Archives for October, 2008

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Friday, October 31, 2008

How can I restore the color in a silk/nylon top that faded when I washed it?

Name: Pauline

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Lanaset dyes are
the most wash-resistant of wool dyes

(For silk, wool, angora,
mohair & nylon)
Buy from
Paradise Fibers

Washfast Acid dyes
at Paradise Fibers

Washfast Acid dyes
Also known as Nylomine dyes, excellent for use on nylon. One ounce of dye will dye six pounds of fiber!

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Message: I have a black knit top that is 72% silk and 28% nylon. I accidentally put it in the washer and the color faded. How can I restore the color? It's a lovely top. Thank you, Pauline

Now that you've washed it, you may want to keep on washing it instead of dry-cleaning it, using a delicate cycle to avoid damage, since washing in water is so much better for the environment, and healthier for you, too, in addition to costing less. This means that I recommend that you use the most washfast (wash-resistant) dye that you can.

For a true dark black, you will want to dye both the silk and the nylon. This means that you will want to use some sort of acid dyes, since acid dyes work well on both silk and nylon. All acid dyes require heating, so you will need a stainless steel or enameled cooking pot to do your dyeing in; do not plan to reuse this pot for cooking, once you've used it for dyeing. Aluminum pots, although cheap, won't do because they react with the vinegar used as an adjunct to the dyeing. You can buy a large enamel pot that is sold for use in canning. Whatever pot you use, be sure it's large enough for your garment to move freely in, or you will not get smooth, even results.

The very best black acid dye is the Lanaset Jet Black, which you can order by mail from Paradise Fibers, among other sources. The Washfast Acid Jet Black is also a very good black acid dye; it contains one of the two black dyes in the Lanaset Jet Black, at half the price. These two dyes are remarkably washfast, resisting even hot water. Other acid dyes wash out more easily, so clothing dyed with them should be washed only in cool water, separately from other colors of clothing (or dry cleaned). Jacquard Products sells a black acid dye mixture. Even an all-purpose dye mixture, such as Rit or Tintex dye, can be used, if you add a little vinegar to your dyebath to help the nylon take the leveling acid dye in the mixture, and use two to four times as much dye per pound of dry fabric as the package directs, since black, being the darkest of all colors, requires a lot of dye.

A less expensive solution is to use a cold water dye, which will not require you to invest in a dyeing pot. Procion MX dye works well in room temperature water, 70°F or above, so you can use it in a cheap plastic bucket, and stir, stir, stir. However, nylon cannot be dyed without some heat. When you use Procion MX dye with soda ash as the auxiliary chemical, only the silk will take the color. You will be able to get a dark gray, since 72% of your garment is silk, but not a true dark black, since the nylon will remain its current color. It is possible that only the silk lost its color when you washed the shirt, or only the nylon, so your outcome is a little unpredictable here.

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

How do you tie dye a shirt with food coloring?

How do you tie dye a shirt with food coloring?

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Food Coloring works as dye only on wool, silk, or nylon

Unsweetened drink mixes work great for dyeing wool

What different substances do I put in the bucket to tie dye my shirt for halloween?? and do I use the rubberbands or what do I use to actually get the tie dye effect?? help! thanks

Food coloring will not work on cotton! It will just wash out. Food coloring works well on wool, and it works moderately well on silk or nylon, because it belongs to the class of dyes known as acid dye. Unfortunately, acid dyes don't work at all on cotton or rayon, nor on polyester or acrylic.

To use food coloring to dye a shirt that is made of wool, silk, or nylon, you have to boil the shirt in a mixture of several bottles of food coloring with water and vinegar.

To dye a cotton shirt, you have to find a dye that works on cotton: best choice is to go to a crafts store and buy a fiber reactive dye intended for cotton, such as Procion MX dye, Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, or Dylon Permanent dye; if you can't find any of those, use all-purpose dye such as Rit dye, which is not as good but is far better for dyeing clothing than food coloring.

To dye polyester, either mail-order polyester dye (called disperse dye), or buy disperse dye crayons from the fabric store (they're called fabric crayons) and make your own iron-ons. You cannot dye polyester with food coloring or Rit dye. No dye that works on cotton or wool will work on polyester.

See:
• How to tie dye with Kool-aid and other forms of food coloring
and
• Using Food Coloring as a Textile Dye for Protein Fibers
for more information on using food coloring as a dye for clothing.

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[This answer was first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on October 30, 2008.]

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I read you can dye polyester by mixing the dye with rubbing alcohol, letting it dry and then ironing the item. Is it true?

Name: Krissy

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

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Fabric Crayons
contain iron-on
disperse dye

Message: I read you can dye polyester by mixing the dye with rubbing alcohol, letting it dry and then ironing the item. Is it true? I don't want to ruin my skirt. I need to do this by Friday (it's Wednesday now!) Help!!

No, I'm sorry. That's not true at all. You'll have to use Crayola or Dritz Fabric Crayons, instead.

The only way you can dye polyester a solid color is by boiling it with a special polyester dye called disperse dye. You cannot dye it with any dye that works on cotton or other natural fibers. You can't use any dye powder or liquid dye that your local stores carry, such as Rit dye or a tie-dye kit. See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".

Polyester is just too different, chemically, from natural fibers. Any dye that will work on cotton or wool will just wash out of polyester, and any dye that will work on polyester will just wash out of natural fibers. Rubbing alcohol won't make any difference at all, if you use Rit dye. As soon as any water hits the garment, Rit dye will bleed right out. It's not a good idea to wear anything you've dyed without rinsing out the unattached dye afterwards, because the unrinsed dye can caused allergic reactions or rashes, in addition to ruining any light-colored furniture or other clothing that you brush against while wearing it.

