Name: Clarissa
Message: I have a wool blend coat (57% rayon / 43%) that I would like to dye.
I have heard contradicting things regarding which dyes/methods to use
for dying wool and need a little clarification. I understand that
Lanaset dyes work on both rayon and wool but am not sure if the
methods for dying these are radically different from each other. I
also understand that wools should not be agitated at all when wet to
prevent fulling, and must be moved carefully to prevent stretching;
opinions seem to vary on how disastrous using a hot water bath would
be---some texts indicate that it wouldn't adversely affect the wool
provided there's no agitation or use of soap.
I'm not really concerned about the possibility of fulling as the wool
blend fabric has a very tight weave which I know would be difficult to
full. I'm more concerned about shrinking. I'm also unsure if I should
use vinegar in my dye bath, considering the fabric is a wool/rayon
blend. I am willing either to hand-dye it in a bath or use my washine
machine. What is your recommendation for how I should proceed and
which Lanaset product would work best for my purpose?


Lanaset dyes will NOT work on rayon. Lanaset dyes will work well only on protein fibers, such as silk and wool; since nylon chemically resembles wool, it can also be dyed with the same dyes. If you dye a wool/rayon blend coat with Lanaset dye, the wool will dye well, but the rayon will only be stained; the Lanaset dye on the rayon will tend to wash out. 

In contrast, rayon is a cellulose fiber, like cotton, and cannot be dyed with acid dyes. You can dye rayon with fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes, or with direct dyes, though direct dyes are less washfast.

Dyeing a protein/cellulose fiber blend, such as your wool/rayon blend, is the perfect use for all-purpose dyes. All-purpose dyes are considerably less washfast than Lanaset or fiber reactive dyes; they contain a combination of acid leveling dyes, which are more poorly washfast than other acid dyes, with direct dyes, which are less washfast than fiber reactive dyes. However, all-purpose dyes will work on both wool and rayon in a single step, at the same pH. The washfastness problem can be solved by adding an additional step in which you use a cationic dye fixative, such as Retayne, to the fabric, or by using only dry cleaning, not washing, to clean the coat. Unfortunately, all wool dyes require some heat to set them, and direct dyes do, as well. 

There is an alternative, but it is more cumbersome. Procion MX dyes can be used in two separate steps, both as fiber reactive dyes, with soda ash, and as acid dyes, with vinegar. However, the typical recipe for dyeing rayon with Procion MX dyes requires a pH that is so high that it will damage wool badly. You can use a pH around 9 to dye the rayon with Procion MX dye, and, in a separate step, use a pH around 5 to dye the wool with Procion MX dye, in some recipes placing it in a black garbage bag in the sun instead of using very hot water. This is complex, however, and I do not recommend it for a first-time dyer. Furthermore, the black garbage bag method does not produce colors as bright or intense as those produced with very hot water. Rayon dyes better with fiber reactive dyes at a pH of 10.5 or 11, but a pH that high will ruin the texture of your wool.

Washing machine dyeing is much easier for a dye novice. You can follow the washing machine dye recipe in a large bucket, stirring frequently, but even a very large bucket is unlikely to be large enough to permit an adult-size wool coat to move freely enough to allow smooth solid-color dyeing.

There are several different brands of all-purpose dye. Those who have used more than one tend to prefer Tintex or DEKA, but I don't know if they are actually superior. The easiest brand of all-purpose dye to find in the US is Rit® All-purpose Tint and Dye. Alternatives include Tintex® Easy Fabric Dye (called Tintex Hot Water dye in Australia), DEKA® L dyes in Europe (not available in the US), and Dylon® Multi Purpose dye.

Adding vinegar is okay when using all-purpose dye. It will assist the acid dye in bonding to the wool, and do no harm to the rayon.

Fulling, or felting, may or may not be a problem for your coat, as you say. However, shrinkage is very likely; you are right to be concerned about it. Even if you are very careful to avoid sudden temperature changes, which will help, there will probably be enough shrinkage to ruin a lined coat, even if it still fits. Is your coat labeled as being washable? If it can't be washed, then it cannot be dyed. Try washing it as a test before you try dyeing. It might not survive. You must always prewash any garment before dyeing it, anyway, or else a few invisible stains will repel dye in only some spots, resulting in an unattractively uneven appearance. If there is a lining in your coat, it will probably shrink more or less than the outer layer of your coat. This will ruin the way that it looks, preventing the shoulders and lapels from lying flat. If there is no lining, or if you can rip out the lining if it no longer fits the coat after washing, and yet still be able to wear it, then you may be able to dye it.

What color change are you considering? Occasionally people write to me wanting to change a dark red wool garment to tan, or a beige one to white. It is important to note that dye can only be used to darken the color, not lighten it. Because dye is transparent, it can only add to the existing color; it cannot cover it up.

Here are some pages to read for more information:

All Purpose Dyes

About Dyes

About Lanaset Dyes  

Follow up message:
Thank you for the information. My coat is woven with a mix of cream, dark brown and light brown fibers, giving it an all over poop-brown look. I was hoping to dye the cream a turquoise and possibly alter the light brown's color a little. I just want it to have an overall bluer look and not look so unattractively brown. The dye doesn't have to take perfectly since the look of the fabric is already mottled---like those industrial carpets they put in public places because staining won't be so obvious? Is there any chance blocking the garment will minimize potential shrinkage?


I'm curious as to whether the different colors of threads in your coat are made of different fibers. For example, it might be that the rayon is cream-colored while the wool is dark and light brown. (Or the other way around, of course.) In this case, dyeing only one of the fibers, only the wool OR only the rayon, might meet your needs.

Is it possible for you to remove a few tufts of each color, from an inside seam or hem, separate out the colors, and do a burn test for fiber content? Rayon will smell like paper burning, and produce a soft grey ash. Wool will smell like burning hair, and produce an irregular dark ash. (See Ditzy Prints' Fiber Burn Chart or Fabrics.net's Fabrics Identification page.)

If it turns out that you can meet your needs by dyeing only the rayon, then the whole job of dyeing this coat immediately becomes much easier. Then you can use a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX, at only 70°F to 90°F. Unlike all-purpose dye, Procion MX dye works well at this temperature range. Instead of using the proper pH of 10.5 to 11, use a milder pH around 9 so that you do not damage the wool. You can do this by mixing four or five parts baking soda (sodium BIcarbonate) with one part soda ash (sodium carbonate); use pH paper to double-check the pH. You could use the washing machine dyeing recipe, substituting baking soda for most but not all of the soda ash. Go ahead and use the salt suggested in the recipe. Allow plenty of extra time to make up for the non-optimal pH. (Perhaps you should turn off the washing machine after an hour of agitation and go to bed, without letting the machine drain, so the coat can continue to soak in the dye plus soda overnight; in the morning, repeat the gentle agitation and finish the wash cycle.) Follow the recipe, wash the coat to remove excess coat, block if necessary to restore the shape, and you're done.

