Name: agnes
Message: Hello,  I'm going to dye a cotton skirt that I bleached and wanted to know if it is necessary to use the soda ash and the other items that you mention?  

You need to use soda ash only if you are using the kind of dye that needs soda ash. Procion MX dye needs soda ash. 

If you want the best results, you have to use good dye. If you use the inferior kind of dye known as all-purpose dye, you will get poor results, compared with using a fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. 

If you use all-purpose dye, there is no need to use soda ash. Soda ash can do nothing to make all-purpose dye work better.

It is better to use a fiber reactive dye. Procion MX dye is easier to use, because, unlike all-purpose dye, it does not need to be used with boiling hot water. The results will be truer in color, and they will not bleed in the laundry. 

Urea is another chemical often used in tie-dyeing. Like soda ash, urea is no use at all for all-purpose dye. However, unlike soda ash, urea is optional for most dyeing, even with good fiber reactive dye.

There are other reactive dyes, as well, which all require soda ash or another high-pH chemical to work. "Dylon Cold Water" dye is Procion MX dye and needs soda ash (or 'dye activator') added to it. "Dylon Permanent" dye is also fiber-reactive dye, but it already has soda ash or another chemical mixed in, so there is no need to add soda ash to Dylon Permanent dye.

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Name: Elsbeth
Message: Excellent site with lots of info! After looking through your frequently asked questions page I'm still confused about this: does Jacquard make only all-purpose dyes or also fiber reactive dyes? (Sorry to bother you if I missed this question in your list!)

Jacquard Products does not make all-purpose dyes at all. They sell acid dyes, Procion MX fiber reactive dyes, basic dyes (in their Wood & Reed dyes), Remazol fiber reactive dyes (in their Red label silk colors and Green label silk colors), Procion H fiber reactive dyes, and indigo, which is a vat dye. See the Jacquard Products dyes page .

The companies I know that make or distribute all-purpose dyes are Rit, Tintex, DEKA (in their DEKA-L dyes), and Dylon (in their Multi Purpose Dyes). See "About All Purpose Dyes".


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Name: David
Message: First, I want to say my whole household loves your site!  The chemical diagrams are most informative.  Now, my question: I'm in the process of making custom luggage for myself out of Cordura, a trademark synthetic fabric originally developed by Dupont, now controlled by Invista.  I'm interested in overdyeing some red or brown Cordura fabric with black or dark brown to give it a wood-grain appearance.  Do you have any experience with Cordura?  I've read in places that cordura is a type of nylon, but I'm worried about people using "nylon" as a catch-all term for synthetic fabric.  I'm going to experiment on a sample, probably starting with nylon-specific dye processes, and see what I come up with.  Any recommendations?

Although the brand name "Cordura" is said to have been applied first to rayon, I think that it's safe to assume that any Cordura sold recently, or in the last few decades, is truly nylon. As long as it has not been treated with any sort of stain-resistant or water-resistant finish, it should be possible to dye it like any other nylon. Just as you were intending, I would recommend that you get a small sample of the fabric you are considering using to run a test on first, before making a great investment of materials or time. 

The most washfast black dye for nylon is the Lanaset Jet Black. It's easy to use although it does require steaming to set the dye. You can buy the Lanaset dyes from PRO Chemical & Dye in the US and  Maiwa Handcrafts in Canada, as well as several online stores that specialize in selling dyes for wool. See "Who Sells Lanaset Dye?" Or, you could use any good black fabric paint. Dye will wear better than fabric paint, but paint can be set with ironing or by heating in a commercial clothes dryer, rather than steaming, or even, before applying it, by adding an acrylic catalyst, such as Jacquard Products' Airfix.

One rather laborious method for obtaining a woodgrain effect is called mokume shibori, in which parallel lines are stitched loosely with thread which is then pulled tight before dyeing. (See the mokume shibori tutorial at Tobasign, though for nylon you will not want to use the same kind of dye that they show.) Arashi shibori can produce a woodgrain effect, as well. It would probably be easier to thicken your dye and draw it across your fabric with a comb, as in faux woodgrain finishes on painted furniture or walls, or making a block print, painting the dye onto the block to repeat your design. This calls for some trial and error on scrap material, to see what works best for you.


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Name: Maureen
Message: I have 10 ballet leotards that need to be dyed.  The fabric is a blend of poly 64% and lycra.  The leotards are now white, and I need to dye them yellow, orange and green. Do you have any suggestions? 

Sorry, but what you have is an undyeable fiber blend. Polyester can be dyed only with extensive boiling, while Lycra (a brand name for spandex) is heat-sensitive and will be destroyed at temperatures well below those required for dyeing polyester.