There is one way you can color your polyester skirt, using locally-available materials. Go to a crafts store or a fabric store and look for "Fabric Crayons" or "Transfer Crayons". Do NOT use ordinary crayons such as are intended for use on paper. Although fabric crayons look just like regular crayons, they are made of completely different stuff. Fabric crayons are made of disperse dye, which is the right kind of dye to use for polyester. Do not color them directly onto your skirt. Instead, color them onto paper, place the crayoned side of the paper against your skirt, and iron with a medium-to-hot iron. The dye will be vaporized and transferred to the polyester in your skirt. This will also work on nylon or acrylic, but not on any natural fiber. Look at the following page for an example of how I used fabric crayons to color fabric: "Iron-on Fabric Crayons for Synthetic Fibers".

For a more-or-less solid color on a whole skirt, you will have to use several packs of crayons and color several sheets of paper repeatedly. You can reuse the same piece of paper many times, as long as you are using the same color. Look at the links at the in the left margin of this message for pictures of some packages of fabric crayons, then go to your local crafts store or fabric store to look for them.

Alternatively, you could use some sort of spray paint, but that will certainly ruin your skirt.

To do a good job of dyeing a polyester skirt another color, you must boil it in a very large stainless steel or enamel pot with disperse dye, which you can mail order from Blick Art Materials or Dharma Trading Company under the brand name "iDye Poly", or from PRO Chemical & Dye or Aljo Dye.

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Do you think if I dye a light brown shirt red it will look ok?

Do you think if I dye a light brown shirt red it will look ok? I'm making my own costume and I have a light brown shirt that is the perfect style for my pirate costume but I need a red shirt so my question is: Do you think if I dye a light brown shirt red it will come out ok? The fabric is 100% rayon, whatever that is. Also, when you dye clothing does it stay permanent or do you have to do it a few times? and does it rub off on your skin?

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Rayon dyes beautifully, assuming that you're talking about viscose rayon, not acetate. (See "How to Dye Rayon".) The word "rayon" generally refers to viscose rayon. The best dye to use is a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You won't be able to find this dye in the grocery store, but all good crafts stores should carry it, and some fabric stores, as well. Look for Jacquard Procion MX dye, or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, or Dylon Cold Water Dye, or Dylon Permanent Dye. In the UK or Australia, you can use Dylon Machine Dye, but it's not available in North America.

If you use one of the dyes I recommend, and follow your dyeing by washing out the unattached excess dye (wash once in cool water and then at least twice in very hot water), then no dye will rub off on your skin, and it will be safe even to toss your dyed items in the washing machine with white clothes. Properly used Procion MX dye simply does not fade or run. (The same cannot be said for all purpose dye such as Rit, a hot-water dye that fades badly and bleeds a bit whenever you wash it.)

You will not be able to get a bright, true red unless you are dyeing a perfectly white garment. If you use bright red dye on a light brown shirt, you will end up with a brownish red. If it's important to you to get a bright red, consider using Rit Color Remover to lighten your shirt before you dye it. It will not work on some dyes, but you won't know until you try it whether or not it will work on your shirt. (See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".)

Be careful when you dye rayon, or wash it. Rayon is a fiber that is very fragile when it is wet. It is much more likely to tear when wet than when dry. Never wash rayon with heavy garments such as jeans in the same load, always use a super-delicate setting or a lingerie bag, and lift rayon carefully when it is wet.

One other consideration is that the stitching that holds your shirt together is almost certainly polyester. This means that the seams will stay the original color, while the fabric takes the color of your dye. Will the combination of light brown seams with red fabric look good? It depends on the style of the stitching and the shirt.

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[This answer was first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on September 30, 2008.]

Monday, October 27, 2008

Can I dye a pale yellow cotton/poly shirt to a brighter yellow?

Name: miki

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Message: Hi. I tried searching and sifting through the FAQ's, but didn't come up with an answer. I apologize if i missed it somewhere. I have a pale yellow shirt (like lemon custard 60% cotton 40% polyester) that I'm hoping to dye to a brighter yellow, maybe like egg yolk (is that more orangey yellow?). Based on information I found on your site i purchased procion mx dye in 010 golden yellow. do you think I'll be able to achieve the deeper yellow I'm hoping for with this, or do you recommend another type/color of dye? your input is greatly appreciated!

Overdyeing a pale yellow to make a bright orange-yellow should work very well, better than most color changes. Since your shirt is 60% cotton, it will take the dye to be only 60% as dark as you would expect for a 100% cotton piece. You may end up with a 'heathered' effect, depending on how the polyester and cotton were woven together. I believe that it will work out fine for you, though.

If you want a smooth solid color, you will have to do a lot of stirring in a large five-gallon bucket, or use a washing machine. (You probably do not have enough dye now for use in a washing machine, though.) For this high-water ratio form of dyeing, you will need a significant quantity of salt, to help drive the dye onto the fabric where it can react with the cotton. You will also need soda ash. Follow the instructions provided on the web sites for PRO Chemical & Dye or Dharma Trading Company.

If you do not care about getting a perfectly smooth solid color, you will find that the low water immersion method for dyeing (also known as LWI) is much less trouble, because it does not require stirring. Your colors on the shirt will range from the current pale yellow to a very deep golden yellow. Low water immersion dyeing is the easiest of all forms of dyeing, and to many people one of the most beautiful, but it won't do at all if you must have a solid color. See "How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing".