Whether the rayon is the cream color or the brown, you will have a mixture of the new color with the old. The wool WILL take some of the Procion MX dye at a pH of 9, so its color will be changed somewhat. Brown wool overdyed with turquoise turns darker. Turquoise and brown mixed in a tweed can have a nice effect.

In either case, using a cool water fiber reactive dye will be much less dangerous, in terms of shrinkage, than using a hot water dye such as all-purpose dye. There is still some risk, especially if the coat has a lining, since linings tend to shrink so differently than the coat itself that even an otherwise minor amount of shrinkage can be a problem and ruin the shape of the coat. Don't forget to prewash the coat, as the results of previously invisible stains can be quite ugly.

One last tip: if the coat is in any way water-resistant, you won't be able to dye it. Flick a few drops of water on it, and see that they soak in fairly quickly. If the drops of water bead up, forget the project. You cannot dye anything that is water-resistant or stain-resistant, as these fabric finishes also resist dye.

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Name: Bridget
Message:Hello
I have a baby sling/harness that I would like to dye however as the baby will be enclosed in the sling/harness im not sure how safe it is to dye. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards

Baby clothes and gear are usually dyed. Are you thinking about giving up the use of all colored items for your baby, for fear that dye in clothing may be unsafe? That would have one advantage in that undyed clothes can be bleached with less fear of damage, but they certainly do tend to show every spill and bit of dirt.

Different kinds of dyes have different properties. Some are more permanently bound to the fiber and are therefore quite safe to wear, if the excess dye has been washed out first. Other dyes seem to be a little more likely to cause problems, though these problems as reported appear to be very infrequent, and not permanently damaging. Non-dye chemicals on the fiber are more likely than dyes to cause trouble. It's a good idea to avoid formaldehyde treatments on baby clothes.

The most commonly allergenic dyes, when they are already on clothing, appear to be the basic dyes used on acrylic socks, and the disperse dyes on polyester clothing. These are presumably more allergenic due to the fact that the dyes are less firmly attached to the fiber, so the wearer is more likely to be exposed to the dye. Dye that is permanently bonded to a fiber is less likely to cause allergies or other reactions than dye that occasionally migrates out of the fiber onto the skin. Allergies to fiber reactive dye in clothing are very rare and involve inadequate initial washout of unattached dye, judging from the reports in the medical literature, even though the dyes can be quite allergenic in their unbound, powdered form, as used by the dyer. However, it must be noted that dyes of even the less ideal types do not usually cause noticeable problems for the wearers, even for babies.

What is your baby sling made of? If it is made of a plant fiber, such as cotton, hemp, linen, or rayon, or if it is made of natural silk, then you can use fiber reactive dyes with no worries. Fiber reactive dyes are the most suitable sort of dyes for any situation in which you do not want the wearer to be exposed to even a tiny bit of dye. Popular brands of fiber reactive dyes for use on plant fibers include Procion MX (preferred by dye artists), Dylon Permanent, Dylon Hand, Dylon Cold, and Dylon Machine Dye. Do not use Dylon Multi Purpose dye, because it is not a fiber reactive dye at all; Dylon Multi Purpose dye is an all-purpose dye, which is a mixture of two different dyes which are both much less suitable for your purposes. I see that you are in the UK; there are several different companies in the UK from which you can order good Procion MX fiber reactive dye, such as Fibrecrafts, Kemtex, and Rainbow Silks: scroll down to the 'Europe' section on my page of "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World". You will also need to buy soda ash, a chemical which is found in washing soda and laundry detergent, to set the dye, and you should use a water softener, sodium hexametaphosphate, if your water is hard.

When you have used any fiber reactive dye, there will always be some excess unreacted dye left in the fabric. This unattached dye needs to be removed so that it will not affect the wearer. It is easy to do. First allow plenty of time in a warm place for your dye to react with your fabric (overnight is good, at 21°C or higher). Next, rinse thoroughly in cool water to remove all of the soda ash and any salt. Then, wash in HOT water (60°C or higher) to remove the excess dye. If the dye has been set properly with soda ash, then it will not come out at this step. Properly attached fiber reactive dye will not wash out even in boiling water. It's only the excess unattached dye that you are removing at this step.

Sometimes people do not do an adequate job in washing out the excess unattached fiber reactive dye. The way to test to see whether you have done a good enough job is called the hot press test. The press test requires that you dampen the dyed material, place it between two white natural-fiber cloths, preferably one wool and one cotton, and press it with a hot iron until dry. If no color transfers to the white cloths, then all excess unattached dye has been removed, and the fiber reactive dye remaining in the fabric will not come out even upon boiling. (This test is commonly used before combining differently colored fabrics in a quilt.) If color does transfer, soak the fabric in hot water and then wash it again, using water softener if your water is hard.

If your sling is not made of a plant-based fiber, or silk, then you will need to use a different kind of dye. Polyester is impractical for the home dyer, because it can be dyed only with a special kind of dye, called disperse dye, which requires extended boiling. It is not fun to dye in the same way as cotton or hemp. Silk can be dyed exactly like cotton, though. Nylon and wool can be dyed only with with acid dyes. The most washfast acid dyes are those in the Lanaset series. The only food-safe dye is food coloring, which works well on wool, less well on silk or nylon, and not at all on any other fiber such as cotton. It cannot be washed in warm or hot water, because it tends to wash out.

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Name: Joyce

Message: Hello Paula, I am looking for a book or a site that will tell me how to achieve a rainbow of fiber reactive colors...otherwords...a mixing guide that would direct me to add one tsp. of one color to two tsp. of another color and the result will be 'this' color.  Fiber reactive powder is expensive to be mixing and making huge mistakes.  I am not good at the mixing part of dying...I have been trying for months to get a certain blue that has eluded me...I need help.  Thanks  Joyce

Can you describe the blue you are looking for? Sometimes talking about it with another dyer produces the breakthrough needed.

There is a book which I think you should read, called Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green. Although it is oriented toward oil painting, it will teach you a lot about the theory of color mixing, which is extremely helpful. It's not perfect, but it's close enough for now, the best start I've seen.