It is easy to dye cotton/spandex blends, and possible to dye nylon/spandex blends, but it is impossible to dye a polyester/spandex blend.

The only alternative (besides buying some dyeable leotards) is to use fabric paint, rather than dye, but the results will not be as soft or resistant to wear as with dye. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers". All of the Jacquard brand fabric paints, such as Dye-Na-Flow, Jacquard Textile Colors, Lumiere, and Neopaque, are said by their manufacturer to perform well even on polyester; the same is no doubt true of some other brands, as well, but in any case you would be wise to do a test, to see how well the paint works, before embarking on the project of coloring all ten leotards.


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Name: Joan
Message: I am interesting in dyeing 100% cotton fabric for quilting but have yet to find a source for fabric that is undyed.  Do you have a source  or should I just buy a plain white?

If you find a plain white at your local fabric store that dyes well, there's no reason not to use it. However, you may prefer to buy fabric that is labeled PFD ("prepared for dyeing"), as then you can be sure that the fabric does not contain starch or other sizings that interfere with dyeing, and does not contain optical brighteners, which are undesirable on dark colors.

Here are some sources of PFD cotton fabric:

Dharma Trading Company
http://www.dharmatrading.com/fabric/

Silk Connection (Jacquard Products)
http://www.silkconnection.com/

Testfabrics, Inc.
http://www.testfabrics.com/

eQuilter.com [search their site for "PFD"]
http://www.equilter.com/

Different quilters have different preferences. Try a small amount of each of a variety of different PFD fabrics to see which you prefer for how it dyes and how easy it is to sew.

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Name: Dawn
Message: Is it possible to store dye once it's mixed?  I mixed it by the gallon and stored it in my basement for about a month.  The last batch of tie dyes turned out pretty faded.  Do I need to mix it "fresh" for each batch of shirts?  Thank you!

It depends on what type of dye you're using. The acid dyes used on wool and silk can be stored in solution for a long time. You're probably using fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes, though. Fiber reactive dyes have a definite shelf life, once they have been dissolved in water.

The temperature at which you store your dyes makes a huge difference in how long they will stay good. Procion MX dyes will stay good for at least a couple of weeks at air-conditioned room temperature, 70° to 80°F, but they will go bad more quickly if left outside in hot weather. They will stay good for many weeks longer if stored in a refrigerator. They will go bad within hours if stored in a hot car in the sun with the windows rolled up!

Your dyes have to be mixed in neutral-pH water to last long, however. If your water has a high-pH (the opposite of acidic), they will go bad more quickly. If any trace of soda ash gets into the dye, it will go bad more quickly.

If you want to use fiber reactive dye that lasts longer after it is mixed with water, you can try a different type. Cibacron F dyes (sold by PRO Chemical & Dye as Sabracron F dyes) will stay good for at least six months after they are mixed with water, probably longer.

Many people mix their Procion MX type dye with urea for tie-dyeing. Urea does not go bad very quickly, but if it has aged enough to produce an ammonia-like odor, it will interfere with your dye reactions. When I mix dyes that I plan to keep for a long time, I do not add urea. This is not a very important factor if your urea is reasonably fresh, however. The dye itself will usually go bad much more quickly than the urea.

Unless you can refrigerate your dyes, I recommend that you mix only as much as you can use up within a week or two. If you are storing the dyes in an unairconditioned space during the summer, mix the dye powders with water no more than one or two days before use.

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Name: Pam
Message: I'm sorry if you discussed this in your site already.  I couldn't find the answer.  After soaking the fabric in soda ash, do you apply the dye  while the fabric is still wet from the soda ash, or do you apply the dye after soaking it in the ash then allowing it to dry?  I have always tie dyed with those kits.  But people are asking me to show them how to tie dye and the kits are too expensive so I want to start doing things "from scratch" like you describe in your site.  Thanks for the great info.

You can apply the soda ash either way. You will want to try both ways and compare them for yourself, because some people prefer one and some prefer the other. Sometimes I have soaked a shirt in soda ash and then line-dried it before applying dye. I usually prefer to tie the shirt either when it is dry or when it is moistened only with plain water, then soak it in the soda ash solution (1 cup of soda ash per gallon of water, or 60 ml per liter).