There are some possible pitfalls in using dye to change the color of clothing. The worst is the fact that many commercial garments that are not sold as PFD ("Prepared For Dyeing") have surface finishes that will block dye. Problems can occur with permanent press finishes, pill-resistant finishes, and particularly stain-resistant finishes. In some cases, also, you might find that one of the pieces of fabric from which the garment was constructed may take the dye darker or lighter than another piece. This is relatively rare, but it does happen now and then, and there's nothing to be done about it. The differences are less visible with LWI than with high water ratio dyeing.

It is possible to dye both the polyester and the cotton in the blend for a very dark or intense color, by dyeing the polyester with disperse dye and the cotton with either fiber reactive dye or direct dye, but I think that in your case it would be best to try just the fiber reactive dye alone (your Procion MX dye). Dyeing polyester is a pain because it requires extensive boiling in the dye, which will damage some garments, and it requires that you invest in a non-reactive dyeing pot.

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Sunday, October 26, 2008

My daughter is doing well on her tie-dying experiment, but we are stuck on one of the questions....

Name: Amy

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Kit contains reactive yellow 86, reactive red 11, and reactive blue 140. (See chart.)

Message: Hi Paula,

My daughter is doing well on her tie-dying experiment, but we are stuck on one of the questions.....

The problem in this experiment is: Does the type of material affect the absorbtion of the dye??

What she needs to do is to write a paragraph of background information to the problem??? Can you tell us where to find this information and suggestions of what to write?? (she is using 100% cotton, 100% polyester and a 65% polyester/35% cotton material to do the project)... The rest of it was easy, but we are simply stuck with this question.

Thank you in advance for your help. Your response is very much appreciated.

What kind of tie-dye kit did she use? The dyes found in the Jacquard tie dye kit are all fiber reactive dyes of the Procion MX type: reactive yellow 86, reactive red 11 (fuchsia), and reactive blue 140 (turquoise). Most tie dye kits are the same. The Rit tie dye kit and the Magic Strings tie dye kit both use a completely different kind of dye, so it matters a great deal what brand of tie dye kit she used, as the explanation will be a little different.

Cotton is made of cellulose (the main structural material made by plants). This is a key point. You can find a picture showing the chemical structure of cellulose. Fiber reactive dyes can form a bond directly to the cellulose molecule, but they cannot react with polyester at all, because it does not have the right chemical structure. Polyester is made from petroleum products, but not in a way that mimics the structure of cellulose, except that they are both long polymers. (All textile fibers consist of very long chains molecules, which are twisted together to make yarns for weaving or knitting.)

Look at this page: "I'm wondering if you could explain the chemistry behind why cotton can't be dyed at an acidic pH". On it I show a picture of cellulose, and a picture of the chemical reaction between a typical fiber reactive dye and the cellulose. Your daughter may print out, cut out, and use the pictures from that page, as long as she gives credit as to where she found the pictures. Make sure she includes a bibliography at the end that lists where she found information. (There is a creation date at the bottom of each of my web pages.)

You can find a picture of the chemical structure of a polyester fiber by doing a web search. You can see that the polyester molecule does not contain the same chemical structure as the cellulose molecule. It lacks the -O-H group that is the site of the reaction of the fiber reactive dye with the fiber.

Also see "About Different Types of Dyes", and "About Fiber Reactive Dyes", and "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes". There are chemical structures of many Procion MX type fiber reactive dyes on this page: What is the chemical structure of Procion MX dye?

Polyester can be dyed only with disperse dyes, not with any other type of dye. It can't be dyed with fiber reactive dyes because it lacks the site that reacts with the dye. Polyester also can't be dyed with direct dyes, such as the cotton dyes in Rit dye, because the long molecules of direct dye do not fit inside the polyester fiber the way they do inside the cellulose fiber. That is harder to picture and harder to understand, though. Rit dye does not react with cellulose, it just associates with it loosely, which is why it fades so much more quickly than a good tie-dye kit does, and bleeds so badly in the laundry. If your daughter used Rit dye she should not talk about fiber reactive dye, but instead about all-purpose and direct dye.

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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Can I dye a sweater that is 100% acrylic?

Can I dye a sweater that is 100% acrylic?

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton or poly/rayon blends

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Stainless Steel 10 Gallon Stock Pot with Lid

My friend gave me this sweater that is made of 100% acrylic fabric. It's this hideous hot pink color, which really isn't my style. Is there any way I can dye it a different color? I'm thinking maybe put black on it and turn it a mauve color. Would that work?

Acrylic is a difficult fiber to dye. You can't use the same kinds of dyes that work on natural fibers. Don't try all-purpose dye (such as Rit dye) or fiber reactive dye (such as a tie dye kit), because the dye will just wash out of acrylic, no matter what you try to fix it with. See my page on How to Dye Acrylic.

There are two kinds of dye that work on acrylic. The safer type is called disperse dye; it is the same kind of dye used to dye polyester. You can buy it only by mail-order. Sources for disperse dye include PRO Chemical & Dye, which sells "PROsperse" disperse dye, and Blick Art Materials, which sells "iDye Poly" disperse dye. You will not be able to get a very dark or intense color on acrylic with disperse dye, but it will produce good pale to medium shades. If you use blue disperse dye, your sweater will turn light purple; blue and black together should turn it mauve.

The other type of dye that works on acrylic is called basic dye. It's hard to find, ever since Jacquard discontinued their Wood & Reed Dyes. You can still buy basic dyes by mail-order from Aljo Dyes in New York. However, I do not recommend that you use basic dyes in your kitchen, because some of them are suspected of causing cancer. Disperse dyes are safer for home use.