For mixing Procion MX dyes, I recommend that you purchase five or ten specific unmixed single-hue dyes. It is difficult to learn what you are doing when you use premixed dyes, mixed from several different dye colors before you ever get them, as your mixing primaries. I have specific recommendations, but the names of these dyes vary from one dye retailer to another. To see how your retailer's dye names correspond to the generic names, see this table in the FAQ on my web site: "Which Procion MX colors are pure, and which mixtures?". The colors that you most need to buy are as follows:

1. yellow MX-8G (or yellow MX-6G)
2. red MX-5B (or red MX-8B): this is very close to printer's magenta, needed for mixing
3. turquoise MX-G: this is very close to printer's cyan, needed for mixing
4. blue MX-2G (a dark navy blue): the darkness helps you to mix deeper, richer colors
5. a black mixture such as black MX-CWNA

I also recommend that you get the following, when possible:

1. blue MX-R (a medium blue)
2. orange MX-2R (you can use this to mix a true red)
3. one of the golden yellows: yellow MX-GR or yellow MX-3R or yellow MX-3RA
4. violet MX-2R (often mislabeled by the seller as violet MX-G): a purple that will not break up
5. blue MX-G: cerulean blue, a lovely slightly greenish blue

Premixed colors can be fun to use, especially when they come in just the color you need, but they are not as useful as the pure unmixed colors, since they are not very good for mixing together. Premixed colors usually yield duller results when mixed together, and can yield unexpected colors when mixed. It is more economical to focus on the unmixed colors.

Speaking of economy, if this is an issue for you, you MUST find a supplier that will sell you the dye in jars of two ounces or more. The tiny jars that contain less than two ounces are not nearly as good a deal. If your supplier sells only smaller jars, get a new supplier. See the listing of Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World, on my website.

The best way to really learn about color mixing is to do a simple series of combining each of your mixing primaries together, and using them to dye small swatches of cloth. If you do this and save and label each of your results, your resulting notebook will be a gem, extremely useful in all future work. 

The dream way of doing this would be to take one of the excellent workshops on 'Color Mixing for Dyers' that are taught by Carol Soderland, in which each student generates a huge set of dye color samples. The problem is whether you are located near one of her workshops: this year, it looks like she's giving them in Ohio, Massachusetts, Washington State, Idaho, and New York. See her workshop schedule.

Of course, it is not necessary to take a class in order to learn to mix colors. Trial and error will serve you very well, as long as you keep careful records. One excellent book that, among other things, shows a bit about how to make tests of mixing colors together is Elin Noble's Dyes & Paints: A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric. Or, you could start a discussion about how to do this on the Dye Forum.

There are three different charts which you can use to translate color names to amounts of dye to use. Here is a link to the Jacquard Products table for mixing Procion MX dye colors, which I've improved by adding generic names.

Here is a link to a page with my English translations of the color mixing charts at Dreamline, in the Netherlands. It has the advantage of showing the colors that result, but the disadvantage of using some less commonly available Procion MX dyes, which are rubine MX-B and navy blue MX-3R. It should serve to give you ideas, at least. It is based on the weights of the dyes, which are more reliable than the volume, which may change for a given amount of dye, from one jar to the next.

Here is a link to a Dye Forum posting with the color mixing chart from Maiwa Handprints.

Finally, you MUST look at the most wonderful way to play with color mixing online, Olli Niemitalo's Dye Mixer Applet. There is a description of how to use it on the Dye Forum. Even if you don't do the experiments needed to translate the numbers directly to how much of each of your dyes to use, it is wonderfully helpful to be able to quickly visualize what different colors you can get by combining different amounts of specific dye colors.

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Name: Michelle

Message: My son is doing a science using traditional navajo dyes on churro wool. He is using  photoshop element to find the luminosity of 2oz of wool. He needs to graph the reults but he having a hard time with it. Thanks

What my son did for his project comparing different dyes and different fabrics was, first, to scan his fabric swatches into the computer, using the software that came with our scanner. (It is important to name the brand and model of scanner in the methods section of the report.) Next, he opened each image with Adobe Photoshop Elements 3. Using the 'Rectangular Marquee Tool' (the dotted-line selection box tool), he selected a representative section of the fabric. Under the 'Window' menu, he selected 'Histogram'. On the little window that then appeared, he chose 'Luminosity'. He then wrote down, by hand, in his lab journal, the values that were given for mean, standard deviation, median, and the number of pixels, for each one. The number of pixels (the size of the box when the selection was made of what part of the image to use) should be roughly comparable from one sample to the next. 

It is best to scan the undyed control piece of fabric at the same time as the test sample, even though this means measuring the same piece repeatedly, because sometimes one scan will come out darker than another. Two different sections on the same image are more comparable than two images that were scanned at different times. If several pieces are being compared to one another, it is best to scan them in together, laying them out on the bed of the scanner at the same time.

The maximum possible value for Luminosity in the Photoshop Elements program is 255. The numbers can range from 0 through 255, inclusive. What we care about when we look into the effectiveness of dyes is how dark the fabric is made. This means that the value we are interested in is intensity, rather than luminosity. Therefore, my son subtracted each of his median luminosity values from 255, and used the resulting number for dye intensity. He did the same for his control (undyed) fabric, and subtracted this smaller number from the dye intensity for his dyed fabric. This corrects for the original color of the fabric, which does contribute to the final color. He then divided each one by 255, to yield the percent of maximum possible intensity. If all of the dye being compared were used on the same material, then it is less important to subtract the baseline color intensity of the undyed material.

When my son was ready to make his graphs, he opened a spreadsheet program and entered his numbers into columns. One column listed what each treatment or dye was, and then the next column gave the dye intensity. He used these numbers to get the spreadsheet to make the graphs he needed. (He did not figure out how to add the standard deviation information to his graphs.)

I do not know how closely the numbers obtained by this method approach those one would obtain by other methods. My concern is whether the intensity values obtained in this way will vary linearly with the amount of dye bound to the fiber. However, it does work; it yields numbers which are useful for making graphs, and the equipment required is much more readily available to students than a reflectance spectrophotometer. The numbers produced by this method agree well with subjective judgments made by eye, but are much easier to use for making meaningful graphs summarizing the data. 

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Name: Christine

Message: Hello.  I just graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Fashion/Costume Design and Photography.  I'm coming up with an idea for my first business now and would like to revamp, restore, and rejuvenate vintage lingerie to sell.  I would like to dye many of them but have no experience in dyeing fabric.  Many are nylon, but who knows whether the straps, etc. are also nylon.  Some are rayon, and some are a combination.  Some are also silk.  I'm trying to figure out which type of dye I should invest in.  I thought acid dyes, but them discovered dispersive dyes.  Remember, not all the lingerie will be dyed, mostly the plainer nylon ones.  Thank you so much for your time...Christine


I would prefer acid dyes to disperse dyes. Disperse dyes are less washfast on nylon, and they are more trouble to use. Also, disperse dyes will not work at all on silk or rayon. Acid dyes will work on both silk and nylon, though not on rayon.

You will need disperse dye if you wish to dye polyester or acetate, but delicate underthings may not survive the process of boiling required for the application of disperse dye.