Letting the soda ash dry can make it easier to get very fine detail in your tie-dyeing, and it's good for directly painting on the fabric. (If you try painting with a brush, don't dip your brush back into your bottle of dye unless you are going to use it all up within the hour, as the little bit of soda ash that gets on the brush is enough to start the dye reaction.) Some people find that they can get more intense colors if they allow the soda ash to dry in the shirt before they dye it. The drawbacks are that you might find the dry soda ash in the material to be irritating, and you have to plan farther in advance of dyeing.

The kits that contain fiber reactive dye, such as the tie-dye kits made by Jacquard, Tulip, Dritz, or Rainbow Rock, work well, and they are an excellent introduction to using good dyes, but you will find that Procion MX dye is much less expensive when purchased in larger jars, and you will have a much wider choice of colors.

Here's a link to a page with more information about soda ash, from my FAQ:

What is soda ash, and what's it for in dyeing?

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Message: How  do  you  block  the  color  of  cotton  blue  jeans  from  bleeding?

You really can't. Blue jeans are usually dyed with indigo, which is a dye that cannot be chemically fixed in place after the dyeing process is over. Properly applied indigo should not crock or bleed, but if too much indigo is applied at one time, it will not get inside the fibers and will tend to come off. It is important, when dyeing with indigo, to use multiple dips into a relatively weak dyebath, instead of one dip in a very concentrated dyebath.

For clothing dyed with dyes other than indigo, you can use a commercial dye fixative such as Retayne, which sticks to negatively charged dye molecules, but indigo dye molecules do not have a negative charge and cannot be fixed with Retayne. Neither vinegar nor salt will help improperly applied indigo bond to the fabric, either.

What you should do is wash the blue jeans several times, using the hottest water recommended on the care label. If they continue to bleed dye after that, return them for a refund to the retailer from which you bought them, because they are defective.

I'm told that the dye catchers (such as Shout Color Catcher) that you can throw into the laundry to pick up stray dye do work for picking up loose indigo dye, to keep it from coloring other clothing. Don't depend on ColorCatchers for anything that is likely to shed a lot of dye, though, because you can overwhelm their ability to absorb it.

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Name: Moses
Message: I read through the nylon dye section and am very interested in dyeing a pair of cordura pants. Would instructions come with the dye? Would one jar be enough for a pair of long pants? Would the dye be safe for use in the bathtub and can be washed off later?
 Thanks for such an informative site. 

How much does a pair of cordura pants weigh? You calculate the amount of dye to use based on weight. It takes a lot more dye to produce a deep black color (up to three ounces per pound of fabric!) than it does to produce a lighter color, which may require as little as a quarter of an ounce per pound. Jar size depends on your supplier. One small jar of Jacquard Acid dye contains half an ounce of dye.

Acid dyes should be used with heat and work best when simmered on the stovetop with the item to be dyed. If the heater for your tap water is set hot enough, however, you may get acceptable results without cooking your pants. See Jacquard's instructions for using a washing machine to dye with Acid dyes; also read "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?", on this site. You can use the same instructions with a bathtub instead of a washing machine, but you will have to do a lot of stirring if you are serious about obtaining a single smooth solid color.

Acid dyes should not permanently stain a porcelain bathtub or washing machine. They will dye almost anything that is made of nylon, which includes some hard plastic items. Be very careful not to spill any sort of dye on the grout between tiles, which in my experience is easy to stain permanently.

You can buy acid dyes from many of the companies listed on my Dyeing Supplies around the World page. Larger jars cost less per ounce. Look at my page of color chips for Jacquard Acid Dyes. By following the links on that page, you can order dye through Amazon.com; if you do so, my website will receive a commission on your order, at no additional cost to you.

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Name: Malou
Message: Where can I buy the all purpose dye?

Where do you live, that is, in what country? In the US, you can buy all-purpose dye almost anywhere, in grocery stores and drug stores, as well as stores such as Walmart. If you're in another country, please specify which one.

Fabric stores, such as Joann, often carry different sorts of dye, including not only Rit brand all-purpose dye but also Dylon Permanent dye, as well as the dye fixative, Retayne, which is necessary to make all-purpose dye acceptably washfast. You can also buy Rit all-purpose dye  or Tintex all-purpose dye by mail-order through Amazon.

Unfortunately, all-purpose dye is often completely inappropriate to use.  It will not work at all on polyester. It's handy for dyeing cotton and nylon at the same time, but it's not a very good dye for cotton, because it bleeds in the laundry indefinitely, unless you use a commercial dye fixative such as Retayne to set the dye. All-purpose dye is a hot water dye and should be used by simmering it for half an hour together with the garment to be dyed, in a very large non-aluminum cooking pot (large enough to allow the fabric to move freely), which will never be used for food again afterwards. Cool water fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes, are much more suitable for dyeing clothing, because the hot water required for all-purpose dye will often shrink clothing unacceptably. 

