Name: andrea
Message: Hi! I'm planning a "Love Fest" at my school for this 4 20. How would i go about making a Pot Leaf design on a shirt? thanks`

Many leaves' patterns, including those of marijuana leaves, have an obvious symmetry that can be exploited in tying for dyeing. It will take you a great deal of trial and error to become an expert at this sort of design, however.

A simpler method would be to combine tie-dyeing or low water immersion dyeing for the background of the shirt with an iron-on for the design on the front. There are three main approaches to consider:

1. You can dye the whole thing in dark colors and then make a white or pale-colored iron-on with special opaque print-your-own iron-on transfers. You can do this using a home inkjet printer, or, with the appropriate paper, on a photocopier machine. Or,

2. You can dye all but the middle, leaving the middle front of the shirt white or pale, and then iron-on a dark print-your-own iron-on transfer (which then does not need to be the opaque type). I like to grab the center of a shirt, runner band it to keep it together, and then stuff all but the rubber-banded portion into a small bucket for low water immersion dyeing, or you can use the squirt bottle technique to dye a shirt while it is laid out flat, avoiding getting dye in the center. Or,

3. You can dye shirts that are 50% cotton and 50% polyester. The dye will come out as pastels, since only the cotton will take the dye. Then you can create your own iron-on transfer by hand, using the type of fabric crayons that will take only when ironed on to polyester or other synthetics. The hand-crayoned effect can be pretty cool looking, and each transfer can be reused several times.

You can buy ink jet or photocopier transfer paper at your local crafts store, or see Dharma Trading Company's Transfer Products page. Fabric crayons for making iron-ons are readily available, even in stores such as Walmart, or fabric stores; keep in mind that fabric crayons will not work on 100% cotton, however.

I like the non-opaque print-your-own iron-on transfers better than the opaque ones. The opaque ones produce wonderful photographic effects, but they tend to be fragile, and last very well only through a limited number of launderings, even when the shirt is carefully turned inside-out for washing. (They would probably last better, though, if the shirt were invariably line-dried instead of machine-dried.)

Name: Anna
Message: I'm hoping to dye some white "washed rayon/cotton satin" dresses a sage color, and am wondering what the best way of doing this would be? Do you have any advice? Thanks so much for your help!

Rayon and cotton are both best dyed with a cool water fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX. This is easily obtained by mail-order; see my listing of different companies that mail-order dye.

If you want a single solid color, and if the dresses are machine washable, the easiest method is washing machine dyeing. For a good recipe, see the instructions at , or Pro Chemical & Dye, or Dharma Trading Company.

You can mix a sage color by mixing brown MX-GRN ('rust orange' or 'burnt orange' - see my Procion MX pure colors chart) with blue MX-G ('cerulean blue' - not turquoise MX-G). However, as a beginner, you may prefer to buy a premixed color, such as ProChemical & Dye's 'PRO MX Forest Green 7195'.

For more interesting mottled effects, look into low water immersion dyeing, instead of washing machine dyeing. It's even easier than the washing machine dyeing method.

Name: Benjie
Message: Can you dye clay composite resin poker chips, I have way to many white ones and would like to make some orange, yellow, purle etc.. is this possible?

Sorry, I have no idea. If the resin is made of nylon, they could be dyed pretty easily by by simmering them in acid dye or all-purpose dye, but if it is polyester or acrylic, it is completely impractical to dye them at home.

If you do a test dyeing, please let me know whether or not it works.

Name: Ann Stockdale
Message: Hi ! I am needing to buy or make a steamer. I See that Dharma has one for $900 .. But I see no other options.I have been Happily silk painting for a few years... ( but my steaming source is iffy ! ) www.annstockdale.com. Thanks so much

Dharma also has online instructions for building your own stove-top steamer.

Name: Anne
Message: How do we set a color in a store bought fabric that continues to bleed in the wash? This is a red tablecloth.

Your tablecloth is defective and should be returned to the manufacturer for a refund.

If you are not willing to do this, the first thing to do is wash the tablecloth several times, in water that is as hot as it can tolerate. You may be able to remove a great deal of the excess dye this way. Hot water will always make dye wash out more than cool water can. Then, when you launder the tablecloth in the future, wash only in cold water to reduce additional bleeding.

