page at http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml . You will need all of the materials required for tie dyeing - gloves, urea, soda ash, Procion MX type dye, etc. A good way to get started is to order a "tie dye kit" from one of the companies on that list, and perhaps adding an additional container of your favorite shade of fiber reactive dye.

If you do not want the dye to spread at all into the orange areas of the jacket, you will want to thicken the dye, using sodium alginate, or a mixture such as PRO Print Paste Mix SH. Thicker dye, like thicker paint, spreads less.

You may choose to squirt the dye on, using the same squirt bottles used for tie-dye, or you may prefer to use a paint brush, or a plastic syringe or eye dropper, for more control.

Name: Michelle
Message: Hi I got bleach on a black shirt, but it didn't soak entirely through the shirt, I used black clothing dye, but the bleach mark is still there. It is not as bad but I was wondering if you could suggest on how to dye this cotton shirt so that it no longer has that bleach spot? Hope you can help.

The best solution to this problem is usually a fabric
marker. See the page "How can I fix the bleach spots
on my favorite clothing?".

Name: Donna
Message: I've just discovered your site - it's great! Can you recommend a good book on ACID dyeing? I've got lots of info. on fiber reactive, but not much on acid dyes and I"m "into" silk dyeing, or would like to be if I could find enuf info. on this subject. Thanks.

The world of acid dyes is immense, as there are many more different types of dyes that fall into this classification, including food coloring as well as more toxic dye.

I would start by recommending the out-of-print dyer's classic, "Synthetic Dyes for Natural Fibers", by Linda Knudson, which can often be found at online used booksellers, for a reasonable price (under $15). In my opinion, every serious dyer needs this book, as it covers many different types of dye. Really a great book.

A more recent book that covers the use of Lanaset dye, as well as the group of acid dyes sold by ProChem as Washfast Acid Dyes, is Karren Brito's Shibori: Creating Color & Texture on Silk . (She refers to the Washfast Acid Dyes by one of the many trade names that have been applied to them - "Nyloamines".) Her information on resists and texture cannot fail to be of interest to a silk dyer, but the basic dyeing information on acid dyes is good, as well.

There are also many books on the subject of silk painting, which is frequently done by applying a dye, rather than a paint, and steam-setting the dye. (Paint differs in that is is held to the fabric by glue that is mixed with the color.) These books tend to focus on how to apply the dye or paint, though, rather than on the dye itself.

Name: Becky

Message: How do you get bleeded dye out of a cotton shirt that has been dried? My sister washed a Disney shirt, sort of looks tye dyed but all one color, then the next time it was washed it faded all over another brand new shirt. I searched your site but can't find anything. Is there any easy way to remove the now blue spots off of the orange shirt?

The dye that ran is probably only loosely attached; hot water will help to loosen it further. So, the first step is to wash in HOT water, with some color-safe oxygen bleach or OxyBoost. If this works, but only partially, try it again.

The special detergent Synthrapol is supposed to work better at removing dye than ordinary detergent does, but only people who do their own dyeing buy Synthrapol. It's sold by the dye supply houses listed on my "Sources for Supplies" page.

Probably the nest step after using hot water and color-safe bleach would be to buy some Rit brand Color Remover. This is sold next to the little boxes of dye, in many pharmacies and grocery stores. While I do not recommend the purchase of any brand of all-purpose dye for dyeing cotton, Rit Brand Color Remover is an excellent product. It may remove the original orange dye, as well as the unwanted blue spots, so don't try this unless hot water and color-safe bleach did not work.

It is possible to use chlorine bleach instead of Rit Color Remover, but it may be less effective, and it is more damaging to fibers,

Both chlorine bleach and Rit brand Color Remover can sometimes change the color of a garment unexpectedly, though in different ways from each other, instead of removing the color. That's just a risk that goes along with trying to remove dye.

For information about setting the dye in the Disney shirt, see "How can I set the dye in the clothes I just bought? ". The manufacturer of the blue shirt that bled on the other garment was at fault, but it may be possible to save the shirt, if your sister does not want to return it.

Name: Mellissa
Message: I have a button down oxford collared shirt that is made of 100% cotton and 100% algodon and is yellow. The lady at my work place said it needed to be just a bit lighter, how could I go about doing so without making spots?

Algodón is the Spanish word for cotton, so 100% algodón means the same thing as 100% cotton.

You have two choices of discharge agent to remove some of the dye from your shirt. One is chlorine bleach, and the other is Rit brand Color Remover. The latter is sold next to the little boxes of Rit brand all-purpose dye, in many pharmacies and grocery stores. While I do not recommend the purchase of any brand of all-purpose dye for dyeing cotton, Rit Brand Color Remover is an excellent product for removing some dyes.

The way to avoid making spots is to add your discharge agent to a full washing machine of water, and allow it to agitate some to mix the bleach or Color Remover thoroughly with the water. Only then should you add your garment.

Either one of these two discharge agents should work, but it is possible that one or another of them may actually alter the color of the dye, rather than just removing it. This is a risk you must take when bleaching dye. It will probably work out okay, though. Chlorine bleach is probably more damaging to the fiber than Rit Color Remover; it is best to neutralize the bleach, when you are finished, by using either Anti-Chlor or a colorsafe oxygen bleach to get rid of lingering chlorine atoms, which will otherwise continue to eat away at the material.

Your main issue will be in not removing all of the color from the shirt. Use less bleach or Color Remover than the package instructs, and check your shirt frequently during the process, remembering that a wet shirt will always appear darker in color than it will after it is dry. Remember that it is much easier to repeat the process than to put back the exact right shade of dye after you have removed too much!

The stitching of the shirt is probably polyester and will remain unchanged in color, but this will probably not be a serious problem. It is quite fortunate that your shirt is 100% cotton, as there is no practical way to remove dye from a synthetic material, at home.

One last tip: make sure that the shirt is scrupulously clean before you try to bleach it, as invisible spots of oil might prevent the bleach from reaching some areas of the fabric.

Name: dapo taiwo

Message: i am an architect-interior designer/fabrik artist here in nigeria,i just bumped into your website on the net due to research for more fabrik paints.

i will like you to send me a catalogue of your products(product samples) and books on hand painting on farik of all sorts that is for sale.also if there is training in your company on the use of your materials,please i 'll like to know how to go about it.

send the catalogue and samples to:
[address removed]


Sorry, I don't sell dye. For a list of companies that do sell dye, please see Sources for Supplies.

Name: Sok Kuen
Message: I have a roller blind made of polyester material that is non-blackout (ie translucent). I wish to make the fabric black-out to achieve privacy. Would I be able to cover the tiny pin holes by painting (eg using acryllic wall paint etc) over the fabric. would I spoilt the roller blind?

You certainly could cover the holes with acrylic paint, but wouldn't the shade then be too stiff to roll up properly? I'm afraid that this may not be a good idea.

Name: Lynne
Message: I have a off white wedding gown that i need dyed it needs dry cleaning not washing. it says it is 100% polyester...can anyone dye it for me

Nobody can dye a garment that is not washable, without risking its complete destruction.