If you are dyeing cotton, rayon, linen, or hemp, you will be better off if you use fiber reactive dye, instead, such as Procion MX dye or Dylon Cold Water dye. If you are dyeing polyester, you must use disperse dye, not all-purpose dye. All-purpose dye works pretty well on nylon and wool, when used with vinegar in the hot dyebath, but you're likely to get more predictable results with acid dyes than with all-purpose dyes. Most people who use all-purpose dye do so only because it is so easy to find in local stores.

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Name: Brenda
Message: I've got a top loader washing machine which is quite rare here in the UK, and our dyes say use a front loader only.  Do you have any idea why I can't use a top loader?

Front loading washing machines use less water, so you don't have to put as much dye or soda ash into them. Top-loading machines work very well for dyeing, but you will have to use different recipes because of their greater water usage. Front-loading washing machines are still in the minority here in the US, so all of our dyeing recipes are for top-loading washing machines.

Do you know how much water your washing machine holds? If not, you can find out by pouring gallon jugs of water into it until the water reaches its usual level. A typical top-loader in the US holds twenty gallons of water. I don't know what volume is held by a typical front-loader. Front-loaders are said to use half as much water as top-loaders, so perhaps you will have success if you just use twice as much of the dye and any auxiliary ingredients. The Dylon Machine dye instructions call for one packet of dye per pound of fabric, but a typical top-loading washing machine load contains eight pounds of fabric, so you might need to use up to eight packets, depending on how much fabric you are dyeing.

For information on washing machine dyeing, and links to recipes, see this page:
How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/washingmachine.shtml

To buy the same kinds of dye used in these recipes from mail-order companies in the UK, scroll down to the appropriate section of my page on
Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World, at
http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/dyesources.shtml

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Name: chris
Message: I am doing some research on digital printers. I have used the standard 8 1/2 ink jet and have used a wide format, but we are looking to find a 17" printer that will do fabric. Do you know of anyone I could contact that would have some info? 

Try Jacquard Inkjet Fabric Systems, at http://www.inkjetfabrics.com/. (They are part of the same company as Jacquard Products, which sells dyes.)


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Name: Cathy
Message: Is it possible to dye outside chair cushions that are extremely faded from the sun?

Probably not. 

Are they in any way water-resistant? If so, they will also be dye-resistant. 

Are they washable? You can't dye anything that is not washable. 

Are they an easily-dyeable fiber, such as cotton or hemp? Polyester is not practical to dye at home, and and polypropylene is impossible. Outdoor cushions are commonly made of a fiber called Sunbrella, an acrylic fiber which is dyed in liquid form, before it is ever made into fabric.

The easiest and least expensive solution would be to make new covers for your faded cushions.

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Name: Rachel
Message: I was wondering if you know if Procion dyes are considered "green"? By that I mean, does the excess dyeing liquid damage the environment once it's washed down the drain? I'm planning to dye some organic cotton and don't want to waste all the efforts that went into making the fabric, without harming the environment, by dying it with something that will. Thank so much!

Procion MX dyes are often described as "eco-friendly", whatever that really means. (I suspect that it frequently does not mean very much.)  They are certainly less damaging to the environment than the heavy metals used with some other types of dye, such as the hexavalent chromium used with chrome dyes for wool. They will do no harm to your septic system, if you have one. When spilled on the ground (for example, from tie-dyeing in the yard), they lose their color on the dirt within a few days, apparently as the result of being broken down by soil microbes. However, the textile industry produces vast amounts of waste water from dyeing fabrics, so even relatively innocuous dyes can be a problem when used in vast quantities in a mill. I've seen references to many papers about using various microbes to decolorize wastewater from industrial dyeing.

The primary problem with Procion MX dyes is the amount of water that is required to wash out excess or hydrolyzed dye, which has not attached to the fiber. In cases of water shortage, this could be a major problem. It's also a problem for large mills, which must treat their waste water before disposing of it. At home, you can reduce the amount of water needed for rinsing by soaking the fabric for some time in very hot water, as part of the washing-out process. Be sure to start with a cool water rinse.