Having done that, if the tablecloth still bleeds, you will need to obtain a commercial product that is marketed solely for the purpose of setting dye. The most popular brand name of dye fixative is Retayne. Often you can find Retayne being sold at your local quilting supplies store. If not, or if you do not have such a store nearby, you should purchase Retayne or a similar product by mail-order; I have a listing of different companies that sell dye supplies online.

It will do no good at all to attempt to set the dye in your tablecloth with a home product such as salt or vinegar. Only Retayne or its equivalents, such as Dharma Dye Fixative or Aljo Pro-fix PCD, can help in this sort of situation.

See "How can I set the dye in the clothes I just bought?", in the FAQ section of my website.

Name: Janet
Message: I would like to know how to successfully dye stuffed toys. I need certain colored animals to correspond with a children’s story book stretcher I am doing - Brown Bear, Brown Bear is easy - but Blue Horse, Blue Horse and Purple Cat, Purple Cat - are impossible to find. I tried Ritz fabric dye, but the colors barely charged – the pink cat is still pretty pink. I dissolved the dye in hot water and left the cat in about 2 hours, but just on the counter not the stove – maybe I should have kept the water hot. Do you have any suggestions? Is there any other type of dye or coloring available for this? Thank you.

Do you mean Rit dye? I've never seen Ritz dye.

The problem is that you are probably trying to dye polyester microfleece, or some other undyeable synthetic. You'll just have to forget about doing that. Dyeing polyester is not a job for a novice, and is quite expensive since you must dedicate a large cooking pot to dye-use-only, since you must never again use a pot for food after it's been used for dye (including Rit dye!). For more information on dyeing polyester, see "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".

Nylon, in contrast to other synthetics, can actually be dyed, by boiling it for an hour (well, actually just simmering at 190 degrees F.) in acid dye, including that found in all-purpose dye such as Rit, with added vinegar. This simply will not work for other synthetics, however.

There are three good solutions available for you. First, you might try to locate some stuffed animals made of a dyeable material, such as cotton, hemp, silk, wool, or nylon. (Try a search for 'cotton stuffed animal'.) Second, you could make, or get someone else to make, stuffed animals out of fabric of the correct color. (There are patterns available via a web search, e.g., 'stuffed animal patterns'.) Third, you could paint your stuffed animals, instead of dyeing them.

Fabric paint tends to be stiff and scratchy when compared to dye, but, because it conntains a sort of glue, it will adhere to most materials. A high quality fabric paint will feel much nicer than a cheap one. Good brands of fabric paints include Jacquard Textile Colors, Lumiere, Neopaque, PROfab Textile paint, and Dharma Pigment Dye.

Name: Tricia
Message: I saw a dress on ebay that says it's made of polyester. It is pink, I'm not a big fan of pink and would like a white or off white color , could I bleach it or dye it and if so would that get pricey?

No, sorry. Bleach cannot be used to lighten the color of a dress made from a synthetic material such as polyester.

Dyeing can be used only to darken fabric, not lighten it. However, dyeing a polyester garment is impractical: see "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes ".

Name: Heather Berryman
Message: Hi. I appreciate the extensive information on your website. I would like to teach a small 4th and 5th grade class to batik. It's been many years since I batiked, but I feel that good supervision would make it possible for kids to learn to batik a simple pattern on about a 12" square of cotton. Would you please give me your opinion about this and whether I should only have one dye color or only primaries and also whether additive dye coloring is possible with the Procion MX colors that are closest to primary colors? Thanks!

I would recommend against teaching children of this age to do true batik. Melted wax is, ideally, around 240 degrees F. (115 C.) and is quite hazardous. One rambunctious or misbehaving child could result in a tragic burn.

Using a water-soluble resist would be an excellent substitute. The results are never quite the same as in real wax batik, but the color technique is the same, and the results can be beautiful. There are many possible choices for water-soluble-resists - see Dharma Trading Company's selection - but perhaps the most convenient resist would be Elmer's Washable Blue Glue Gel. This is actually quite a good resist product to use.