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[This answer was first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on October 11, 2008.]

Friday, October 24, 2008

I have a RED wool pea coat that I just LOVE but just taking it out of the plastic it was packaged in caused my fingers to turn pink

Name: Tracey

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Retayne sets dye but requires hot water

Lanaset dyes are
the most wash-resistant of wool dyes

(For silk, wool, angora,
mohair & nylon)
Buy from
Paradise Fibers

Message: I have a RED wool pea coat that I just LOVE but just taking it out of the plastic it was packaged in caused my fingers to turn pink. What is the best idea for trying to set the dye or stop this "bleeding"? Can I wash a wool coat?? (The local dry cleaner didn't want to touch it.)

What does the care label say? If it does not say that you can wash it, then there is nothing you can do. You will have to return it where you bought it. Good luck in finding the same style again from a better manufacturer.

If the coat is washable, then you can try washing it until the excess color comes out. Do NOT use vinegar or another acid, as this will encourage some types of wool dye to wash out even if they are properly attached. The only way that you can solve crocking is by removing the loose dye. Use a neutral detergent such as Synthrapol or any detergent marketed for use specifically on wool. Soak the coat for several hours or overnight, if a single washing proves insufficient. Unless the label says otherwise, use only cool water, so that you do not cause the coat to shrink. Hot water works better at removing dye, but there's no point in solving the dye problem if the coat is too small or mishapen afterwards to wear.

Crocking is the name for dye rubbing off of a dry garment. It is different from the problem of non-washfast dye, which rubs off only when damp. Do not wear a garment that crocks dye, because it will ruin other fabrics, such as furniture or the other clothing you wear with it. (The transferred dye can usually be removed by washing in HOT water, but this is often not an option, such as in the case of upholstered furniture, or non-washable shoes, or clothing that can be washed only in cool water.)

The problem of poor washfastness, which you might also have, can be solved only after enough of the excess dye is removed that crocking no longer occurs from the dry fabric. If you have succeeded in that, then you can apply a cationic dye fixative, such as Retayne, but only if the garment can be washed in HOT water, which is very unlikely for a wool coat; it will probably shrink badly. Retayne will solve poor washfastness, which is what happens when a garment bleeds when it gets wet. Retayne will not solve crocking. Retayne is applied in a washing machine full of hot water. It will not work on vat dyes, such as the indigo used to dye denim, but it will work on most acid dyes and reactive dyes. The only problem is that the hot water you have to use to apply it is probably strongly contraindicated for a wool coat.

When wool has been properly dyed, no dye will rub off of it when it is dry. The washfastness of wool dyes vary dramatically: Lanaset dyes will not wash off even in hot 140°F water, while Kiton dyes, similar to the dyes found in all-purpose dyes such as Rit, will tend to fade and bleed in water over 105°F, so clothing dyed with them should be hand-washed in cool water only. No properly applied dyes will crock off of the fabric when dry, though; the fact that the dye in your coat rubs off indicates that the manufacturer used defective practices, or at least failed to do the required washing-out after dyeing.

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

I need a book that lists the chemical structure of dyes, preferably reactive dyes, along with their common names and CI number

Name: Wayne

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Message: I need a book that lists the chemical structure of dyes, preferably reactive dyes, along with their common names and CI no. Does such a book or source exist?

The best single source of information on dyes is the Colour Index. Unfortunately, it is very expensive. The Society of Dyers and Colourists, in the UK, currently charges £320 per year for single-user access to the Colour Index 4th Edition Online Part 2: Dyes and Related Products. This publication contains common names and generic CI names for most but not all dyes in commercial use. In some cases, it also gives a chemical structure, if I recall correctly from the old printed 3rd edition, but not always.

If you have a university near you, contact them to find out whether they subscribe to the Colour Index, or whether they have an old printed copy of an earlier edition, and will allow you to look at it.

Given a common name for a dye, such as, say, "red MX-8B", by clever web searching you can often determine its generic Color Index name (e.g., reactive red 11); alternatively, if you are buying a dye from a certain source, they should be able to tell you its generic name, unless it is a mixture of two or more dyes. If you have the Colour Index name of a dye, you can sometimes find a drawing of its chemical structure online somewhere.

For reviews of several textile dyeing books that include some structural information, please see my page of "Reviews of Books and Videos on Hand Dyeing and Fabric Painting".

I have found chemical structures for a number of dyes in assorted textile dyeing publications (generally only one example of each dye class per book) and have placed them on my website when I've found them. See, for example, "What is the chemical structure of Procion MX dye?", and "Vinyl Sulfone Fiber Reactive Dyes", as well as blog entries such as the following:
"What is the chemical structure of reactive red 3:1",
"Please tell me the structure and properties of 2 dyestuffs: moderacid black MD & moderacid sky blue?",
"Chemical structure of Acid Red 266",
"Do you know the structures of those dyes: acid blue 40, direct red 23 and disperse yellow 7?,
"Chemical, biological and physical processes and properties that generate colours in clothing", and
"Where can we buy reactive orange 14 for laboratory research?".

I list Colour Index names for a large number of other dyes whose structures I do not show. See
"Which Procion MX dyes are pure, and which are mixtures?",
"Which Procion H dyes are pure unmixed colors, and which mixtures?" ,
and other entries in my All About Dyes & Dyeing FAQ.