Some people have concerns about heavy metals. The EU Eco Label requires that dyestuffs not contain more than 250 ppm copper. The metal found in some Procion MX type dyes is much less of a problem than the more toxic mordants that are often used with natural dyes. (Among mordants for natural dyes, alum is not bad, but tin and chromium can be quite harmful.) Many of the Procion MX type dyes are metal-free, but others may contain small quantities of metal ions. For example, the very popular Procion Turquoise MX-G contains copper, perhaps 1 to 5% by weight, while rubine MX-B also contains copper. The amount of metal is insignificant when used in the small quantities you might use at home. The information I have handy indicates that these Procion MX dyes do not contain metal in their chemical structures: blue MX-R, blue MX-G, red MX-5B, red MX-8B, and yellow MX-8G. (To translate these to the names used by your dye supplier, see the chart at Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?.)

One thing I like about Procion MX and other reactive dyes is that fabrics dyed with them, after the unattached dye has been removed, do not bleed when wet, unlike direct dyes; this means that I think that the dye is much less likely to transfer to the skin of a person wearing a garment dyed with them. Unlike direct dyes, they do not require a cationic dye fixative, which may contain formaldehyde. Taken together, these facts means that the dyed items made with Procion MX and other reactive dyes are probably among the safest for use on babies or by people with sensitive skin.

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Name: Lynne

Message: I have Roman Blinds that are Polyester/Cotton blend.  They are an olive green.  I want to change them to a light taupe.  Is this possible?

Are they machine washable? You cannot dye anything that is not washable. 

Are they water-resistant? Nothing that is water-resistant can be satisfactorily dyed.

The polyester portion of the blinds cannot be dyed without using high heat which would probably destroy them. The cotton can be dyed with a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, if the blinds are washable, but if the blinds are 50% cotton, they will dye to only 50% of the color intensity you would expect to see with 100% cotton.

The best answer would be to use a fabric paint, instead of a dye. The process would be much like fabric-painting upholstered furniture.See these two pages: 
"Can furniture be dyed successfully?", and 
"Instructions for Painting Upholstered Furniture".

A new product which I have not tried, and for which I've seen no independent reviews, might be just what you want for painting blinds and furniture, called Simply Spray Upholstery Fabric Paint. If you try it, please let me know how well it worked. Their web site is as follows:
http://www.simplyspray.com/upholsteryfabricpaint.html


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Name: Maureen

Message: I have a new, 100 % cotton, brown twill skirt [side zipper and button closure]. I carried a wash rag to the table that had bleach on it and my skirt has several dots of clorox on the front.  I need to redye this dark brown skirt.  How do I go about it? 

See "How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing?".

Also, I wear all cotton turtle necks.  The darker ones [despite cold water wash] fade and I would like to just keep them looking new and the same dark color - black, navy and brown.  What's a good method?  Thank you for such an outstanding website!

Unfortunately, the dyes used in the textile industry are not always as washfast as the fiber reactive dyes we like to use at home. If your shirts were dyed with direct dye and not then treated with a cationic fixative, they will fade quickly. Washing in cold water, as you have been doing, is helpful with these dyes. To fix the dyes that are in them now, use Retayne or another brand of cationic dye fixative, which you will probably have to buy by mail-order, unless your local fabric store carries it. See "Commercial Dye Fixatives". 

If the shirts have already faded too much for your taste, you can redye them using a good washfast fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. For a single solid color, the easiest method is dyeing in the washing machine; see "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".

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Name: Anne
Message: I have been dyeing fabric for 10 years, primarily with Pro MX dyes. I know that Pro MX dyes have a relatively low impact on the environment but I wonder if you are aware of a reliable way to reduce the amount water needed to wash out the unfixed dyes at the end of the dye process.

Also, is there another dye that you feel is more environmentally friendly that gives similar results on cellulose fibers?

Thnaks so much for the information you have made available through your website.

The amount of water required for the washout of excess Procion MX dye is its biggest drawback. 

Some people use a chemical dye fixative, such as Retayne, instead of washing out the excess dye properly, but I really do not like to do this, for several reasons. One is that the covalent bond between reactive dye and fiber is very permanent; the use of the cationic dye fixative sort of 'glues' the excess unattached dye to the fiber, but in a less permanent fashion. A second reason not to substitute a cationic dye fixative for proper washout is that it may reduce the lightfastness of the dye. Thirdly, the cationic dye fixatives should not be washed in hot water, which will tend to remove them, but properly fixed reactive dye is safe at any water temperature, even boiling.

To reduce the amount of time, effort, and water required for washing out Procion MX dyes, first be sure to use PFD (prepared-for-dyeing) fabric or clothing, because it lacks sizings and starches which can interfere with washout; starch in particular will itself accept the dye, and then wash out only very gradually, giving the impression of nonwashfastness. If your water is at all hard, be sure to use a phosphate-containing water softener in the water for mixing dyes, Metaphos or sodium hexametaphosphate, to prevent unwanted minerals from forming hard-to-wash-out dye complexes. These two issues, starch and water hardness, are not the cause of Procion MX's need for a lot of washing out, but they can cause problems that make it much worse.