To use a water-soluble resist, it is important to paint the dye on, rather than using the tie-dye recipe. In particular, you must not pre-soak the fabric in soda ash, after applying the resist, as the resist will simply wash off. Also, the fabric must be absolutely dry before applying the resist (the same is true for applying wax in real batik). You can fix the dye by mixing the soda ash in with the dye before applying (mix only enough of this dye solution for one day at a time), or by painting the fabric after dyeing with sodium silicate solution (e.g., Dharma's AfterFix) instead of soda ash, or by presoaking the fabric a week in advance and thoroughly line-drying it, so that the soda ash is mixed into the fabric. Any of these work fine as a substitute for pre-soaking fabric in soda ash and dyeing it while it is still wet. The soaking and drying technique would be suitable only if the children are doing a single dyeing, instead of repeated dyeings.

Whether to do one color, or several, depends only on how complicated you wish to make this. If you do multiple layers, it will be a project that takes days - apply the resist, dye with soda ash mixed into the dye, allow to dry throughly, apply another layer of resist, dye again, etc. A single layer would be a much easier project for this age group. With fiber reactive dyes such as Procion MX dyes, however, multiple colors can be used for even a single dye layer, however, and can make the project more fun. To do additive layers, first start with the lightest color, yellow, of course.

The children should paint the dye onto the resisted fabric, using a paintbrush most likely. It may be easier to use the dye as paint if you mix some sodium alginate into the dye solutions, to thicken it. (Here's a recipe.) It works best to mix the alginate with water in a blender, the day before before mixing in the dyes. You should not mix dye in a blender in which you will be preparing food in the future, but alginate is okay in a food-use blender, as it is a fairly common food additive, and urea is safe, too; just mix them with water in the blender, then transfer to another (non food) container to mix the dye in by stirring or shaking. Once thickened appropriately, the dye can be painted on just like poster paint. Don't forget to add the soda ash immediately before use.

Name: Rebecca
Message: Please help! I've looked at your sight and have learned a great deal, but I am still unsure what to do about my dye-related situation. I own a dress that I need to dye, but I'm not sure the right kind of dye to use so that I don't ruin the dress. The dress is chiffon with satin trim, and I plan to dye it black. It is a dry-clean only dress, so I'm nervous about using hot water. Can you recommend a good dye to use and a good technique? Thank you so very much for your help! Sincerely, Rebecca

I'm sorry, but if the garment is truly dry-clean-only, it cannot be dyed. Dry-clean-only garments must not be immersed in water, and there is no way to dye without getting the fabric wet, and then washing it out repeatedly after dyeing.

Some garments that are actually hand-washable are labeled dry-clean-only. You can try hand washing your dress as a test, but if it is truly dry clean only, it will not survive this washing. The different fabrics in the dress may shrink to different amounts, ruining the cut of the dress. An unlined rayon dress may be hand washable, and if it is, it can be dyed in cold water fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dye. There is always the risk that washing will destroy the dress, however.

I'm afraid that your saying that the dress is chiffon trimmed in satin communicates nothing. Chiffon and satin can be woven from almost any fiber, including both natural fibers such as silk, and synthetic fibers such as polyester or acetate. It makes a huge difference, as silk can be dyed easily (if it can be washed), but polyester and acetate can be dyed only with noxious chemicals that are not suitable for use by novices. Commercial establishments usually refuse to dye polyester.

Name: Kyle
Message: Is there anyway to repell leather/seude shoes(Lugz)from absorbing the dyes from my pants. I have ruined a pair of light yellow seude boots, and have dark blue dye on my white leather shoes, is there anyway to prevent this from happening? It seems no matter how many times the pants are cleaned it still transfers onto the shoes

The problem is not your shoes. The problem is your pants. They were improperly dyed, and should be returned to the manufacturer or the store from which you purchased them. Properly dyed garments do not ruin other garments with inadequately fixed dye.

I do not know of any product which can reliably repel dye crocking from another garment. I have no idea whether or not a product such as Scotchgard™ will help.

Name: mary kelly
Message: My spinning guild has a project using recycled plastic bottle fibre. Can you dye it? I've tried Gaywool and Easy Peasy dyes, both unsuccessful.

From my page on "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes":
Polyester is, chemically, a fiber made of poly(ethylene terephthalate), and can be made from recycled plastic bottles. Plastics marked with the recycle logo containing a number 2 are HDPE (high density polyethylene), plastics marked with the recycle logo containing a number 4 are LDPE (low density polyethylene), and plastics marked with the recycle logo containing a number 1 are PETE (polyethylene terephthalate - e.g., Dacron, Fortrel, Mylar).