The straps are more likely to be nylon than another fiber, I think. I've found that the trim, such as lace, on polyester lingerie tends to be nylon, even if the fiber content label does not mention it.

Rayon cannot be dyed with disperse dyes, and with good fiber reactive dyes, it cannot be dyed at the same pH as nylon. Nylon will take dye under acid (low pH) conditions, while rayon, like cotton, dyes under basic (high pH) conditions. You can dye rayon and nylon with the same fiber reactive dyes if you first adjust the pH to about 10 or 11 by adding soda ash, as in the usual recipe for using these dyes, leave the dye to react long enough, and then add acid (such as citric acid or glacial acetic acid) to reduce the pH low enough to dye nylon, between a pH of 4 and 6, then heat the garments in the dyebath, as is required for dyeing nylon. Use a non-aluminum cooking pot for dyeing nylon, and do not reuse it for food later on.

An alternative for garments that contain both rayon and nylon is to use all-purpose dyes, which are generally a mixture of acid dyes and direct dyes. The two dyes in the mixture are selected to give more-or-less the same color. The acid dyes will dye nylon (as well as silk or wool), while the direct dye will dye rayon (as well as cotton and linen). The direct dye will also stain silk, in most cases. The problem with all-purpose dyes is that the acid dye they contain is of the leveling acid type, which is very poorly washfast, while the direct dye they contain is poorly washfast as well. They both will wash out if washed in warm water or if washed too many times. The only solution that makes all-purpose dye acceptably washfast is to after-treat with a cationic dye fixative such as Retayne.

The best dyes for use on nylon and silk are the Lanaset dyes. Unlike other acid dyes, silks and nylons dyed with Lanaset can be washed in hot water without their being ruined by dye loss. They are more expensive per package, but each package will go a long way. In fact, per ounce of fiber dyed, the Lanaset dyes are cheaper than the boxes of Rit dye you can buy at the grocery store, because there is only a very small amount of dye in each box of all-purpose dye, enough to dye up to 250 grams of fabric, or half that if you are using black. The Lanaset black is the most-recommended black dye for use on silk or nylon. It will not, of course, work on cotton or rayon, since they are not polyamides, but it may stain them to some extent.

In conclusion, my preference in your situation would be to invest in Lanaset dyes for the silk and nylon, and Procion MX or another fiber reactive dye for the rayon, cotton, and also silk. 

Please see the following pages for more information relevant to your project:

"About Dyes"

"Lanaset Dyes: A Range of Reactive and Acid Dyes for Protein Fibers"

"All Purpose Dyes"

"About Fiber Reactive Dyes"

"Leveling Acid Dyes (Kiton type Dyes)"

"Dyeing Protein Fibers"

"Who Sell Lanaset Dyes?"

"Commercial Dye Fixatives" (for use on all-purpose dye)


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Name: Sherry

Message: What is the formula to SET the color in a black pair of jeans??

First off, it does not involve vinegar or salt, two old myths that have no basis in fact. Neither vinegar nor salt will do anything to help set your dye color. See "Is there any way to "set" dye in purchased clothing or fabric?" for more information.

Blue denim jeans are dyed with indigo, a vat dye that cannot be set chemically. However, truly black jeans (not just dark blue) do contain dye that can be set, using a cationic dye fixative called Retayne. See "Commercial Dye Fixatives" for more information. You may be able to find this product in your local quilting store or fabric store, but it is more likely that you will have to purchase it by mail order.

Even without the dye fixative, you can help extend the life of the color in your new black jeans by turning them inside out beforehand, every time that you wash them, and wash them in cool water. Dry them indoors to avoid fading from the sun.

If you have old cotton or silk clothing that has faded, you can restore its black color by dyeing it in the washing machine with black Procion MX dye, in a bucket with Dylon Permanent Black dye, or, if you live in Europe, with black Dylon Machine Dye. (Dylon Machine Dye is not available in North America.) Do not use an all-purpose dye, such as Tintex or Rit, because it inevitably fades very quickly in the wash.

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Name: Lilian

Message: Hello Paula,

I'm from The Nethelands and have a question about dyeing two sweaters.

I have two sweaters, one in the colour grey and one in the colour off-white. The grey sweater I want to dye black and the off-white sweater I want to dye red. One sweater each weighs about 300 grams (european measuring for weight). 

The label says: 95 percent acryl and 5 percent elastan (I think that's spandex?). Wash at 30 degrees in the washing machine or by hand. It can be flat-ironed (the symbol is a flat-iron with one dot). Not for the tumble-dryer. It has the symbol 'P' with a circle around that letter, which I think it means that it can be chemically cleaned.

The grey sweater I washed once really well, then I've tried to dye it with ''Dylon Colorfast Textiledye'' in the colour black on 40 degrees Celsius in the washing machine. I followed all the instructions, but at the end of it, they grey sweater did not dye at all. Dylon is a brand in The Netherlands that is selled at the local drugstore and the whole country.

I really want to dye my two sweaters! What do I have to use? What would you advice me? Thank you very much in advance for your advice!

I'm afraid I have bad news for you, Lilian. Acrylic sweaters are not practical to dye. They must be cooked to at least 65°C or higher (that's 150°F!), in a cooking pot that will never be used for cooking again, using either disperse dye or basic dye. They cannot be dyed with any of the types of dye that are good for use on cotton, silk, or wool, but more importantly, they cannot be dyed at 30°C (or 86°F), the safe limit for washing your sweaters. 

The elastane in your sweaters, which is indeed the same stretchy material that is also called spandex or Lycra®, is heat-sensitive. Temperatures above 60°C are very damaging to elastane; temperatures above 30°C are apt to make the elastane in your sweaters lose its shape, which would ruin the look of the sweaters.

For more information on dyeing acrylic and on dyeing spandex, see: "Dyeing Acrylic with Basic Dye" and "How to Dye Spandex (also known as Lycra® or elastane)".

Dylon makes some very good dyes for use on natural fibers, with a different selection of dyes sold in many different countries, but none of them will work on any synthetic fibers other than nylon and rayon. (Nylon can be dyed like wool, and rayon can be dyed like cotton.) As you saw with your grey sweater, it just washes out of acrylic.

There is one remaining possible alternative, which is pigment dyeing your sweaters. In pigment dyeing, a binder is used to glue tiny particles of colored pigments to the fabric. You can pigment dye a garment by soaking it in a very thin high quality fabric paint and then heat-setting the paint as required. However, the results are not as smooth in color as true dyeing, and the paint shows wear relatively quickly. The result is an effect which is desirable in some cases, but not others.

