Name: Susan
Message: How do I tie dye with two different colors? What I'm doing is rubber banding the clothing and have purple and pink that I want to dye. Please help!   

Two different colors of what? All-purpose dye? Throw the all-purpose dye in the trash, and save your rubber-banded garments until you get some real dye.

Is your clothing 100% cotton? Polyester can't be tie-dyed by a novice (and most experts refuse to dye polyester at all).

Mail-order some fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, or go to a good crafts store and buy a Jacquard brand tie-dye kit, or one made by Dritz, Tulip, or Rainbow Rock. (Do NOT buy a Rit brand tie-dye kit.) All-purpose dye is not as good as fiber reactive dye and will gradually wash out in the laundry, fading dreadfully and ruining the rest of your clothing.

For more information, see the following pages:
"How to Dye" at http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/howtodye.shtml
"How to Tie Dye" at http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/howtotiedye.shtml

If you really want to tie-dye with Rit brand dye, you will have to boil your shirts in the dyebath for half an hour for each color. See "How to Tie Dye with All Purpose Dye". Be sure to mail-order some Retayne or another commercial dye fixative to improve the washfastness of your all-purpose dye. Household products such as salt, vinegar, and soda ash will do nothing to make all-purpose dye washfast on cotton.


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Name: JOANNA
Message: Hello Paula,
Could you please tell me if procion dyes are available in Greece. I have recently moved here and my U.S supplies are running out!

I don't know of a dye supplier in Greece, but there are several international options.

There are a number of different European dye retailers which will ship dyes to different countries; scroll down to the Europe section of my "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World" page. 

Even though one would imagine that shipping charges would be higher from the US, you may find that the prices of the dyes are sufficiently lower than the European suppliers to be less expensive overall. PRO Chemical & Dye, which is located in the US, ships internationally, and has better prices than many other suppliers, especially for larger jars of dye.

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Name: Paige
Message: I read a question about dyeing cotton and you said to use Dylon dye "cold water".  I have a 100% cotton skirt, white.  I want to dye it black.  Will it turn a gray color or black?  I have dyed white things before trying to get black and they have turned out gray.  I'm sure you have gotten this question before, but I don't want to ruin my skirt.  I would greatly apperciate your help.  Thank you.

You will get a grey color if you do not use a large enough quantity of dye. You will also get grey instead of black if you try to dye garments that are not 100% cotton, or if there is a stain-resistant or permanent-press finish on the fabric, or if the water temperature is below 70°F (21°C), or if you do not add soda ash but the dye requires it, or if you use all-purpose dye.

Weigh your skirt on a kitchen scale. One packet of black "Dylon Permanent" dye is enough for only 8 ounces of fabric. (I found that in fact it did produce a very nice black when I used it for a half-pound of t-shirt.) One tin of "Dylon Cold" dye will be sufficient for only four ounces of fabric. If your skirt weighs two pounds, you will need four packets of "Dylon Permanent" black dye, or eight tins of "Dylon Cold" black dye. Obviously, a lightweight miniskirt will require much less dye than a long corduroy skirt. 

Dyeing black requires a large amount of dye, no matter what you are dyeing. As a general rule, you should use at least twice as much dye for black as for any other dark color, and four times as much dye as when you are dyeing a medium color. It won't hurt anything if you use twice as much dye as you need.

One more caution: the stitching on your skirt is almost certainly polyester, which means that it will not dye. The threads used to sew the skirt together will stay white. Will this be okay, or is it enough of a reason to avoid this project altogether? It all depends on the style of the skirt. Think about this before you decide whether or not to undertake this project.

Also note that you have to add soda ash to "Dylon Cold" dye, unless the package clearly says not to add anything. "Dylon Permanent" dye already contains soda ash or its equivalent, which is why it's such a big package for such a small amount of dye.

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Name: Shane
Message: I have dyed a pair of wrangler light blue jeans black but the yellow thread did not dye black. I used a dylon washing machine dye. How can I dye the thread as well as prevent the fabric of the jeans from becoming stiff? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dylon washing machine dye is a pretty good fiber reactive dye, mostly made with Drimarene K type dye. The most likely cause for the yellow thread's failure to dye in your jeans is that it is not made of cotton. Most garments, even 100% cotton garments, are sewn together using polyester thread, which unfortunately is essentially undyeable at home.

This question of undyed thread is addressed in the FAQ section of my website, under "Why did the thread stay white when I dyed clothing?".

Preventing stiffness in the fabric of the jeans is a different matter. If you have access to an electric or gas tumble dryer, using it for drying your jeans will result in a much softer feel than line-drying can. Many people choose never to line dry their jeans for this reason, or partially line-dry their clothing to save energy, but finish up with a few minutes in the dryer to take away the stiffness.

Fiber artists sometimes use a professional strength fabric softener after dyeing, which is sold under the name of Milsoft, available from some of the companies listed on my page of links to Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World. Or, just use ordinary liquid fabric softener, purchased wherever you buy laundry supplies. Some dyers suggest using twice as much as usual for this purpose. As an alternative to fabric softener, you might find that using a cup of vinegar in the final rinse of your washing machine helps in reducing the stiffness of clothing.

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Name: NATHAN
Message: how do you make the colors stay fast and not bleed when you wash them, cuz i just ruined 8 decent t-shirts, man i suck at this.

It's probably your materials. Let me guess, you're using Rit all-purpose dye, is that it?