I also have drawings showing how Procion MX and Drimarene K dyes react with cellulose, with detailed drawings of the chemical structures before, during and after the reactions. See
"I'm wondering if you could explain the chemistry behind why cotton can't be dyed at an acidic pH",
"chemical reaction for a dichlorotriazine dye with cellulose" (same drawing),
and "Science Fair Question: Why did the fabric that was dyed with all ammonia come out lighter?".

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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

How do you correct a bad dye job on linen fabric?

How do you correct a bad dye job on linen fabric?

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Rit Color Remover Removes Dyes

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Good dyes produce better results

I was home dying linen for an art project and it turned out splotchy. I used red. Is there anyway to fix it?

Don't just redye the linen. Since dye is transparent, the regions of your fabric that are lighter now will still be lighter after you redye it.

Instead, use Rit Color Remover (sodium dithionite) or Jacquard Color Remover (thiourea dioxide) to remove the dye. Both of these chemicals are used in hot water and are much gentler to the fabric than chlorine bleach. Rit Color Remover can often be found at grocery stores or pharmacies, in addition to crafts stores. See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".

After removing the dye, wash the linen very thoroughly in hot water with extra soda ash to help remove surface treatments that prevent the dye from reaching the fabric evenly.

To redye the linen after removing the bad dye job, use a large enough container, with enough water in your dyebath for the fabric to move very freely as you stir it. Follow the recipe for the dye you use closely, and stir constantly. Most uneven dye jobs are caused by using too small a pot or not stirring enough.

The best dye to use for linen is fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. It works better than all-purpose dyes such as Rit or Tintex, and, since it can be used in cool water, it does not require the use of an enormous cooking pot. A 5-gallon plastic bucket, or the washing machine, will do fine.

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[This answer was first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on October 12, 2008.]

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

How can I dye coveralls beige, for a Halloween costume?

I'm looking to dye 3 sets of white coveralls (basically overalls) to a beige color for a Ghostbusters Halloween costume. How would you dye these items? Thanks!

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton or poly/rayon blends

What is the fiber content of your coveralls? You must match the dye you choose to the fiber, or else the dye will just wash out.

If your coveralls are 100% cotton, or another plant fiber such as linen, hemp, bamboo, or rayon, then they will be very easy to dye in the washing machine using a fiber reactive dye. In the US, I recommend Procion MX dye. You can also use Dylon Permanent dye in a plastic bucket, stirring frequently to avoid uneven dyeing. In Europe and Australia, I recommend Dylon Machine Dye.

If your coverall is 100% polyester, it can be dyed only by boiling it with a special polyester dye called disperse dye. No dye that works on natural fibers will dye polyester. One brand of disperse dye you can mail-order is called "iDye Poly".

For a cotton/polyester coverall, you can most easily just choose to dye the cotton content, and leave the polyester fibers undyed. This won't work for a bright or dark color, but will be fine for beige. If only half of the fiber in your coverall is a dyeable natural fiber, dyeing it brown will make a good beige. Start out using less dye than you think you'll need, because it's easy to redye to make it darker, but a real pain to remove the color after you have dyed it. If you are going to be using these coveralls repeatedly, you need to use a good long-lasting wash-proof dye such as Procion or Dylon dye. If you will only need to wear them once or twice, a less permanent dye such as Rit all-purpose dye is just fine, as long as there is enough cotton in your coveralls to dye. Rit won't dye polyester at all, but it will dye cotton, though it fades much more quickly than Procion dyes.

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[This answer was first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on October 20, 2008.]

Monday, October 20, 2008

How can I dye pants for a 'Joker' costume?

Name: John

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton or poly/rayon blends

Stainless Steel 10 Gallon Stock Pot with Lid

Cotton pants, in white, dye better than poly-blend or dark colored pants.

Color polyester blends with fabric paints

Message: Hi I am trying to find out if it is possible to dye over gray clothing. I found the question but you only answered about if the clothing was black. I am planning to be the Joker this Halloween and finding pinstripe pants to dye purple has been a real pain. I wish I had read this website before because I recently tried to dye black 65% polyester pants with RIT purple dye and it came out still black unfortunately. These are the pants I plan to purchase and dye with RIT Purple dye. They are 49% Cotton, 34% Polyester, and 17% rayon.

Don't buy those pants if all you want to do is dye them. Buy dyeable pants instead. And don't use Rit dye, as it will not work at all on polyester and, to work well even on cotton, it requires that you simmer it with your clothing in a large cooking pot; using a cool water dye such as Procion dye on 100% cotton will allow you to use a cheap plastic bucket instead. Dyeing polyester requires a special kind of hot water dye called disperse dye; polyester cannot be dyed with all-purpose dyes such as Rit, nor with any other dye that works on natural fibers.

Instead of finding inappropriate-for-dyeing trousers and trying to dye them, you need to find some dyeable white trousers and dye those. The results will be far better.

The important point here is that dye is transparent. The color you start with will show through any color of dye! If you want to dye something to be purple, you can't start with a dark color such as charcoal gray. The best you will end up with, if you do, is a slightly purplish dark gray, which won't work for a Joker costume at all. You MUST start out with a light color, if you want to end up with an obvious purple. You can start with a light blue or pink, that's fine, since those colors can be mixed into purple (pink plus blue equals purple), but you can't start with any color that is dark. White is always best for any clothing you want to dye to a bright color.