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Hello.  I am just trying to find out if it is possible to get, buy, find or make my own tye-dye letters and numbers to put on t-shirts.  My daughter is on a basketball high school team, and for senior night, we parents want to wear shirts, with the team name on the front, but surprise them with their nick names and team numbers in their favorite colors.  Two of the girls favorite colors are tye-dye.  I have not been able to find any shirt place that can get tye-dye letters and numbers to iron on or heat press.  This event is in mid Feb, and any help would be wonderful!
Thanks!!!!!

The heat-transfer problem is easily solved. What you do is buy inkjet iron-on transfer paper. Then you find or scan in a tie-dye pattern, print it onto the transfers, and cut the letters out of it. Use a t-shirt press or a home iron to transfer them onto the shirts.

If the shirts you will be ironing them onto are anything other than white, then you will have to buy opaque t-shirt transfers, so that the lighter colors will show up. Look for the word "dark" on the label. An office supply company may carry these; some brands are Personal Creations Dark T-Shirt Transfer, the Office Depot brand of the same thing, and HP's Iron-On Transfers for Color Fabrics. Joann's Fabrics sells June Tailor brand Dark T-shirt Transfer. Dharma Trading Company also carries inkjet transfers for both white and dark clothing.

Even if you include the letters in your design when you are printing it out, you will need to cut out the background in order to get a good result. Be sure to prewash your shirts before applying the iron-ons.

Iron-on transfers for dark fabric should be printed the right way around, if you are including letters in the design you print out. This is in contrast to ordinary iron-on transfers for white fabric, which must be printed backwards in order to come out right when printed.

Where will you find an appropriate background to use for printing your transfers? If you have a tie-dyed t-shirt handy, you can place it directly on your computer's scanner and scan in a pageful of it, or you can take a picture with your camera in close-up mode, preferably in bright light (the camera flash alone will not give as good results). If that is impossible, you can find an image by doing a web search for tie-dye wallpaper, designed for use as backgrounds on computers, for example this picture to the right from Tie Dye Temple.

An alternative approach is to buy pre-cut letter or number appliqués that are made of a synthetic-fiber fabric, such as polyester or nylon (cotton and rayon will not do). You can then color a tie-dye design onto some paper, using special fabric crayons that are made for this purpose, and iron the design onto your letters and numbers. Do not attempt to do this with ordinary wax crayons! Fabric crayons look and feel just like wax crayons, but they contain a completely different material. Here's a page showing an example of their use: "Iron-on Fabric Crayons for Synthetic Fibers". You can buy fabric crayons in your local fabric store, or in many cases from a store such as Target or Walmart. Look for "Crayola Fabric Crayons" or "Transfer Fabric Crayons" or "Dritz Iron Transfer Crayons". Here are pictures showing the different packages I've seen these same crayons being sold in:

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Name: Emma

Message: Hi, I have a problem with the first batch of nappies I made - I think that I have not washed the dyed part of the fabric correctly to clear all unattached dyes before constructing the nappies. The outer layer, and the top of 2 pop in boosters, has been tie dyed on a cotton/hemp fleece in kelly green and yellow procion RX dye. I also hadn't realised at this point that the hemp needed scouring to really take up the dye. The inner fabric is a bamboo velour. I have had a customer who has prewashed the nappy, and a little of the dye has transferred into the velour - giving a slight blue colour which runs around the edges of where the boosters were lying inside the nappy. Is there an way of removing this blue? The nappy has also been handpainted using jaquard neopaque and lumiere paints, which appear to be fixed OK. I was wondering about sending her some synthrapol, but wasnt sure if this might help, or whether it would affect the outer dye and the fabric paint?
Thanks for any advice you might be able to give me.

Washing the nappies in very hot water, twice, should do the trick. This should remove the dye that has bled. Further explanation:

When you dye with Procion MX dyes, a certain amount of the dye always fails to completely attach. You have to wash out the excess unattached dye with hot water at least 60°C (140°F); often you need to soak in hot water, or wash in hot water twice. Water that is hotter than 60°C is even more efficient at washing out the excess unattached dye.

Synthrapol is not really necessary for getting all of the dye out. Really HOT water is much more important than Synthrapol. Synthrapol should do no harm, however, either to the properly attached dye or to the fabric paint.

If all of the dye in the cotton/hemp fleece had fully reacted with either the fabric or the water (some of the dye always reacts with the water), then enough washing with hot water will be sufficient to remove the excess which has bled onto another part of the garment.

However, if you did not allow the dye enough time to react, so that some active dye was still present at the time of washout, there is always the fear that permanent backstaining will occur. This happens if the dye is able to react with the fabric after it has transferred to a different area. I believe that this is unlikely in your case. When this does happen, there is no good solution.

The best way to avoid backstaining with still-active dye is to allow the dye reaction with the fabric to go for longer than necessary. For example, if your dye reaction should be complete after four to six hours at 21°C (70°F), then leaving it overnight allows plenty of time to make sure that all of the dye has reacted, whether with the fabric or the remaining moisture. (Warmer temperatures take less time.)

After your dye has reacted fully, it takes some effort to get all of the excess unattached dye out. The best way to do this is with the hottest water you have available. Always do one initial washing-out in cool water, to remove all auxiliary chemicals, such as the soda ash you use to set the dye, and only afterwards use warm or hot water to wash out the dye. To save water, you can soak your fabric in the hot water for some time before draining it. If you have hard water, use a water softener; if you don't have a household water softener but need one, add sodium hexametaphosphate (your dye seller should have this, called Water Softener or Metaphos or Calgon T).

You can test your hand-dyed fabric before you sew it into a garment, so that you will be able to be sure that dye transfer will not occur. To do this, get two clean white rags, either both cotton, or, ideally, one cotton and one wool. Dampen your hand-dyed fabric, and place it between the two cloths. Using a hot clothes iron, press until the fabric is dry. If any dye transfer occurs, then you have not completed the washout of the excess unattached dyes, and must wash your fabric again in very hot water, before using it to sew. This test is commonly performed by quilters, whose work will be ruined if they use fabric that bleeds in the laundry for their quilts.

The heat in the hot water will not damage the fabric paint, including Lumiere and Neopaque, but there is a problem to beware of when washing garments painted with fabric paint. The physical abrasion of laundering can cause them to wear off. When possible, fabric-painted garments should be turned inside out, or placed in a net bag, in the laundry. Top-loading washing machines tend to be more hard on fabric than front-loading washing machines, but this may not always the case. Another way to help prolong the life of frequently-laundered clothing that is decorated with fabric paint is to place the items in a net lingerie bag before putting them into the washing machine or dryer.

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Name: Keri

Message: I have an older pair of snowboarding pants that are white-but just get very dirty very fast out on the mt.-is there any way to dye them-although they are waterproof? Do I have to remove the waterproofing-then dye-then re waterproof?? Sorry- brand new these pants  can go any where from $100-$300 so I would really like to be able to keep this if possible-since they are in really good shape.  : ) thanxs

Sorry, anything that is waterproof is also dye-proof. You can't dye it.