What are your t-shirts made of? They should be 100% cotton, and most importantly, NOT treated to be stain-resistant.

You need to get some Procion MX type dye, some soda ash, some urea (optional), some plastic squirt bottles, and some disposable rubber gloves of some sort. Also a dust mask for when you mix up the dyes, so you don't breathe the dye powder. (The links in this paragraph all connect to the right product at Amazon.)

The easiest way to get everything you need is to buy a "tie dye kit." Do NOT buy the Rit brand tie-dye kit, because it contains only hot-water dyes: at room temperature, you can't do any good tie-dyeing with it, because it will just wash out. Maybe your local crafts store, or even Walmart, has a Jacquard brand tie-dye kit. Those are the best. (You can even order a Jacquard tie-dye kit from Amazon, unless they run out.) Tie-dye kits made by Dritz, Rainbow Rock, or Tulip are also okay. Or, you can mail-order a tie-dye kit with Procion MX type dyes from most of the different dye retailers list on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies page. (Bulk dyes from those suppliers can save you a lot of money, but you should start out with a good simple kit.)

The basic instructions are simple. Mix your Procion MX type dyes with water and urea. Put each color in a different plastic squeeze bottle. Take a bucket, mix one cup of soda ash with one gallon of water, and dump your tied or rubber-banded shirts into it. (Wash your shirts once before you ever use them.) After ten minutes, while wearing gloves, wring out excess moisture from the presoaked shirts. Squirt dye onto them until they are completely saturated with dye. Let them rest in a warm place (70 degrees or above, Fahrenheit) overnight, then wash the shirts once in cold water and twice in very hot water. Dry as usual and you're done.

You will find that proper materials make all the difference. If you get a Jacquard tie-dye kit and follow the instructions above, you can't go wrong. After just one success with the dyes, you can start working on your techniques.

See "How to Dye" and "How to Tie Dye". 

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Name: mary 
Message: Do you know anyone who has done research on the toxicity of Procion Dyes.  I used them in the sixties.  My hands would stay colored for days, and I did not wear a mask when I mixed the powders.  Is there cadmium in their yellows?  Are there certain diseases that have been documented related to the use of dyes?

The dyes which are most likely to have caused health problems among employees of dye manufacturers in the US are derivatives of benzidine. However, there are no benzidine-based fiber reactive dyes. I've never seen any indication that any Procion type dye has ever contained or been made from benzidine. Benzidine-based dyes are no longer permitted for use in the US, but were included in all-purpose dyes (the kind of dye found in Rit brand dye) for home use during the 1970s and preceding decades. (See the government document "Benzidine and Dyes Metabolized to Benzidine" [PDF].)

None of the Procion MX dyes contain cadmium. Many of them, including the commonly used dyes blue MX-R, orange MX-2R, red MX-5B, and red MX-8B (fuchsia), contain no metals at all (see their chemical structures). Rubine MX-B and turquoise MX-G contain copper, at levels of perhaps 1 to 5% of the weight of the dye powder. Toxic metals do not appear to be a problem in Procion MX type dyes.

You can see MSDS pages for some Procion MX type dyes at PRO Chemical & Dye:
Yellow MX-8G (reactive yellow 86)
yellow MX-3R(A) (reactive orange 86)
orange MX-2R (reactive orange 4)
brown MX-GRN (reactive brown 23)
red MX-5B (reactive red 2)
red MX-8B (reactive red 11)
violet MX-2R (reactive violet 14) [often mislabeled as violet MX-G]
blue MX-R (reactive blue 4)
blue MX-G (reactive blue 163)
blue MX-2G (reactive blue 109)
turquoise MX-G (reactive blue 140)
...plus MSDS pages for many of their mixed dyes, but not for the rest of the unmixed single-hue Procion MX type dyes. Dharma Trading Company also provides their MSDS documents online; unlike ProChem and Jacquard, they do mention the small amount of copper in the Turquoise MX-G dye (which is the same dye regardless of which of these sources you use).

I have tried and failed to find reports indicating that Procion dyes have caused any problem other than allergies and asthma, among those chronically exposed to airborne dye powder. Fiber reactive dyes are known to cause quite significant respiratory-type allergies among some users, and this is widely documented. The best treatment for these allergies, once they develop, is strict avoidance of all powders and solutions of the dyes involved in the allergy. One well-known quilt artist was forced to give up using Procion MX dyes in favor of the quite similar Cibacron F dyes, to which she is not allergic. If you have not noticed obvious symptoms of difficulty in breathing when exposed to dyes, then this is not a worry for you at all, from your past history of dye exposure. It is not a subtle problem. It is, however, an excellent reason for everyone to be careful in all future exposures to dye powder, by wearing a properly fitting dust mask or respirator and avoiding contamination of the room used for dye mixing.

Procion MX dyes, like all dyes other than food colorings, have not been fully tested for safety in long-term high-level exposure. There is always a possibility that they or other untested substances might have a carcinogenic effect, though probably not among most users. This means that it is wise to avoid unnecessary exposure to the dyes, just for the sake of prudence. We should always wear gloves, use breathing protection until the dye powder is dissolved, avoid eating or smoking before washing hands, etc. One very useful property of fiber reactive dyes such as Procion MX is their rapid reaction with proteins in the dead skin cells that form a protective layer all over our skin. They are less apt than other dye classes to be absorbed into live skin cells, which makes them much less alarming than dyes which are known to be absorbed through even intact skin.