To get a feel for this, get yourself some colored paper and some watercolor paint. Try using purple paint on top of white paper, on top of pink paper, and on top of gray paper. You will see that adding purple to gray gives dull, dark, and far less vivid results than adding purple to a light color. It's fine to overdye gray trousers if you want a subtle purplish gray, but it's no good at all if what you want is a bright purple. A paler gray, such as the "Gray Plaid" version of your Old Navy pants, will show color better, though not quite as well as some white cotton pants would. Also note that you cannot get a solid color by dyeing any sort of plaid or herringbone design; the design will still show through after dyeing. If you want to end up with a solid color, you must start with a solid color, preferably white. If you start with a pinstripe design, the stripes should still show through, even if only faintly, after you dye it, or you can add a pinstripe afterwards to a solid color with fabric paint, if you have a very steady hand for straight lines.

The fiber content is very important, too. You must match your dye choice to the fiber your clothing is made of. If you had some white or light pink pants that were made of 49% Cotton, 34% Polyester, and 17% rayon, you'd have a total of 66% dyeable fiber there. The 34% of the fiber that is polyester will stay the original color, because it won't take any ordinary dye. That means that your purple will end up only 66% as dark as the color you are trying to reach, if you're dyeing white material, since only 66% of the fiber in the pants will take the dye. You can dye both of the fibers in some white cotton/polyester blend pants by boiling them (in a five-gallon stainless steel pot that you do not intend to use for cooking food again) for at least half an hour at a high boil with "iDye Poly" for polyester fiber mixed with "iDye" for cotton and rayon, but these dyes can be purchased by mail-order only, and they are not as long-lasting and unfading as fiber reactive dyes used on 100% cotton or rayon. Polyester is a pain to dye and will not take color from dyes that work on natural fibers. Don't even try to use all-purpose dye, such as Rit dye.

Dharma Trading Company sells a great many different kinds of clothing that are white and prepared for dyeing, and also made of easily dyeable fibers. These are the best sort of thing to start with. They do not have any dress trousers, but they do have scrub pants which dye up great and are inexpensive, besides. See their section on "Men's Shorts and Pants". These cotton pants can be dyed with Procion cool water fiber reactive dyes, so you can dye them at room temperature in a plastic bucket, instead of requiring a very large stainless steel dyeing pot as you do with all hot water dyes. Procion dyes are better than Rit, and much easier to apply since they do not require heat. Dharma is a good place to buy good Procion dyes.

Amazon sells some 100% cotton men's pants in white which should be much more suitable than your earlier choice for dyeing, since they are white, 100% cotton, and apparently not treated with a permanent press or stain-resistant finish, which will repel dye. The price is much higher than Dharma's, at $50, but the style is closer to what you had in mind, with beltloops. Good results are not as certain as with the Dharma PFD clothing, but far more likely than with the Old Navy pants you were looking at. See the following link:
white cotton men's trousers at Amazon

If you buy the Old Navy pants that are grey and 49% Cotton, 34% Polyester, and 17% rayon, you MIGHT be able to remove some of their color with Rit Color Remover or Jacquard Color Remover. If this works, so that the original color becomes much lighter, then the dye will show up much better. Both of these color remover chemicals require hot water to work, and they work better at 180°F, on the stovetop, than in the hot tap water that is all you have available to you in a washing machine. However, the ease of using a washing machine is so much greater that it's worth trying first.

Be sure to buy the pants on the large side, since the hot water you're going to be using might shrink them. There is absolutely no guarantee that any color removing product will work on any particular garment you buy. Sometimes the manufacturers use a dye that can be removed or lightened in color, and sometimes they don't, but there is no way to tell before you try it. You will not be able to return the pants to the store if you try Rit Color Remover or dye on them but find that it does not work, so there's a risk here. Whatever you do,don't use bleach on these pants! Bleach causes an unsightly permanent yellow stain on polyester. Rit Color Remover works differently and is much safer for your synthetic-fiber clothing. Still, no guarantees. Your pants may be just as dark and undyeable after you use the color remover, depending on what kind of dye it was originally colored with. It may very well end up costing less, in money, time, and trouble, to just buy some appropriate purple pants from a costumer's shop. 'The Joker' is an extremely popular costume idea this year, judging from my mail, and there are costumes commercially available in a wide range of prices and quality.

One last option to consider is pigment dyeing, in which you use a thin fabric paint (such as Dye-na-Flow or Dharma Pigment Dyes) to color your fabric instead of dye. The advantages are that boiling is not required, and that the paint will color both natural and synthetic fibers at the same time. Unfortunately, you can't get a perfectly smooth solid color with pigment dyeing, so it will not give quite the effect you're after for your Joker's pinstriped purple pants.

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Sunday, October 19, 2008

soy wax spread beyond the design before dyeing

Name: Laurie

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Message: Paula,I searched and wasn't able to find anything about this problem anywhere. I used soy wax on an outfit for my granddaughter. By the way it worked great, didn't come off in the dye bath at all. My problem is that when I was applying the wax it spread causing my Care Bear face and my hearts to have white spaces around them where the dye didn't take. It looks sort of cool with the hearts but the bear face looks like a big mistake. Do you know of any way to prevent wax from creeping? Thanks, and Thanks A Bunch for the best web site on dyeing

I'll bet you can salvage the design by adding highlights with a fabric paint, such as Lumiere, that is either opaque, pearlescent, or metallic. Other types of fabric paints won't show up well on the dark background, but these three types will, and a pearlescent or metallic paint often adds a very nice touch to hand-dyed designs. An alternative repair method would be to use the same Procion type dyes you used before, but thicken them with sodium alginate or Superclear, so that they stay exactly where you put them, and carefully paint them on, either adding the soda ash directly to the dye, or presoaking the shirt in soda ash again. Of course you will get a different effect where two layers of dye overlap, darker in color than where you have only a single layer of dye, so you probably won't want to just cover up the lighter blotches; adding to the design may work well, though.