Do you have to remove the waterproofing? The real question is, CAN you remove the waterproofing? Durable water repellent (DWR) finishes can be surprisingly persistent, continuing to work even after machine washing and dyeing. Washing and drying can even restore the function of DWR finishes that have quit working due to becoming soiled. A very strong detergent might remove some of the DWR finish, enough to make it inadequate for use, while leaving enough finish to make dyeing uneven and splotchy.

Other forms of waterproofing are even worse to remove. Polyurethane coating is practically impossible to remove. 

If you can completely remove every bit of the waterproofing, then in theory you could dye the pants - but only if they are a dyeable material. Cotton or uncoated nylon are easy to dye (use fiber reactive dyes for cotton, and acid dyes for nylon), but polyester is very difficult to dye, and polypropylene impossible. Also note that the pants must be machine-washable to be dyeable. "Dry clean only" means you can't dye it.

After dyeing, you would need to restore the waterproofing. Nikwak sells some excellent water-based products for this purpose.

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Name: Jan

Message: I am trying to replicate a dye sample from several years ago. The formula is for 50% turquoise and 50% fuschia. Lanaset dyes were used. Did Lanaset once make a fuschia dye? Is there a replacement?

I don't think your fuchsia dye has recently disappeared. My 1986 copy of Linda Knutson's Synthetic Dyes for Natural Fibers says, in the appendix describing Lanaset dyes, "There is no bright blue red (magenta) available in this series, although it is possible to use a magenta dye from the weak acid dyes (milling dyes) in combination with the dyes in this series." Knutson says that the Lanaset dyes first became available to home dyers in mid 1985. I think that your fuchsia was from another class of acid dyes.

It is common to combine the use of Lanaset dyes with a fuchsia dye from another line of dyes. Karren Brito is one of the authors who recommend using Polar Red, which is not a Lanaset dye, in combination with the Lanaset dyes. She describes this use in her book, Shibori: Creating Color & Texture On Silk. She writes that it is less stable than the Lanasets, so use with care. She processes it for longer, lets fabrics dyed with it air-dry for 24 hours before washing, and treats fabrics dyed with it more gently. It discharges very quickly to near white, she says.

The practice of combining Polar Red with the Lanasets is so common that PRO Chemical & Dye lists Polar Red for sale on the same page as their Sabraset (Lanaset) dyes. 

Polar Red has the generic name of Colour Index Acid Red 131. Without the generic name, it is impossible to keep its commercial names straight, if you buy from a company that is not as customer-friendly as ProChem. Karren Brito mentions buying it under the brand name of Ricoamide Brilliant Red 3BN 140%. Other more industry-oriented firms sell this dye under a number of different brand names, including Ricoacid Red 3BNS, Orco Milling Brilliant Red 3NRE, Nylon Brilliant Red C3B (concentrated), and Nylanthrene Brilliant Red C-3B (concentrated), Permalon Red 3BN, and Permalon Red C3B. It's a fine example of why we need generic names for dyes.

Deb Menz, author of Color In Spinning and other books on mixing colors with Lanaset dyes, uses Acid Red 138 (ProChem's Washfast Acid Magenta 338) rather than Acid Red 131 (Polar Red); she sells the Lanaset dyes plus WashFast Acid 338 on her website. Another source, Sheep Hollow Farm and Fiber, specifically lists four non-Lanaset dyes as working well with the Lanasets. All are possible substitutes for the fuchsia which does not exist in the Lanaset line. Their supplier is PRO Chemical & Dye, so the following are ProChem's names, with Sheep Hollow's descriptions; I've added the generic names as listed in the Colour Index:


Also see Which washfast acid dye colors are pure, rather than mixtures? for more information on these Washfast Acid dyes.

There is also a dye in the Lanaset line which is described as magenta, Lanaset Bordeaux B, but it is actually a dull wine red, not at all useful for mixing bright colors.

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Name: Alan

Message: Yesterday, I sent you a brief request for a source of acid dyes
 and of H2O2, in Joburg, South Africa. Are there local companies, that you would recommend? Or perhaps, international companies that shop? Thanks for your assistance.

For my list of all of the places I know of for buying dyeing supplies around the world, see this link:

Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World
Dye suppliers for artists and craftspersons who sell dyes internationally include PRO Chemical & Dye in the US, Granat Farvekompagniet in Denmark, Fibrecrafts in the UK, Quilt Et Textilkunst in Germany, Quilt & Art in Germany, Batik Oetoro in Australia, and KraftKolour in Australia. There are many dye manufacturers in Asia that will sell you large barrels of dye, but such large containers are completely impractical for smaller scale hand dyers.

Unfortunately, I have never been able to find the names, contact information, and product range of any dye suppliers in Africa. I know that there are wholesalers in South Africa who sell Cibracon F dyes and dyes manufactured by Dystar, but people who buy from them have been unwilling to share the names and contact information of their sources. Your best move may be to find websites to contact Dystar and Huntsman, the companies that make these lines of dyes, directly, asking for a local retailer. When you do find a source from which to buy dyes in South Africa, please let me know. 

A web search for Dystar reveals the following contact information:
     Dystar South Africa (Pty) Limited
     Tel: +27 11 9215133/4
     Fax: +27 11 921-5142
     E-mail: send message
     Office Address: 27 Wrench Road/Isando/Johannesburg/1600/Gauteng/South Africa
     Postal Address: P O Box 143/Isando/1600/South Africa

while another for Hunstman Textile Effects (the makers of Cibacron F dyes and Lanaset dyes) yields this:
     Huntsman Textile Effects

     Unit 14-Lakeside Office Park/6 Derby Place/Derby Downs
     ZA-3630 Westville/P.O. Box 1712/ZA-3631 Wandsbeck/South Africa
     Telephone: +27 31 267 22 88

     Fax: +27 31 267 23 39

See also the following entries in this blog of questions and answers about dyeing, which mention the problem of identifying a dye supplier in South Africa:
July 26, 2004
April 16, 2004
October 24, 2007


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Name: Patt

Message: I have a problem.  I managed  to get spots from a bleach type product on one leg of my new spandex/cotton dark green slacks. I'm wondering if painting a design on this fabric to disguise the bleach spots (8 dime size) might help me make these pants wearable.  Can you suggest a type of paint that will work on 93%cotton 7% spandex?

First see the following page:
"How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing?"

It would be a good idea to neutralize any remaining bleach in the spots with Anti-Chlor or ordinary drugstore 3% hydrogen peroxide. Let it soak for fifteen minutes, no more, and then wash it out.