The real key to reducing water usage in reactive dye washoff is water temperature. Hot water reduces the substantivity of unreacted or hydrolyzed dye. You should always first rinse your dyed items once in cool water, to remove salts and auxiliary chemicals (I like to do this in the washing machine), but after that you should use hot water. If your water temperature is too low, this will reduce the efficiency of washout and make it take longer. Water temperatures of 140°F or above are highly preferable. My "energy-saving" washing machine adds cool water when it is set on hot, so it is necessary to turn off the cool water faucet when filling the machine with hot water. If you happen to have a washing machine with its own heater, as in the case of some front-loading machines, use a higher temperature of water for dye washout, if your fabric/yarn/clothing can tolerate the high temperatures. Boiling water is the most efficient.

It is not efficient to use all this hot water for a single fifteen-minute wash cycle. Instead of letting the water run out after a single cycle, set the machine to presoak to take the greatest possible advantage of the hot water you are using. I'm not sure how much time is optimal; it wouldn't hurt to give the clothing an hour's soak, or longer. Unfortunately, washing machines are not usually insulated, so they do not retain the heat of the water as long as would be ideal. Some dyers use an insulated cooler, such as you might use to keep foods cool, for their hot water soaking step. Hot water poured into a cooler can stay hot for a long time, so this is an excellent way to make the best use of hot water for dye washoff. Soaking overnight in a cooler full of very hot water will reduce the amount of washing needed considerably.

Other fiber reactive dyes are supposed to require less washing to remove excess dye; this is said to be the reason for their being more popular in the tectile industry. The available choices include Cibacron F (Sabracron F) dye, Drimarene K, and Remazol (vinyl sulfone) dyes. I've been using a lot of Remazol dyes in the last year or so, and while I like them very much, I haven't found the washing out to be dramatically better; this may be due to my not taking sufficient care to start the washing-out process with a cool rinse. It is even more important, with Remazol dyes as compared to Procion MX dyes, to start with a cool rinse, as Remazol dyes washed in hot water at a high pH can be stripped from the fabric (before the high-pH auxiliary chemicals are removed by rinsing).


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Name: Ivan
Message: Hi, I am hoping that you can suggest a solution to my problem.  I have a large quantity of white polyester fiber (as is used for pillow fill etc) which I want to dye green, as I am unable to find a supplier who sells green poly fiber.  Can you suggest a dye that I might be able to use?  I reside in Australia.

The only kind of dye that will work on polyester is called Disperse Dye. You cannot use dye that is intended for other fibers, such as all-purpose dye.

In Australia, you can mail-order Disperse dye under the brand name Polysol from the dye supplier Batik Oetoro (see contact info listed on my Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World page). You will also need to order a carrier chemical, which they call Polysol Carrier, and you will need a very large, non-aluminum cooking pot, which is not to be used in the future for preparing food. Since they do not sell a pre-mixed green disperse dye, buy blue and yellow dye and mix them together.

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Name: Jennifer
Message: I am in a quandary. I have two home-sewed, undyed (as in the fabric that I used to make them, which I got from a now-defunct garment dyed clothing wholesaler that I worked for ten years ago, is still in its natural, creme colored state) pairs of pants - one 100% brushed cotton twill, one 100% Tencel crepe - that I would like to dye. The difficulty is that I live in a small, one-bedroom apartment in Chicago with no washing machine, a tiny kitchen, and no other space available for dyeing fabric in the safe ways that you recommend. I understand now from reading your informative website that dyes which would be safe to use with cooking pots and in my small kitchen aren't going to work on my garments! And I'm not interest in dyeing either pair of pants yellow, which is unfortunate as I understand Tumeric would do the trick. I'm in the process of searching the Chicago fiber arts community for someone who dyes fabric either as a hobby or a living, but in the interest of completeness, I wanted to contact you to see if you had any advice for me about how I might be able to home dye these items giving my limited resources. I'm an accomplished home sewer and am very comfortable with messy fiber crafts, but other than a couple of RIT experiences many years ago, have little experience with proper home dyeing. 

You can use cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, in a five-gallon bucket, as long as the pants can move freely in the bucket when you stir it. It is very easy to dye this way as long as you follow the instructions closely. You can buy the bucket at the hardware store, or get one for free that is being discarded by a restaurant. It is important not to pack the clothing at all tightly into the bucket, if you want a single solid color; it would be best to do only one pair at a time. You will need to stir a lot. Here is a good recipe to follow: Dharma's recipe for the Tub (Washing Machine, Vat, Bucket) Dye Method.