Your question is, why did the soy wax run beyond the area you intended to cover? My first thought is that you might have used a different type of soy wax. Where did you buy it? There are different grades of soy wax; some are thinner than others, depending on the degree of chemical processing the soy wax has been subjected to. For batik work, we want the very most hardened type of soy wax. The pillar-type candle soy wax is often recommended, but I am not sure whether all brands of soy wax are equally good. (Avoid container-type soy wax.) Both PRO Chemical & Dye and Dharma Trading Company sell soy wax for use in batiking fabric.

Would it be possible for you to apply less wax at a time if you used a different application tool? Perhaps a finer brush or tjanting would work better for you.

A different problem people complain of with soy wax is that, if it is not hot enough when it is applied, it will not fully penetrate the fabric. This results in dye penetrating under the edge of the wax. To correct this problem, one needs to heat the soy wax to a higher temperature when melting it. Using a double boiler is not ideal. For best results, you can treat it just like beeswax, heating it in an electric skillet or other thermostat-controlled wax-melting pot. Although soy wax has a lower melting temperature than beeswax, it also cools down more quickly, which can keep it from penetrating the fabric well. In your case, it seemed that the soy wax penetrated too well, but I think that using cooler soy wax would cause more problems, rather than solving the one you have.

Soy wax is very convenient for its washing-out properties. You don't have to boil or iron it out, as you do the traditional beeswax and paraffin. However, it can cause problems when washed down the drain of the washing machine, just as putting melted animal fat down the sink can. The material can congeal when the temperature gets below its melting point, and can clog up the pipes, resulting in an expensive plumbing repair call. To avoid this, use a lot of detergent to keep the soy wax in suspension, or hand wash in a basin or bucket, with hot water, to remove the bulk of the wax before putting it in the washing machine. When you hand wash it, you can be more certain that you have the wax well suspended in the water with detergent, or you can let the wash water cool and remove the bulk of the wax that way. I've also seen the suggestion that you allow the wash water to cool and then pour it on the ground outside, since soy wax is biodegradable, but, in that case, you want to be sure that your wash water does not contain much soda ash or detergent. Soda ash is bad for plants because of its sodium content and its high pH.

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Saturday, October 18, 2008

very smooth gradients for quilting

Name: Jane

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Message: Thanks for a great, well written site. I found just what I needed on your gradient dying page - you have excellent instructions. But I just had to laugh at the guy trying to dye the meat, (your response was perfect) and the folks with the canvas couch that turned their hands blue. :D

I'm trying to dye some very smooth gradients for quilting. I have done a LOT of tie dying with procion dyes, weekend workshops with hundreds of kids... but never a nice even gradient like I'll need for my quilt blocks.

Another site was suggesting that I could roll the fabric smoothly around a dowel, then put the entire thing in the dye bath... that the edges and outer wrapped bit would be darker, and that the color would fade evenly as it soaked thru to the inner layers of fabric. Have you ever tried anything like that?

I'm afraid that wrapping the cloth around the dowel will cause a less perfect gradient. There will inevitably be some imperfection in the rolling, so you'll get more of a low water immersion effect with variations in color. The results could be very nice, but not, I think, the perfect smooth gradient you're looking for. If you roll loosely, there will be less of the LWI patterning, but then the inside will be nearly as dark as the outside.

I have not actually tried the dowel-wrapping method for a gradient. I did something similar in rolling a garment up around a rope, but then I tied the rope to make a ruching pattern, which you're obviously not intending to do. The shapes produced by the ruching were intriguing, but, since I originally place the rope horizontally on the garment before rolling, the overall effect was one of horizontal stripes, not the most flattering thing to wear.

You've already seen these instructions, "Dip dyeing for an ombré gradient effect" from March 7, 2008. They are really the best I have to offer, for smooth gradient effects, detailing first the dip-dyeing method for as perfect a gradient as possible, then the quick-and-easy tie-dye recipe gradient method.

Please consider joining the Dye Forum. I'd love to hear about what methods end up working best for you.

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Friday, October 17, 2008

How can I dye my mustard-colored terrywool trousers?

Name: kamal

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Message: I have a very costly terrywool trouser which is mustard color. I want to dye it in some other suitable color. Which color will be most suited and what type of dye will be best?

From what I read, the fabric called terrywool is actually a blend of 35% Merino wool and 65% polyester. Wool plus polyester is a difficult fiber blend to dye.

The only way to dye the polyester is with a special dye called disperse dye; no dye that works on wool will work at all on polyester, as it will just wash out of the synthetic fiber. However, the extensive boiling required to dye polyester with disperse dye is apt to shrink and possibly felt your trousers. It is best to dye a terrywool polyester/wool blend in the form of fabric, before the material has been sewn into a garment, so that the shrinkage is not a problem. It's likely that the polyester fiber is normally dyed in thread form, before it is ever mixed with the wool at all. See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".

If you ignore the polyester in the blend, and just dye the wool, you may end with a sort of heather effect, in which the wool fibers are much darker in color than the polyester fibers, which remain unchanged. You might find the mustard color of your trousers improved by this. How do you think it would look if you dyed only the wool in the blend a dark brown, say? You can do this by use of acid dyes, such as Lanaset dye. See "Dyeing Protein Fibers".