You are right not to try to dye the pants a solid color. You may find that a fabric marker helps considerably in covering up the white spots. This is worth trying regardless of what your next step may be, since it will make the spots less obvious. Keep the fabric marker, in case you need to reapply it after many launderings.

Fabric that is made of 93% cotton plus 7% spandex is easy to dye with a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You can use this dye to paint, to tie-dye, or, easiest of all, dye in a mottled pattern using low water immersion dyeing. See "How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing". This kind of dye is not set with heat, but instead with soda ash (the main ingredient in washing soda), which is not damaging to spandex.

Do not use a hot water dye, such as Rit or Tintex all-purpose dye. All-purpose dye requires hot water, which is damaging to spandex.

You can also use any good acrylic-based fabric paint. Most fabric paints are transparent and will not show up against a dark background. Look for a paint labeled as being metallic, pearlescent, or merely opaque, so that it will show against the dark part of your fabric. Metallic or pearlescent paints give very interesting effects that may or may not be what you want, depending on the style of your slacks. The brand of metallic fabric paint I most recommend is Lumiere, which is made by Jacquard Products. There are several good brans of opaque non-metallic fabric paint; an excellent one is Neopaque, also made by Jacquard products. 


Both Lumiere and Neopaque require heat-setting with an iron (see the manufacturer's instructions) unless you mail-order an additive called Jacquard AirFix which, when added to the paint, makes it able to set without heat. You can mail-order Jacquard AirFix from Jerry's Art Supplies. (Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Name: Clare

Message: Hi, I was wondering if you know how to make your own waxed cotton thread. It's very hard to find info on this topic anywhere.  Thanks!

The usual way to wax thread is to pull it along a small block of beeswax. You can buy beeswax for waxing thread in a handy plastic holder, in most fabric stores. The holder has slots through which you can easily draw your thread. (Click on the picture to the right for an example.)

Paraffin, a petroleum-based solid wax, is occasionally used, for a smoother, less sticky result. Hold the thread against the side of the block of paraffin with your finger as you pull the thread. You can usually find paraffin in the grocery store among the canning supplies, as it is used the seal the tops of jars of homemade jellies. (Click on the picture to the left for an example.)


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Name: siobhain

Message: Hello!  I just got an old flokati wool rug.  I think it is from the 60's or 70's.  It has a lot of stains on it.  Are there any products on the market that can safely lighten white wool that is stained?  

Thanks!

The best action would certainly be to call in carpet cleaning professionals. Check the yellow pages of your telephone directory to find a local company.

If you are unwilling to consider going to the expense of having the carpet cleaned by the pros, especially if it is very small, then you could try washing it. Water is the most powerful solvent known to science. A pH-balanced detergent, such as Orvus Paste, Synthrapol, or Woolite may help to remove the stains, without causing the damage that ordinary high-pH laundry detergents will cause to wool.  The detergent must be rinsed out thoroughly afterwards. It is no easy matter to hand-wash a rug.

In washing wool, you must beware of agitation, which will cause felting, and of too much heat, which will cause shrinkage. Use lukewarm water, and avoid the use of washing machines.

Wool can be "bleached" only with non-chlorine products, never with ordinary household chlorine bleach, which contains hypochlorite and will destroy wool. In the unlikely event that you need and want to try this step, you must use either hydrogen peroxide or a sulfur-based dye-reducing discharge chemical. These generally require heating, however, which is impractical for use at home without industrial-sized machines, in treating a large rug. See, for example, PRO Chemical & Dye's recipe for Bleaching Wool using Hydrogen Peroxide or their instructions for using thiourea dioxide to make a discharge bath for wool. I do not recommend that you try either of these procedures on your rug.

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Name: Barbara

Message: Is it possible to dye iridesence?  I have woven it using already dyed threads but wondered if it is possible to dye the silk fabric after it is woven.  Thanks.

If you overdye already-colored iridescent fabric, the color contrast between the warp threads in one direction and the weft threads in the other direction will be markedly reduced.

Solid color dyeing cannot turn white silk iridescent. Dye can produce color, but it cannot add new textures. The iridescence of woven silk relies on the contrast between the two directions of thread.


In order to produce iridescent effects on already-woven fabric, you must use fabric paint, or pigment particles, which themselves have iridescent properties. The most well-loved product for this purpose is Pearl Ex mica powder, manufactured by Jacquard Products. It is available in a wide range of metallic, pearlescent, and iridescent colors. The iridescent interference colors have a different color on each side of each flat pigment particle, so that the color you see changes as you move your head.

Pearl Ex is a pure pigment. It does not contain any binder to "glue" it to fabric. To use it with fabric, you must mix it with a clear, colorless fabric paint, such as Neopaque Colorless Extender. Paint or stamp this mixture onto your fabric thinly, allow it to dry, then heat-set the binder by ironing on the reverse side of the fabric with a home iron, as detailed in the manufacturer's instructions.

Another option is to apply a fabric glue to your fabric, then press on special fabric decoration foil, so that the shiny surface comes off onto the glue. Dharma Trading Company sells the Jones Tones fabric glue and the assorted foils that can be used for this purpose. Their "Silver Lazer Drops" pattern is beautifully iridescent.

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Name: Jim

Message: I have read the material on your website that you have written on Low Water Immersion Dyeing and that Joyce White Vance has written on Crackle Dye on Fabric.  I really like the look, and want to ask if there is any retail source through which I could buy material dyed in this way?  I am particularly interested in material (2-3 yards) that is not already made into a shirt or dress or something.  It would be great if I could ever learn to do this, but even if I could, my current apartment in Chicago wouldn't be suitable for working on this.  I've tried to find someone in Chicago that teaches this, but haven't succeeded so far.  So, I'd simply like to find a way to purchase a little of this fabric that has already been tie dyed.  I haven't found any information of this sort on this website, and would appreciate any ideas that you might be able to give me.  Thank you.

There are many hand dyers who will be happy to sell you beautiful low-water-immersion-dyed fabric or tie-dyed fabric. Look at my listing of custom dyers, on this page: "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?". For example, Beth Hartford lists her website there (number 8 on the list) with many different hand-dyed fabrics. Also see the list of other hand dyers on this page: "Links to Other Hand Dyers' web sites"

Try searching on etsy.com or ebay.com with the phrase "hand dyed fabric" or the abbreviation "lwi"; you are likely to find some examples on those sites, as well.

If you chose to join the dye forum on this site (see http://www.pburch.net/forum/ - it's free!), I am sure that you will get some good individual responses if you post about what you want to buy, under the "for sale" topic there.

Sometimes you can find commercially printed fabrics with a similar effect, but I feel that it is better to buy one-of-a-kind hand-dyed fabric from the person who dyed it. You get something that is much more special and beautiful, and you support the art of hand dyeing.