The bucket method is essentially the same as dyeing in a washing machine. With this recipe, you must use a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. It will not work for natural dyes or for all-purpose dyes such as Rit.  Calsolene oil is an optional ingredient in that recipe, which in some cases it may make your final color more perfectly even.

Both of your fabrics, the 100% cotton and the 100% Tencel, are dyeable with Procion MX and other cool water fiber reactive dyes, with soda ash. They are both cellulose fibers.

A benefit of using a bucket instead of the washing machine is that you do not have to use as much dye, since the volume of water is smaller. The drawback is all the stirring.

(If you have small children, or if small children ever visit you, do not leave any water in a five-gallon bucket unattended, because it is oddly easy for a toddler to fall head-first into the bucket and drown in even a few inches of water.) 

If you do not care for a perfectly solid single color, you can use an easier dye technique, low water immersion dyeing. It can be done in any plastic or glass container that the garment will fit tightly into. Combining colors by this method produces beautiful results, with a minimum of effort.

You will be very happy with the results of Procion MX dye, compared to your experiences with all-purpose dye. Fiber reactive dye is easier to apply (no heat needed), produces brighter and more reliable colors, and does not fade in the laundry the way all-purpose dye does.

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Name: Sara
Message: My mother bought me some scrubs to wear to school.  Unfortunatly they are Dark Royal Blue and I need them to be navy blue.  I tried dying them with Rit Navy Blue I bought at a local store, but it didn't do anything.  Is there anything I can do to change the color of these scrubs.  They are made from 65% cotton and 35% polyester, woven in matter called "Peach Twill"

To get the all-purpose dye you tried to work better, you'd have had to use several boxes in order to get a very dark color, plus you'd need to heat it with the garments to a high temperature for half an hour. All-purpose dye works best at a temperature of 190°F or higher, which is just under a boil in temperature. Even if you managed to obtain a dark enough color, you would still need to fix the dye with a commercial dye fixative such as Retayne. All-purpose dye lacks good washfastness, that is, it will wash out gradually in the laundry, unless it is treated with Retayne or another brand of the same type of product.

Cold water fiber reactive dyes are easier to use, because you do not have to "cook" them into the fiber, and they last much longer in the wash. You can dye your 65% cotton scrubs with a fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye or Dylon Permanent dye. Your local sewing store might carry Dylon Permanent, in black or navy, or you can get the dye by mail-order. Only the cotton part of your cotton/poly blend will dye, so the darkest color you can get will be 65% of the color you aim for. (Dyeing polyester at home is not recommended.) You might do best by using black dye, which, at a 65% intensity, will produce a dark grey. Dark grey on top of royal blue should produce navy. The definition of navy blue includes several different dark blues, including a color which is nearly indistinguishable from black, so getting the scrubs too dark is not a big risk. If you get Dylon Permanent dye, follow the dye package instructions closely; for Procion MX dye, see my how to dye instructions or washing machine dyeing instructions (note that the washing machine requires a larger volume of dye).

Unfortunately, if the scrubs have any sort of stain-resistant coating on them, they will not be dyeable. Stain resistant coatings resist both water and dye. Permanent press finishes can also be a problem. Do your scrubs have any of these treatments on them?


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Name: Alyce

Message: Is there a special way to rise tie dye materials after they have set for 8 hours to make the colors stay as true as possible?

What kind of dye did you use? Did you use soda ash? Did you use 100% cotton with no stain-resistant or permanent-press finishes?

If you used a good cool water fiber reactive dye, and you used soda ash, and you made sure that the eight hours (or more) or the dye reaction were at 70°F or higher, then all you have to do now is rinse once thoroughly with cool water (I like to do even the first rinse in the washing machine), without detergent (though Synthrapol is okay), followed by two washings in hot (140°F) water, with Synthrapol or another laundry detergent.

There should be no need for any sort of fixative or treatment, unless something went wrong in the dyeing process. Your final results will be a little lighter than before rinsing; your tie-dyed items should always be very dark with excess dye, darker than your desired final results, for the 8-hour dye fixation step. I prefer to leave the dye to fix for an excessive amount of time, overnight rather than just eight hours, to make sure that all of the dye has reacted, so there is no cross-staining between pieces.