If you were careless with hazardous dyes in the sixties, such as the benzidine-based dyes that were included at that time in all-purpose dyes, what can you do about it now? The answer is not nothing. One important fact about carcinogens is that they tend to work together. Workers exposed to both benzidine and cigarette smoke have a much higher risk of bladder cancer than those exposed to benzidine alone. Avoid first-hand or second-hand exposure to cigarette smoke insofar as possible, eat vegetables and fruits since these are known to reduce some cancer risks, and mention any concerns you have to the physician who decides which screening tests should be part of your regular checkups. 

But don't worry. We don't have any particular reason to be concerned about any disease other than asthma in those overexposed to Procion MX dye powders, and you already know whether or not you have that problem; furthermore, that is not a crippling problem even if you have it, since it can be treated by future avoidance of these dyes.

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Updated January 29, 2009

Name: Jane
Message: Hello, I'm in the process of buying some natural mohair yarn to make doll hair. What is the best method to dye this yarn so it will be nontoxic to children? I was reading your article about using food color. Would this work for 78% Mohair, 13% wool, 9% nylon yarn? Since I've never done this before I'd really appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks for your time.

Food coloring should work well in dyeing mohair, wool, or nylon. (See "Using Food Coloring as a Textile Dye for Protein Fibers".) The mohair and wool will take the dye a little darker than the nylon does; I don't know which of the two protein fibers, wool or mohair, will produce a darker color. In any case, they will all be closely related colors that will go well together. 

Food coloring may not be the most washfast or lightfast of dyes, but you absolutely cannot beat it for safety. No other dye type is really suitable for use on toys which will end up in children's mouths, as they all do if the children are young enough. Although food coloring does not work on cotton or most synthetics, it does work on nylon, as well as on protein fibers such as wool and mohair.

Soak the yarn in a mixture of one-quarter cup white vinegar per quart of water (60 ml pr liter). Remove the yarn, mix in one or several teaspoons of food coloring, return the yard to the dye mixture, bring it slowly to a boil on the stovetop (preferably in a double boiler to avoid burning the wool on the bopttom of the pot), and simmer it gently for half an hour, then let it cool to room temperature gradually. Finally, rinse until the water no longer picks up the color. Experiment until you get the color intensity you want. For a wider range of colors, including blacks and browns, visit a shop that sells supplies for cake decorating. Mixtures may yield unexpected colors, so do tests before using a lot of your expensive yard in a given color. Do your black mohair dye runs last, since you can start with any color when you are trying to get black; this way you can cover up any colors you deem to be mistakes.

Since you will be using only food coloring, you can use your good cooking pots. (Never use your food-preparation pots for other dyes!) Do not use an aluminum pan, as the vinegar will dissolve some of the aluminum, marring your pot and contaminating your dye colors. Stainless steel or unchipped enamel pots are idea for this purpose. Or, you can buy canning jars and heat them in a hot water bath; this allows you to dye several different colors at once, and avoids problems if all of your cookware is aluminum.

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Name: kim
Message: I have a white wedding gown, I would like to dye it IVORY is this possable? it is satin and organza

What fiber is the dress made of? It is meaningless to say it is a satin or organza weave, as any fiber can be woven into satin or organza. Is it silk, nylon, acetate, or polyester?

And, even more importantly, is it washable? You cannot dye anything that is not washable. Even commercial custom dyers will refuse to have anything to do with such a project.

I honistly don't know what fiber it is. I payed $2,500.00 for this dress and it is the wrong color.the dress was costom made in shanghi china.there are no tags in the dress. so I dont know anything.

How unfortunate. Can't you require the people who made it up to replace it with a gown in the color you ordered?

no. because it was made in shanghi china. I have been fighting with them for awile and I am getting no where.

So, you paid $2500 for a dress, sight unseen, with no idea of what it would be made of, and no guarantee of any kind that it would be what you ordered? I'm thinking that you're lucky to have received any dress at all! Not only that, but your dress is apparently even the correct size and style. You probably came off very well, under the circumstances.

Your dress is likely to have been made from polyester, which you can't dye except by boiling the dress, and it is certainly not washable, which means you absolutely can't dye it. You can only ruin it, if you try. As a friend of mine said, it's hard to even imagine a scenario where having a white gown instead of an ivory one is a disaster big enough to contemplate dyeing the gown and risking making the situation even worse.

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[link updated November 29, 2007]

Name: Laura
Message: I did look all over your website before submitting this question. I found some answers but not all.  My garment is 55% silk and 45% nylon it is a cream colored "beachy" sweater, I would like to dye it jet black.  How would I go about this?  And are there a better dye to use than others since the garment is two different materials?  Thank you for your help.

The best dye to use to dye a silk/nylon blend black would be either an acid dye or a Lanaset dye. Both nylon and silk will dye at the same time under the same conditions as each other, with either one of these dyes.

To use the Lanaset dye, which gives very nice, deep blacks, you would first order it from PRO Chemical & Dye. (See my page of links to Sources for Dyeing Supplies.) You would mix the Lanaset Black dye with water and paint it onto your sweater, then wrap the sweater in plastic wrap and steam it for half an hour, or else you would fill a large non-aluminum cooking pot with water and this dye, and bring the sweater to a boil in the dye. Of course you should closely follow the instructions provided by the dye supplier; I'm just giving you a summary, to give you an idea of what it would be like. The full instructions are actually provided online, so you can go to their web site and study them before ever ordering the dye.