When you feel ready to try dyeing for yourself, you will find that low water immersion is the one form of hand dyeing most suitable for a small apartment. My own technique would work perfectly for you. What I do is cover my kitchen countertop with a thick layer of newspaper. I use a small bucket to place my fabric into, one that is small enough that the fabric is very tightly crammed in. I dissolve salt (which is optional) in hot water and pour it over the fabric first. I mix powdered dyes or liquid dyes (I like using Remazol liquid dye to avoid the trouble of dealing with dye powder) with lukewarm water in a glass measuring cup in my sink, then pour the dye into the bucket. I almost never spill any dye, but if I do, the newspaper is there to make cleanup unnecessary.  Then I mix the dye fixative (usually soda ash) in water and pour it over. I let the dye sit for an hour or more, or overnight, then rinse out the fabric in the sink. I then wash out excess dye with hot water in the washing machine, but you can do this in the sink, too, if you don't have a washer in your apartment. Using a fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye (instead of an all-purpose dye) assures that your results will be good.

You don't have to do your own dyeing, though, in order to own this beautiful fabric. By supporting other dyers, you can enjoy a wide range of styles, and concentrate your effort on what you want to do with them.

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Name: Gerrie

Message: I have been hand dyeing cotton, both vat, direct and lwi, processing with Procion MX dyes and soda ash for over 15 years.  For the last 8 years I have also been dying silk by soaking in vinegar, using Procion MX dyes then processing in plastic containers and baggies in a dedicated microwave. I always use a dust mask when I mix the powdered dye, and rubber gloves.  I use both types of fabric in my art quilts. 

Recently I twist wrapped a previously dyed and washed silk scarf  (Jacquard Acid Dye test) on an eight inch high Schedule 40 ABS pipe, brushed on Dharma Discharge Paste, rinsed in clear water, soaked in vinegar, applied concentrated Procion MX dyes mixed in chemical water (urea added), placed the pole upright in a recycled cottage cheese container, added more chemical water to cover the fabric and processed in the microwave, 30 seconds on and off for 4 minutes.  I let it cool, unwrapped, rinsed and then washed in synthrapol.

During the process I did not detect any strange odors, I was working at the rear of my garage with the sliding door opened, but when I was done I realized that my lungs hurt.  The pipe surface under the fabric was roughed up a little, but none came off on the scarf.

I have alternatives to use such as Rit Dye Remover, thiourea dioxide, an 8“ empty glass prayer candle container, and clear water, but I would really like to know what caused the lung problem before I try anything else.

I have been scouring your site for safety issues and could only find reference to cooking pvc pipe and the Brito article on discharging in Threads to give me any clues.  What did I do wrong?

Ps: The scarf came out beautifully.


This looks like a puzzle, Gerrie. It may take a little while to figure it out.

The main possibilities are:

1. An allergy to Procion MX dyes (less likely since you use a dustmask, but certainly not impossible)

2. Irritation caused by the sulfur dioxide from Dharma Discharge Paste, which is actually Jacquard Discharge Paste, containing (I'm told) Rongalit ST, as well as ammonia, urea, and water

3. some sort of fumes from heating the chemical water or the plastic - this seems less likely. The only problem with chemical water is if the urea has turned to ammonia, which can be irritating, but you would have noticed the ammonia smell.

4. one of the Jacquard Acid dyes you were using

All reducing discharges, including Jacquard Discharge Paste, produce irritating sulfur dioxide when heated, so that's my first guess. (See the reducing agents section of the page, "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".) There is no way around the fact that sulfur dioxide is irritating. I know that some people use their discharging microwaves outside, or somehow vent them to the outside, so that they do not get exposed to the fumes. You might have enough fume exposure to have a problem with discharging agents even with your garage door open. You might need to install large fans that pull the air away from your work area. However, you say that you rinsed the discharge paste before adding more dyes and microwaving. Do you heat the discharge paste at all? Do you see the discharging action on the dye before you rinse it? Do you think there may have been any traces of discharge paste by the time you did the last dyeing?

Sulfur dioxide is irritating to everyone, but to someone with a sensitivity to sulfites, reductive discharges may cause more problems. Have you ever had any sign of asthma? Do you have any troubles with sulfited foods or wines? Reductive discharges such as discharge paste, thiox, and Rit Color Remover all produce sulfur dioxide as their active principal. They are all less toxic than chlorine bleach, but there's a special issue with sensitivity (not an allergy) to the sulfur compounds that needs to be considered. (This is completely unrelated to and different from allergies to sulfa antibiotics such as Bactrim, though people commonly confuse "sulfur" with "sulfa".)

PRO Chemical & Dye recommends a NORTH 7700 series Dual Cartridge Air Purifying Respirator for use with thiox or formusol. That's something to consider. This is the same that you would use with hypochlorite (chlorine bleach), which requires an acid gas cartridge. Do you have one of these on hand? If not I would advise you to order one. Dharma Trading Company has another respirator. Make sure you get the acid gas cartridges.

The Jacquard Acid Dyes vary considerably in chemical structure, and belong to more than one sub-class of acid dyes. A reaction  to one acid dye does not necessarily imply that there will be a problem with any different acid dye. The timing of your reaction makes the Jacquard Acid dyes seem a less likely culprit in your case, however.

I hope that you are not developing an allergy to Procion MX dyes. It does sometimes happen. It is more likely to happen to those people who don't wear dustmasks or take other precautions, but it is still possible for an allergy to develop in some susceptible people with only slight exposures, and it is more likely in people who work with dyes all day every day. Caryl Bryer Fallert (see http://www.bryerpatch.com/) wrote on her web site that she had to quit using Procion MX dyes because she developed an allergy to them. She was able to continue with almost no changes in her art by switching to Cibacron F dyes, sold by PRO Chemical & Dye. You'll want to read her FAQ where she mentions this. Acid dyes vary a great deal in chemical structure, so an allergy to one type of acid dye does not necessarily mean a problem with another one, but all Procion MX dyes may cross-react if you are allergic to the reactive section of the dye molecule.

The plastic pipe itself seems to me to be the least likely item to be a problem. I don't think this should produce fumes. I could be wrong, though. ABS pipes are said to produce dangerous fumes when heated with a heat gun (e.g. here). I think that the ABS pipe is most likely just fine to heat the way you did, *IF* afterwards it is not visibly damaged, in shininess, texture, or color, by the heating. However, the change in texture on the pipe that you observed is a bit worrisome.

I think you should be very cautious in your next exposure to Procion MX dyes to see whether or not you seem to have any sensitivity to them. If not, then my guess is that the problem was most likely the sulfur dioxide, which is produced by all reducing discharges, including the alternative discharge materials you have on hand.

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