If, on the other hand, you used all-purpose dye, such as Rit brand dye, it is essential to either heat the fabric in the dyebath, preferably for at least half an hour at 190°F, or to steam the dyed fabric for half an hour (wrapped up in paper and then steamed like vegetables), in both cases followed by treatment with a commercial dye fixative such as Retayne. All-purpose dye is a hot water dye, but even when applied in hot water, it requires an additional fixative. Chemicals such as soda ash, vinegar, or salt will not work to fix all-purpose dye; it can be fixed only with a cationic dye fixative.

Thank you for your help. We did use Rit dye and soda ash.  The die bath water was boiling hot. And right now the tie dye materials are sitting in my warm garage
heating up.  So I'm pretty sure that we did all of the steps correctly I just want to make sure that we get the rinse process correct so that all of our tieing and dying don't go to waste. Thanks so much for all your help,

The kind of dye you used is very important in deciding how to rinse the items you dyed. All-purpose dye is a non-washfast type of dye which does not work very well for tie-dyeing. When using all-purpose dye, you must be careful NOT to follow the instructions that are given for fiber reactive dyes.

Do NOT wash your all-purpose-dyed items in hot water! Hot water washing is good only for items dyed with fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dye. All-purpose dye does not attach firmly to fabric, and will wash out in hot water.

You will get the best results possible from your all-purpose-dyed items if you rinse them only in cold water, by hand, until you have used a commercial dye fixative such as Retayne to set the dye. Some fabric stores sell Retayne, but often it is necessary to buy it by mail-order.

There is, unfortunately, no point in using soda ash with all-purpose dye, because soda ash does not help to set all-purpose dye at all. Also, allowing eight hours or more hours for this kind of dye to react does not help, because all-purpose dye cannot react at room temperature. They do not, technically, react with the fabric at all, but instead form a relatively loose association with it.

You will want to get fiber reactive dye for your next project, such as Procion MX dye. You will be amazed at how much better the colors are, how much easier it is to apply cool water dyes, and how much longer-lasting the dye is in the laundry, as compared to all-purpose dye. When going to all that work, you will find it much more satisfying to use higher-quality dyes. They are also more economical than all-purpose dye, in the long run.

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Name: Debra
Message: I have some raw, undyed, unbleached, noile silk that seems to be amazingly dye resistant.  I have been told I need to 'strip' the silk before dyeing.  What is that and how do I do it?  Also, how do you 'bleach' silk?  I would love to be able to get white silk!!  Thank you!

Silk contains a gummy substance called sericin. You can remove sericin by washing it in hot water with a little detergent, soaking it for a couple of hours. Here is a link to a blog entry from "Woven Thoughts" which gives details on how one silk dyer removes sericin before dyeing.

As you are probably already aware, you cannot bleach silk with chlorine bleach, because the hypochlorite will destroy the silk. Removing the yellowish sericin will probably whiten your silk to some extent. You may be able to use a recipe for using hydrogen peroxide to bleach wool.
Otherwise, it is necessary to stick to sulfur-based discharge chemicals to bleach silk, such as
sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate and thiourea dioxide. Be careful to follow instructions in order to minimize damage to your silk.

Sometimes a fiber that cannot be dyed turns out to be an entirely different fiber than it was sold as. "Parachute silk" may be rayon, which, since it is a cellulose fiber, can be dyed easily with fiber reactive dyes, but will not take acid dyes at all. Occasionally, fiber that has been sold as silk will turn out to be polyester, which cannot be dyed except with disperse dyes . 


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Name: Brenda
Message: Can 'dishwasher' type salt be used with dyes or does it have to be the table/cooking variety?

That's an interesting question. We don't usually put any salt at all in our dishwashers here in the US, only dishwasher detergent, and, sometimes, a rinse agent. A web search reveals that in the UK you do use water softener salt in dishwashers. I wonder if this is because of the laws against phosphate use in the UK. Dishwasher detergents in the US typically contain phosphates, which work well as water softeners. 

Water softener salt is pure sodium chloride and therefore should be fine for you to use, chemically, but it is in a granular or chunk form so that it dissolves slowly. You will want to take the time to dissolve it in water separately before adding it to your dyebath. Large granules of salt will also work well for the salt effect in silk painting.

Many thanks for the response, Paula.  I really appreciate it.  Apparently our water here (particularly just outside London where we live) is very hard due to the flouride etc put in by the water companies, and virtually every applicance ends up with coatings of scale all over them.  Dread to think what it does to our bodies!

It's surprising, but hard water is much better for our bodies than soft water. The 'hardness' consists of calcium and magnesium ions, which form an insoluble material called soap scum. Epidemiologically, people who drink hard water live longer than those who drink soft water, because those minerals are good for your heart!

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