Polyester cannot be dyed with acid dyes such as Gaywool and Easy Peasy. Both of these dyes will dye only animal fibers, such as wool and silk, as well as nylon, but no other synthetic fibers. They will not dye cotton (or other cellulose fibers such as linen or rayon), and they will not dye polyester.

The only type of dye that will work for polyester fiber is called disperse dye. To immersion dye using disperse dye, you must boil your fiber in the dyebath with a noxious carrier chemical, for an hour, using a large cooking pot that will never again be used for food. See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".

A couple of sources for disperse dye in the UK are listed under "Europe" on my page of companies that sell dyeing supplies. Rainbow Silks sells disperse dye, for preparation of iron-ons, but I could not find the carrier chemical for immersion dyeing when I looked at their catalog. Kemtex should have it; call them, or ask for their instruction sheet, to determine what it is called so that you can buy it from them. I have seen the carrier chemical being sold under the names "Polysol Carrier" (at Batik Oetoro in Australia), "PRO Dye Carrier NSC" (at Pro Chemical & Dye in the US), or "Polydeveloper" (at Aljo Dyes in the US), but I don't know what Kemtex sells it as.

Name: Mike
Message: I am trying to create a "rock look" for a Birthday Party by dyeing sheets but in different colors (maybe 3). Any suggestions?

Try the method shown on "How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing". Use neutral mixtures of colors, in small quantities, to create pale colors on the fabric. Be sure that your sheets are at least partially made of cotton; for pale colors, 50% cotton will do very well, though you must use 100% cotton for dark or intense colors.

To mail-order fiber reactive dye, see my list of different companies that sell dyeing supplies.

Name: Susan Fischer
Message: can acid dyes be used to dye cotton?
thank you and best regards

No, unfortunately not. Cellulose (which is what all plant fibers are composed of) is a very simple molecule, with only one possible binding site. Wool and other proteins are very complex molecules with many different possible binding sites. It is much easier to find a chemical that will bond to wool than cotton. As a general rule, acid dyes will stain cotton only temporarily.

Cotton can be dyed with direct dye (which is found, mixed with acid dye, in all-purpose dyes), or, for better results, with fiber reactive dye. Fiber reactive dyes have the advantage of not requiring the fabric to be boiled with the dye.

Fiber reactive dyes have two parts, the colored section and the reactive section. The colored part of the dye molecule is the same as in acid dyes. An acid dye without the reactive section cannot bond to cellulose.

Name: Heather
Message: I was wanting to dye the tips of my maltese's hair pink. Do you know of a safe product to do this with? please email me back asap.

Since your dog might lick her fur, it would be a good idea to use a food-safe dye. Food products containing large amounts of artificial coloring, such as Kool-aid drink mix or Jello, have been used by many people to dye their own hair. This works best on hair (or fur) that is light in color, or bleached as nearly white as possible.

[See my blog entry for November 17, 2005, "I JUST HEARD SOMEWHERE THAT YOU CAN DYE HAIR WITH FOOD COLORING. I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU'D KNOW IF THAT'S TRUE?", for more details on one possible method for dyeing with food coloring.]

Name: Mark
Message: Hi, How can i dye some cotton pants that have an elaborate silk enbroided image? I want to dye the orange pants dark green but not dye the silk embroided image. Is there a way of protecting the silkwork during the dyying process?
thanks

Are you sure the embroidery was made using silk thread? On commercial garments, it is more usually nylon thread that is used for this purpose. If the embroidery thread is nylon, the solution is simple. Cold water fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dye, will dye cotton but not nylon, when used with the usual high-pH soda ash recipe.

However, silk is a more versatile fiber for dyeing, and dye easily with the same dyes and recipe as cotton. To prevent this, you could thicken your fiber reactive dye using sodium alginate or superclear dye thickener, and carefully paint it on only the portions of the fabric you wish to dye, or you could cover the embroidery with hot beeswax (see "How to Batik"), or gutta, or a water soluble resist such as Presist.

Water soluble resists must not be immersed in water; instead, you must carefully paint your dye on in such as way as not to wash the resist off with the dye solution. Check out Dharma Trading Company's array of dye resist products.

Name: Yelena
Message: Hello. I have an ivory wedding dress that I want to dye red or black and wear it as an evening gown. Is it possible to do and if so, where can I do it? Are there companies that do that? Thank you.