The same company also sells a number of different acid dyes, including One Shot dyes, Kiton Acid Dyes, and PRO WashFast Acid Dyes. Another recommended range of acid dyes is the Jacquard Acid Dyes, which can be purchased from various art suppliers including Dharma Trading Company. All of these dyes will work best when used by boiling your sweater in them. Jacquard also has instructions for using their acid dyes in the washing machine; this will not work as well as boiling, but has very significant advantages of convenience. There's a link to their recipe on my page on How to Dye Clothing or Fabric in the Washing machine. Unfortunately, a washing machine load will require 3 ounces of black Jacquard acid dye, which is six of the $3 bottles you can buy via Amazon; an eight-ounce jar of Jacquard acid black will cost you $10 at Dharma. Black always requires a lot more dye than any other color does.

All-purpose dye, such as Rit brand dye, will also work on silk or nylon, if you use the correct recipe (boiling the sweater for half an hour with dye and vinegar), if you use four times as much dye as the package instructions indicate - dyeing black always requires a lot of dye - but the color is less predictable. It is best to use special acid dyes, not the mixture that is contained in all-purpose dye. All-purpose dye is easier to buy, but is known for washing out gradually in the laundry. You will want to be very careful with washing your sweater if you dye it with all-purpose dye.

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Name: Cheryll
Message: I have some very nice already nicely dyed silk noil fabrics. Is it possible to make or buy a paint or paste to paint on them, to remove some of the dye.  I've read about the Japanese rice paste resist method.  I'd love to use a similar method to "paint" designs on the fabrics, to remove some of the color.  I don't want to bleach them out.  

I'm afraid you have a misconception of how resist pastes work. They do not remove dye. The only way they work is to block dye from reaching the fabric in the first place. In order to use them, you must start with a white, undyed fabric and paint on the resist. Then you paint on the dyes. Where the dye fails to reach the fabric, because the resist paste blocks them, the fabric remains white. Since your silk noil fabrics have already been dyed, it is too late to use the resist, unless you wish to dye them much darker colors, and use the resist only to retain the same color that they are right now.

If you want to make white designs on some already-dyed silk fabric, you must use either a discharge agent or opaque fabric paint. You probably already know that you must never use chlorine bleach (which is based on hypochlorite) on silk fabrics. The hypochlorite will damage the silk badly by oxidation. However, there are several good alternatives that are based on a different principle entirely. These are the reductive discharge agents, which are based upon sulfur dioxide. (See What chemicals can be used to remove dye?.) The easiest to use, for making designs by direct application, is Jacquard brand discharge paste. Buy the paste from a good local crafts store, if they carry it, or order it from a dye seller such as Dharma Trading Company (see my Sources for Dyeing Supplies around the World page for links to many different dye sellers). Paint or stamp it onto your fabric, following the manufacturers' instructions. Allow to dry, then, using an iron in a well-ventilated place (take your ironing board outside or on an apartment balcony if possible), press the treated fabric to activate the discharge. Be sure to do a quick little test first, before you spend any time on your project, since not all dyes will react at all to discharging. Some will not lose their color, which would be rather a pain to discover only after spending a lot of time on applying your designs.

Alternatively, you can buy a fabric paint that is opaque, pearlescent, metallic, or simply darker than the existing color of your fabrics. Do not attempt to use a transparent fabric paint to lighten the color of your fabric, because it will not show up. Unless indicated otherwise, most fabric paints are transparent, so be careful to select a paint that will show up on your fabric color. Metallics are wonderful for this purpose. Consider using a good fabric paint such as Lumiere or Neopaque, or a Pearl-Ex Pigment Stamp pad (which has binders already mixed in); do not use the non-stamp pad powdered Pearl-Ex pigment unless you add it to a clear fabric paint extender, to glue it to the fabric. Another exciting alternative with good metallics in the line is Shiva Paintstiks. In every case, be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions as to how long to wait before heat-setting, and how long after heat-setting to wait before washing the fabric for the first time. The one problem with all of these fabric paint alternatives is that they do tend to wear off of the fabric, primarily during washing or drying; garments should be turned inside out before laundering, and care should be taken to minimize abrasion in the wash.

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[updated 11-09-07]

Message: I changed my hp dye printer in shirt printer.

Main problem is that ink is not fix on 100% cotton or 50% cotton/ 50% polyester.
I read about ur site plz tell me chemical which i found locally and pretreat the shirt before printing or may necessory after printing 

I am familiar only with techniques used in hand-dyeing, not with the textile industry, but perhaps a few bits of the information that I have will be useful to you.

The problem is that inkjet printers are normally loaded with either disperse dye, which works only on synthetic fibers, or pigment dye, which is not inherently attracted to the fiber. Pretreatments such as Bubble Jet Set can be used to make natural fibers accept inkjet ink in a reasonably washfast manner.

There are many commercially available cationic fixatives for dyes. I don't know what they may be called locally in your location, in Lahore, Pakistan. Different brands whose names I have encountered include Raycafix, Retayne, Dyefix, Fixatol. Their properties may vary, but all are composed of positive ions which bind ionically to the negatively charged ions of most dyes (with the exception of vat dyes and basic dyes).

The Toronto dye company, G&S Dye, has listed instructions on their web site for using their cationic dye fixative, Raycafix, as a prerinse to hold inkjet ink permanently. Their technique is described in their Summer/Fall 2002 newsletter.

Perhaps an adaptation of their technique, using one of the locally available cationic dye fixatives, will be useful to you. You may need to experiment with many different products in this class of chemicals.

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Name: Chris
Message: I have a t-shirt signed with a sharpie. I saw a question on your site that said it could not be guarenteed not to come out, but should I just wash it or is there a way to set it?  Thanks

Wait as long as possible before you wash it the first time. Sharpie marker that is aged one month before washing is more permanent than Sharpie marker that is washed the day after it's used. Then, before washing, just in case it may help, try "heat setting" by ironing the signature with a hot iron (not hot enough to scorch the fabric!). Wash only in cool water, if possible, since hot water is much better at washing stains out than cold water is, and avoid bleach.

There is still absolutely no guarantee that it won't wash out, but this should help. I've seen signatures made with black Sharpie markers last through many launderings, but others that become lighter and faded after only a few washings. The colored markers are less permanent than the black ones.

I don't know whether or not a cationic dye fixative such as Retayne will help, but it's certainly worth a try. It's good to have Retayne on hand, anyway, for treating any clothing you purchase that turns out to bleed in the laundry. It would be great to obtain a good fabric marker to use next time, as these are more permanent than Sharpies; look for brands such as Identipen, Marvy, or Setascrib.

If it's a valuable signature, wear the shirt only infrequently, so that it won't have to be washed as many times. If it's very valuable, frame it behind glass and don't wear it at all.

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Name: Maddie
Message: Hi! I have a gordous ivory-ish colored dress that needs to be dyed something dark like burgundy or dark green. It's a cotton fabric. Any suggestions? What, if any, would be the easiest and cheapest way to dye this dress a beautiful dark color? I need cheap dyes or homemade ones since i dont have all that much cash to spend on this. Please help me!!! 

Homemade dyes are a non-starter. You won't be able to make any dye that will work well enough. All-purpose dye is not a good idea, either; it bleeds in the laundry with every wash, and you'd need many boxes to dye one dress a very dark color. (One box of all-purpose dye would turn your dress no more than a pale to medium shade color, because there is only a small amount of dye in each box of all-purpose dye.) The colors that all-purpose dye produces tend to be poor, as well. It's worth every penny to get a better quality of dye, because the results will be so much better.  

You can mail-order excellent fiber reactive dye (e.g., Procion MX type dye) from PRO Chemical & Dye or any of the other companies listed on my Sources for Supplies list. You can get enough dye to dye 14 yards of fabric to a medium shade, or 7 yards of fabric to a dark shade, for only about $5, but you also have to pay for shipping, about $6 for a small order, and you need soda ash and salt as well, though these are not expensive.

If you have a good fabric or crafts store nearby, you might be able to find "Dylon Permanent" dye there. This is a type of dye which is vastly superior to all-purpose dye. Because it is sold in little packets with all of the auxiliary chemicals included, even salt, each packet is far more expensive than the equivalent amount of dye from PRO Chemical & Dye, since each packet will dye only about one t-shirt's worth of fabric. However, depending on how much your dress weighs, you could probably manage with one or two packets of black plus one or two packets of either red or green. Each packet costs $3. This type of dye works as well as the Procion MX type dyes from ProChem, producing good dark colors that don't rub off onto your skin, and is vastly superior to all-purpose dye such as Rit brand dye.

Beware of one thing. The stitching in your dress is almost certainly made of polyester, and will not darken with the dye. Consider whether or not this will be a problem, before you undertake the project.

The easiest way to dye your dress will be in the washing machine. Here is a link to a page with instructions for how to dye your dress in the washing machine.

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Name: Tony
Message: Hi, I would like to change the color of my car's canvas top from light grey to a darker navy blue. Of course the top was probably treated at the factory with some type of water repellant. Is there a dye that will work for this in spite of the water repellant treatment?  If so, where can I get it - cost, email and phone #? Thanks very much, 

No, I'm afraid that anything that repels water will repel dye, as well.

Another problem is that you do not know what fiber the canvas is woven from. You must know the fiber content in order to match the dye to the fiber content. Without knowing the fiber content, it is impossible to select the correct dye.

However, I suspect that it is made from polyester or acrylic, neither of which is practical for the novice to dye at home. Few custom dyers will dye a polyester garment, but they will not dye anything which cannot be put into a dyeing machine or dyepot; most custom dyers refuse to dye anything that is not constructed of natural fibers such as cotton, silk, linen, or wool.

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[link updated November 29, 2007]

Name: Rob
Message: Hi, I have a set of car seat harnesses which I would loosely describe as nylon in appearance, (not having any knowledge of these things)would the standard acid/heat approach to dying them work? Will the colour be fast in the sense that wearers will not pick up the dye from the belts if worn in a hot-sweaty car ride.  The belts are currently purple and I wish to dye them black.  Thanks for your help

I think it would be best for you to get new harnesses custom-made to match your car. This way you can be sure that damage has not weakened them and made them less safe, and then there is no issue concerning the fastness of the dye.

If your harnesses are made of nylon, they can be dyed by heating them in acid dye, but if they are polyester, they require extensive boiling in disperse dye. I am concerned that the boiling might not be good for their stitching. It could be dangerous if the stitching is weakened at all.

See also this page:
HOW DO I, AND WHAT DO I USE TO DYE AUTO SEAT BELTS? 
(Blog entry for March 2, 2006)

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Name: nancy
Message: I love your site!!  So informative.  I just did my first dyeing session since tie dye was "in" before.  I can't wait to see.  Next I'm going to do batik.  Anyways, my question is, can I reuse the soda ash solution once I've soaked some fabric in it??  Sounds silly I guess, but I like to recycle whenever I can.  Thanks again for your site.