It depends on what the dress is made of. It is easy to find a dyer who will dye a washable silk or cotton or rayon dress. It is exceedingly difficult to find a dyer who will dye a polyester dress, or a dress that is dry-clean-only.

Most of the people who ask this question have dry-clean-only polyester dresses, often lined with acetate which will shrink if the garment is dyed, which will make it unwearable. If a dress cannot be washed, even by hand, then it cannot be dyed.

Name: SALLY BRAY
Message: I HAVE A BRIDAL STOLE MADE OUT OF CHIFFON THE SMOOTH KIND IT IS IVORY AND I NEED TO DYE IN A VERY PALE ALMOND ANY ADVICE

What is your chiffon stole made out of? Silk chiffon is not at all difficult to dye, but polyester chiffon is more difficult.

If there is no trim, you can actually color polyester by simmering it in coffee, but if there is any nylon lace or other trim, it will take the color more intensely, turning much browner than the fabric. Of course the color imparted to the polyester by the coffee will wash out, but it may meet your needs anyway.

Do not attempt to dye anything that cannot be washed in water.

Name: Jon
Message: First time tiedying and my shirt came out just OK, a lot of white left on it. How can I fix it?

Dye it again! Tie-dyeing the same piece twice can produce great results.

Next time, you may wish to be much more careful to insert the nozzle of the squirt bottle deeply into the folds of the fabric, and apply plenty of dye.

You MUST use fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, if you want good results in multicolor tie-dyeing. Do not use all-purpose dye for tie-dyeing.

Name: Mary
Message: What would you recommend to dye cream colored 50% wool 50% cotton yarn? I am interested in trying to make it multicolored but it appears that I can't use the same dye for both fibers, since the wool needs an acidic solution and the cotton needs a base solution.

This is the problem all-purpose dye was created to solve. All-purpose dye is a mixture of two types of dye, acid dye which will work on wool, and direct dye which will work adequately on cotton. You should simmer your yarn in the dyebath for an hour with plenty of salt, about half as much as the weight of the yarn. Be careful to raise and lower temperature slowly, and avoid agitation, so as to avoid felting the wool. Add vinegar to the dyebath, about 100 ml (3/8 cup) per four liters (1 gallon), to help the acid dye bond to the wool.

Direct dye is not very washfast, so you may wish to do an after-treatment with a commercial fixative product such as Retayne®, Dharma® Dye Fixative, or Aljo Pro-fix PCD®. Use this treatment only after you are sure that you are finished with dyeing, and will not want to re-dye the yarn, because the fixative that makes direct dye (or all-purpose dye) more permanent on cotton will also prevent additional dye from reaching the fiber.

Name: Claire
Message: I am currently studying textile design at Huddersfield university and am undergoing an assignment for which i need to know what dye class I would use to dye a 50%cotton/50%polyester mix and am having trouble deciding which group of dyes i would use and was woundering if you could point me in the right direcection?
many thanks.

There is no class of dyes which will dye both the cotton and the polyester in a single step. Polyester is dyed with disperse dye, which washes out of cotton. Cotton can be dyed with any of several classes of dye, such as fiber reactive dye or direct dye, but none of these will be permanent on polyester.

For non-industrial dyeing, the best use of 50% polyester/50% cotton is to dye the cotton alone, and accept the fact that leaving the polyester undyed will result in either a pastel or a heathered effect, depending on how the two fibers have been combined.

Note, however, that my information is based only on dyes which are available to individuals who are not in the textile industry; there may be some sort of industrial-use only dye with which I am less familiar.

Name: Susan
Message: I have a pair of black jeans (very faded by the sun because of motorcycle riding) I would like to dye black again - is this possible without the dye running everytime I get caught in the rain and how would i go about it??? content: 98% cotton 2% spandex

Dye that does not run when you get caught in the rain is described as washfast. The most washfast dye for cotton is fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye or Cibacron/Sabracron F. This dye can be applied at room temperature, as long as your room is 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21°C) or warmer, or in the washing machine. This is a good thing for the spandex in your jeans, as spandex does not like heat and is easily damaged by temperatures above 105°F. Procion MX dye is set with soda ash, which does not damage spandex.

It is usually necessary to mail-order fiber reactive dye; see my list of companies that sell dye around the world on the "Sources for Supplies" page, or look at my page of color chips for ordering Jacquard Procion MX dye through Amazon.