Not silly at all. You can reuse the soda ash solution indefinitely until it's gone. Unlike most of the chemicals we use, it does not go bad.

For longer term storage, place a mark on the bucket to indicate where the water level is; if a significant amount evaporates, add more water back to the level it was when you put it away. If you leave the bucket out in the back yard, cover it so that rain does not get in and dilute it.

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Name: Teri B.
Message: I have 3 yards of silk Habotai that I would like to dye for a garment. I would like to get a purple/blue mixture of colors, but I am not sure what would be the best way to dye the fabric.  I don't know much about dyeing more than a yard at a time, and I usually dye cotton. Do you have any suggestions?  I don't want to wreck this much silk if I can keep from it.  Thanks!

What I would do is use low water immersion dyeing, the easiest of all ways to dye, with Procion MX type dyes and soda ash. You can dye silk with Procion MX dyes exactly as you would dye cotton. Here is a link to a page I've written about LWI dyeing: "How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing".

First, prewash your fabric to remove any finishes that will prevent the dye from smoothly reaching the fabric. Then select a container made of plastic or glass into which you can fit your fabric. Pleat or crumple the fabric smoothly with your hands and cram it into your container. Mix blue and red or purple dye together, preferably choosing from the unmixed Procion MX type dyes to avoid any clashing of colors. (See "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?".) Pour additional water on, if necessary, to almost but not quite cover the silk. Allow the dyes to creep and blend on the fabric for half an hour, then mix soda ash in water and pour it over the entire piece of fabric. You do not need to press or stir in any way unless some of the fabric needs to be pushed below the surface of the dyebath. After an hour, or several hours if the room is cool, you can rinse out in plain cool water, and then wash in hot water, if the silk can tolerate hot water, to remove excess dye. If the results are less intense and bright in color than you like, simply repeat the entire process, just as before.

If you are interested in keeping the silk as shiny and stiff as possible, you will not want to use the soda ash method, which tends to soften the hand of stiffer silks, but the acid method that you can use requires some added heat. Since you are using habotai, a soft, thin weave of silk, I imagine that this is not enough of an issue for you to be worth the added bother.

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Name: kimberly
Message: Hello
Your website is amazing!  I really want to tie dye duvet covers for my two boys.  My vision is for them to be rainbow colored, bright and fun.  Can this be done and do I start with a white duvet cover?  IF yes, what kind of fabric should it be made of?

Yes, this can be done. A white one would be best. The most important thing is to select a 100% cotton duvet cover, with no stain-resistant treatments. Stain-resistant treatments prevent the dye from reaching the fiber.

Equally important is to buy the right dye. Do NOT try to use all-purpose dye for this project. All-purpose dye performs poorly on cotton, requires boiling water to apply, and then washes out in the laundry every time it's washed. What you need to do is get some fiber reactive dye. You can mail-order Procion MX dyes from PRO Chemical & Dye or most of the other dye suppliers listed on my page of Sources for Dye Supplies around the World. You will also need soda ash, plastic quirt bottles, plastic gloves, and a dust mask to wear when mixing the dye powder with water. I recommend that you start with a tie-dye kit. (At ProChem, look under "MX Reactive Dyes" for their "MX Dye Sampler Kits".) You'll need a good-sized kit; a "Tie Dye Party Pack" designed for 25 shirts ought to do it. Or, you could buy three or four Jacquard tie-dye kits from Amazon or your local crafts store. (Avoid Rit brand tie-dye kits, as the dye bleeds in the laundry.)

It would be a good idea to practice a little on some t-shirts before you tackle the large duvet covers. Your boys would probably love to have the shirts, and this way you can be sure you master the steps required before you have to face dyeing such large pieces of fabric.

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Name: poppy
Message: I love the beet juice that comes from cooking beets, is there a way I can use this to dye a white cotton and have it stay? Also pokeberries, how can I make a dye using these beauties? and set it as well?  thanks 

Most natural dyes perform relatively poorly on cotton. You should use wool, instead, for your natural dyeing experiments. Buy some alum to use in mordanting your fiber.

No, there is no way to make beet juice dye cotton red and have it stay. Even on wool, beets are no use for dyeing. Beet juice is pretty in the pot, but it's an exceptionally crummy dye. Look at the following page for samples of beet dyeing on different fibers:
Beets as a natural dye (Dye Forum post from January 10, 2006)
Even using a whole pound of beets produced only a light tan on wool, and barely more than a dirty beige on any other fiber. The problem is that it takes more than color to make a dye: a substance must also be able to cling to the fiber for it to be used as a good dye. Beets are so inferior as a dye that it's rather a waste of time to even try them. It is better to use another substance that has been found by generations of dyers to work far better.

Berry juice is no good for dyeing cotton, but you can use it for a pretty, though not very long lasting, dye on wool. Pokeberry as a dye is highly susceptible to fading due to light; it is not lightfast. Like most natural dyes, it should not be used on unmordanted fiber. You should boil your wool with alum or another mordant, carefully following a recipe from a good book on natural dyeing, before attempting to dye it with berries. Weigh your wool first, and then use twice that weight of berries. Soak the berries in water for a day or two, then simmer for an hour to extract the color into the water; strain the dyebath, and then simmer your wool in it for an hour or longer, then allow to cool in the dyebath. Do not sell anything dyed with berries unless you carefully label it warning of its poor lightfastness.

Good red dyes are hard to find in nature. It is easier to find plants that will produce yellow or brown dyes. The best natural red dyes include madder, brazilwood, safflower red, the roots of a plant called lady's bedstraw, and cochineal. Cochineal is really a splendid natural dye. With the correct mordants, it works well on cotton as well as on wool, though it works well on wool and nylon even without a mordant. You can purchase cochineal from suppliers such as Aurora Silk. Only a small quantity is required, compared to other red dyestuffs. For links to Aurora Silk and other natural dye suppliers, look in my list of Sources for Dye Supplies Around the World.

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Name: Hayley
Message: I am looking for information on how to take a dyed shirt and make designs with bleach stamps; for example, a purple shirt with light hearts stamped out on it.

Not all dyes can be discharged; some will retain their original color no matter what you do. Before attempting this project, test the garment you wish to bleach, to make sure that it is able to lose color, by applying a small amount to a hidden part of the fabric, on a seam; beware of accidental drips. Also, do not use chlorine (hypochlorite) bleach on any garment that contains synthetic fibers such as polyester or spandex, or animal fibers such as silk or wool. Chlorine bleach should be used only on cellulose-based fibers such as cotton and linen. On silk or wool, as well as on cotton and linen, you can use a sulfur-based discharge agent such as Jacquard Discharge Paste, Formusol, Thiox, or Rit Color Remover. (See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?" .)

The easiest way to use chlorine bleach for this project, on 100% cotton garments only, is to buy a product called the Clorox Bleach Pen. These pens contain hypochlorite bleach that has been thickened, so it will not run and spread as easily as unthickened bleach will. For larger projects for which one bleach pen would be too small (and a large number of bleach pens would be too expensive), you can buy a special bleach thickener to prepare thickened bleach yourself; PRO Chemical & Dye sells a product for this purpose under the name Monagum, while Dharma Trading Company sells something called Bleach Thickner. (See my list of Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World for links to these and other dye retailers.)


Before you begin your project, you must prepare a stop-bleach bath. Chlorine (hypochlorite) bleach must be neutralized immediately after use or it will continue to eat away at your fabric, eventually creating holes. As soon as your fabric has discharged to the desired degree, rinse it in water and then plunge it into a bath of Anti-Chlor, Bleach Stop, or another bleach neutralizer, available from your dye supplier. Do not use vinegar, as it will create caustic and dangerous chlorine compounds when it reacts with bleach. If you have no other bleach stopping chemical, you can soak the garment with 3% hydrogen peroxide, such as is sold in drug stores as an antiseptic; this costs more than Anti-Chlor, but is safe and effective. Anti-Chlor is by far the most economical bleach stopping agent. Get this ready before you begin to apply the bleach. You can use Anti-Chlor or Bleach-Stop in the washing machine, or in a plastic basin or a bathtub. (See my FAQ page on How can I neutralize the damaging effects of chlorine bleach?.)


When stamping fabric, you must select (or make) a stamp without small details, as these will work only on paper, not on fabric. Using the bleach pen, squeeze a small amount of thickened bleach gel onto the stamp and spread it with the brush applicator end until it is smooth, then apply to the fabric. Apply more bleach to the stamp before making the next mark. Alternatively, you can make a stamp pad by placing white paper towels in a plastic meat tray or a glass plate, and soaking them with chlorine bleach. Be careful to do the latter only outside or in an extremely well ventilated place, and wear clothing that you don't mind ruining. Remember that chlorine bleach is quite toxic; wear rubber gloves to limit skin exposure. Also wear safety glasses, when working with liquid bleach.

After all of your stamped designs have visibly lightened the garment - watch closely, as it might take only a few seconds, or up to half an hour, depending on the specific dye that was used in the garment - rinse the garment and stop the bleach action with your choice of bleach stop chemical, then launder the garment as usual. 

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Name: lisa clarke
Message: who is the manufacter of PROCION MX Dyes? 

Do you mean to ask who owns the Procion brand name, or who manufactures the dichlorotriazine dyes commonly sold to us under the name Procion MX? The answers are not necessarily the same.

The first dye in the Procion MX series was originally introduced by ICI in 1956. The Procion name has been owned by several companies through the years, including BASF and Zeneca; the current owner of the name is DyStar.

The patents have since expired on the Procion dyes, so the same dyes are now available as generics, manufactured by other companies in addition to DyStar. We do not buy dyes direct from the manufacturers, who sell large lots of dye in large barrels; we rely on dye retailers to repackage and in some cases prepare proprietary mixtures of different colors of Procion MX dyes, selling them in much more convenient small packaging, in amounts ranging from 1/3 ounce to 5 pounds. It appears that many of the dyes sold by art and crafts suppliers under the name "Procion MX" are actually manufactured by companies other than Dystar, companies which do not have any right to the name "Procion". You will not find it easy to determine whether this is in fact true for any particular case, however. It is always a secret where any particular retailer buys their dyes, though you may be able to get someone who works for one supplier to speculate about the manufacturers from whom their competitors at other companies buy dye. 

In recent years we've seen a great many problems with quality of one particular fuchsia dye, which is red MX-8B, or Colour Index reactive red 11; some lots of this dye are less fresh than others and more apt to fail to dissolve completely, or even to precipitate out after having been dissolved in water. This might have something to do with the introduction of cheaper generic dyes, or it might be a coincidence. The biggest resulting problem comes when a dye retailer uses a bad batch of fuchsia to prepare mixed colors, which then may produce tiny red dots on the dyed fabric if every undissolved speck of dye is not successfully filtered out before use.