When dyeing black, always use more dye than when dyeing other colors, two to four times as much. The easiest way to dye clothing a solid color is to follow a recipe for dyeing in the washing machine.

Name: Asghar
Message: Please provide me the chemical structures and complete names of Drimarene Orange K-GL, Remazol Brilliant Yellow 3GL, Procion Blue MX-R, and Cibacron Blue F3GA.

You can find some or all of this information in the Colour Index, published by the Society of Dyers and Colourists. Many universities have this publication in their libraries, or see http://www.sdc.org.uk/ to order your own.

The generic names of the dichlorotriazine (Procion MX) dye you mention is listed in the table on "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?", and its structure is pictured on "What is the chemical structure of Procion MX dye?". I do not have the monoflurotriazine (Cibacron F), sulfatoethylsulfone (Remazol), or chlorodifluoropyrimidine (Drimarene K) dyes listed on my site, however.

Name: Roger Trudeau
Message: I wish to write or somehow print an icon on my jeans. What dye, liquid, or other solution do you recommend and what instrument to use would provide the ultimate best result? Thank you.

Depending on how much detail you want and how much trouble you are willing to go to - and on whether or not you are good at drawing - there are a number of possibilities.

The best for people who do not draw are the iron-ons. You can create these on a photocopier or in a computer inkjet printer, after buying the iron-on transfer paper. If your design will be black or otherwise much darker than the material, you can use regular inkjet transfer paper, but if your design requires lighter-color sections, you will need to use opaque transfer paper, which produces results that are more fragile. With either of these products, be sure to turn the garment inside out for laundering. For a source, see Transfer Products at Dharma Trading Company.

You can also create a an iron-on design using fabric crayons, but the fabric in that case must be at least 50% synthetic.

You can draw directly on your jeans with fabric markers. These last quite well through the laundry, as long as you do not use bleach. Turning the garment inside out for laundering is again a good idea, as it reduces wear that will degrade the image.

You can paint directly on your jeans with fabric paint. Use opaque fabric paint unless you are just using black, since lighter colors will be lost against a dark blue background. Metallics and pearls also show up well. Again, Dharma Trading company is a good source for fabric paints, but you may also be able to find good fabric paints at your local crafts store. In fabric paint, higher cost means longer lasting paint and a softer feel on the fabric.

You can use good fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, to paint on your jeans, if you thicken it with a bit of alginate or Superclear, but, since dye is transparent, only very dark colors will show up against blue denim. Dye is superior when nice feeling fabric is desired, but it probably won't meet your needs as well as one of the above possibilities.

For larger quantities, you can use screen printing, or a Print Gocco kit. If your design is simple, you might want to try rubber stamping; you can paint good fabric paint onto the stamp before each impression on the cloth. Rubber stamps for fabric cannot contain the high degree of detail often seen in rubber stamps used for paper. See Katy Widger's book Print Your Own Fabric.

Name: Amir Rizk
Message: First of all i would like to thank you for your great informative site, it was a lot of help to me and made me learn many good things.

Second i want to ask you a technical question since you are an expert in the Procoin MX reactive dyes, i tried some dyes from Dharma trading company and they were nice but they don't ship internationally (we are non US resident), so i want to know if ProChem company offers the same color shades as Dharma, as i already made my T-shirt samples using Dharma's colors and now i have orders on them, and that makes me afraid to change my source of Dyes.

Some of the dyes are, chemically, exactly identical, whether you buy them from Dharma Trading Company, ProChem, or any of the other international sources listed on my Sources for Supplies page. The only difference is that, perhaps, one company might have slightly fresher or better-dissolving dye than another, or use a different powder diluant, so that the same strength of dye by weight occupies a larger or smaller volume. ProChem is noted for their high dye quality.

Other dye colors are mixed in-house by the retailer, so it is impossible to find exact equivalents for these from one dye supplier to another. The exact dye content of each of these mixtures is a trade secret.

You can tell which is which from a table available on my web site, "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?". The pure dyes are the same dye chemical whether you get them from one source or another. There are a few mixtures with MMX codes which are purchased pre-mixed by the suppliers, and which may be the same color from one source to another.

You can also ask when you order, by phone or e-mail, whether a given dye is a pure, unmixed color, or whether it is a proprietary mixture made by the retailer. You might even be able to get their advice on the most likely replacement for the proprietary mixture of one of their competitors.