You can find a large number of manufacturers of the dichlorotraizine dyes via a web search; do a search for 'reactive dyes manufacturers' (without the quotes), and look for "cold type" or "M type" dyes. To find the generic Colour Index names for the various dichlorotriazine dyes, see my table of "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?". You can then search for a manufacturer for that dye by using its generic name, e.g. 'reactive red 2' (with the quotes).

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Name: Margie
Message: I have done the low water immersion technique several times from your website, and was just wondering if the dyes should be dissolved in warm water or whether it matters?

It does matter, but in two opposite ways. Reactive dyes will be destroyed before use if you dissolve them in hot water, and last longest if kept in cool water, but dyes dissolve more easily in warm water than cool water. I use room temperature water (70 to 80°F or 21 to 27°C), myself. 

Once I dissolved fuchsia in hot water and added it in LWI to some blue dye I'd dissolved in cooler water, expecting to get purple. What I ended up with was just blue. The hot water killed the reactivity of the fuchsia - it all reacted with the water before it could react with the fabric.

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Name: Mello
Message: Can Polyester carpeting be dyed by a do it yourselfer, and what dye should we use and what method? The carpet is in a rent house and in good shape with no rips or tears just looks bad. Thank you for your response.

No, it cannot. Polyester carpet is impossible to dye in place. To dye polyester, you must immerse the item to be dyed in a large cooking pot, large enough for the item to move freely, and boil it for an hour with a special kind of dye called disperse dye plus a toxic carrier chemical. Obviously, this is far from practical for any reasonable size of carpet.

In theory, fabric paints, such as Dharma's Pigment "Dyes" (which are not really dyes at all) might work, but it would wear off quickly. Also, they do not produce a solid even smooth color.

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Name: elaine
Message: I have a jacket and pants I want to dye.  The jacket is 94% polyester and 6% spandex that says machine wash cold and the pants are 62% polyester, 35% rayon and 3% spandex.  Can I dye these and if so do I treat them just like dying polyester material.

No, you cannot. Dyeing polyester requires that you boil the fabric in disperse type dye for an hour. However, your garments contain spandex as well. Spandex is extremely heat-sensitive and will be damaged by even one minute of boiling.

Polyester/spandex garments are essentially undyeable. The only option for changing the color of your garments is pigment dyeing, which is actually not dyeing at all, but instead applying fabric paint. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers". Consider Dharma Pigment dyes, which are supposed to work on polyester.

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Name: James
Message: Hi there, I have a couple synthetic boat bags each about 1 foot square and maybe 4 inches thick.  They are currently white and have spots on them.  My canvas on my boat is a chocolate brown.  Is there a way to dye these bags to match the brown?  Thanks

No, I very much doubt that it is worth the effort and expense. To dye synthetics (other than nylon or rayon), you must boil the fabric for an hour with a special kind of dye called disperse dye . Not only do you have do order the special dye, but you also have to obtain a non-reactive dyeing pot, made of stainless steel or enamel, that is big enough for the bags to move around in freely as they boil with the dye. It would be easier and cheaper to get some new bags custom sewn for you, if you can't find suitable bags to buy.

In contrast to dyeing your synthetic material bags, dyeing natural fibers such as cotton is usually very much easier and much less expensive, especially if you buy good quality fiber reactive dyes.

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Name: HUSSAIN
Message: i am a professional dyer dyeing rayon yarn using vat dyes in a tub the problem is i am not getting eveness in my dyeing there are color variations in different hanks in the same dye-lot
also i would like to know wether fiber reactive dyes would be more
feasible for rayon yarn dyeing

The problem might be from inadequate washing before dyeing. Do you scour them before dyeing, using brightener-free detergent and sodium carbonate?

However, it might also be due to differences in the different hanks of rayon, in which some are better able to take up dye than others. I don't know what you can do about this problem, other than possibly finding a new supplier of rayon.

The process of dyeing with reactive dyes is much simpler than that of dyeing with vat dyes, but the results may be a bit less lightfast and washfast. Perhaps you should ask your dye supplier for some samples of reactive dye and test them out.

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Name: Tracey

Message: Hello,
My name is Tracey and I'm from a Australia. I'm really hoping you can help me!  I want to dye my daughter's angora jacket for our wedding which is in 3 weeks.

Question: 
Is it possible to dye a soft pastel coloured item to a neutral cream colour?

What I'm wanting to do:
I want to change the colour of my daughter's angora jacket, which is pastel pink at the moment to a cream/ivory colour.  Can this be done in one step by using a suitable acid dye? Or would I have to bleach the garment first and then dye it?  What would you suggest?  I am new to dyeing and would appreciate any advice you could offer!
Many, many thanks.

No, I don't think that this is a good idea. There are many ways in which it could go very wrong, just ruining your daughter's jacket. 

Lightening the color from pastel to cream will require bleaching the angora. Ordinary household hypochlorite bleach will destroy the angora. There are other dye discharge agents which sometimes work on animal fibers such as wool, based on the chemical sodium hydrosulfite, but using them is very tricky. It might not remover the dye color; it might turn it to a completely different, unpleasant color; and it might cause the angora to mat into felt, losing its softness and beauty. It would be best to either buy another jacket, or use it in its current pastel color. Sorry.

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