Dyeing even just the wool in your poly/wool trousers will require that you obtain a very large cooking pot, large enough for the garment to move freely in the water-plus-dye mixture you then put in the pot. Ten gallons is a good size. The pot should not be made of a reactive metal such as aluminum or iron; the only acceptable materials are stainless steel or enameled. After you use this pot for dyeing, you should not reuse it for cooking food, because textile dyes are not tested for safety when used on food preparation surfaces. All textile dyes should be assumed to contaminate cooking pots. A ten-gallon stainless steel or enamel dyeing pot is a significant investment. If you are going to be doing a lot of hot-water dyeing, it's an excellent investment, but the cost is too high to be worthwhile if the only item you will be dyeing is this one pair of trousers.

The remaining alternative way to color your trousers is by means of fabric paint. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers". The advantages are that you do not have to boil the fabric paint to set it, but instead only to press it with a hot iron, so neither shinkage nor the expense of a dyepot are issues, and that some brands of fabric paint will work on synthetic fibers such as polyester at the same time that they work on natural fibers such as wool. However, fabric paint, or pigment dyeing, never results in a perfectly smooth solid color, however; if you try to pigment-dye your trousers with fabric paint, such as Dharma's Pigment Dye System, you will find that the results are not perfectly even. The look of pigment dyeing on cotton is fashionable for its "instant age" effect, but it is probably not what you have in mind for your terrywool trousers.

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

What kind of dye should I use for a white plush bunny Halloween costume?

Name: Kimberly

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All purpose dye can be used for Halloween costumes made of nylon, cotton, or rayon

Acid dyes are the best choice for nylon and wool

Washfast Acid dyes
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Washfast Acid dyes

Tulip One Step contains Procion MX type dye for cotton, rayon, or silk

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Message: Hi. I have a white plush bunny costume that I need to dye black for halloween. What kind of dye would work the best and what would be the best way to do it?

It depends on the fiber content of the plush. Is it made of cotton, or acrylic, or polyester, or nylon, or what? This is a very important question. If you use the wrong kind of dye, it will just rinse right out of the fabric, and your effort and the cost of your supplies will be wasted.

Can you snip off a bit of material from an inside seam to do a burn test? Nylon, acrylic, and polyester burn differently, they produce different smells as they burn, and they leave a different ash or bead after burning. Check out these two sites:

When you snip out your test sample, be sure to get the part of the fabric you want to dye. Don't worry about the fiber content of the backing, since it's the surface fibers that show for the plush fabric.

If your plush is made from cotton or rayon (not very likely), then the fabric will be very easy to dye with a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, or Dylon Permanent Dye, or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye. (These dyes will not work on polyester or acrylic, and they will work on nylon only if vinegar plus heat is substituted for soda ash.) All purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex, can also be used on cotton or nylon; though the results are poor compared to fiber reactive dye, and their requirement for heat during application makes them much more difficult to use properly, they can be good enough for a one-time use as a Halloween costume.

For all of the fibers that cannot be dyed with a cool water dye such as Procion MX dye, you will have to invest in a very large non-aluminum dyeing pot. All hot water dyes require a dyeing pot for use. This can be a significant investment. The pot should be large enough to allow the costume to move freely in the boiling water as you stir it with the dye. You should not reuse a dyeing pot for cooking after you've dyed fabric in it, because textile dyes have not been tested as safe for use in food preparation containers. The only dye that is suitable for use in cooking pots is food coloring, which will not work on most fibers; textile dyes such as Rit should not be used in your good cooking pots.

If, instead of cotton or rayon, you find that your plush is made of polyester, you cannot use any of the dyes mentioned above. All dyes that work on natural fibers will completely fail to work on polyester or acrylic. You will have to mail-order a special type of dye called disperse dye. You can get this from PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts, Aljo Dye in New York, or Batik Oetoro in Australia. A new brand of disperse dye, Jacquard Products' "iDye Poly", can be ordered from Blick Art Materials or Dharma Trading Company in the US, as well as Fibrecrafts in the UK.

Acrylic is the hardest case. Acrylic fabric can be dyed with disperse dyes, but the darkest color you can obtain will be a medium tone: gray, not black. Unfortunately, the only other type of dye that will work on acrylic plush is called basic dye; this type of dye is more toxic than disperse dye, and some of them may be carcinogenic and are not at all suitable to use in your home, for safety reasons. You can buy modified basic dyes from Aljo Dyes in New York (be sure to tell them what fiber you are dyeing, so they can help you choose your dyes).

Most microfiber is made of polyester, but some is made of nylon. Nylon is a completely synthetic fabric, but it can be dyed like wool, by heating it with acid dyes. The best acid dyes are the Lanaset dyes or Washfast Acid dyes, but you can find less wash-resistant acid dyes in all-purpose dyes such as Rit or Tintex. You will get best results if you add a little harmless acid to your dyebath, say six tablespoons of white vinegar per gallon of water. Dissolve the dye in the water, add vinegar, and then heat the nylon gently in the dyebath to a temperature no higher than 185°F(a low simmer). You can get brilliant results by dyeing nylon with acid dyes. It can also be dyed with disperse dyes, but there's no reason to go to the trouble of using disperse dyes, since acid dyes are easier to buy and to use.

One final possibility is a thin fabric paint, such as Jacquard's Dye-Na-Flow or Dharma Trading Company's Dharma Pigment Dyes. These two fabric paints will work on polyester or nylon, and will probably work on acrylic as well. If you use fabric paint, you must comb through the plush before it dries, if the nap is long enough for you to do so, in order to prevent the gluelike binder in the paint from sticking together the surface fibers in the plush. These two brands of fabric paint are very thin and smooth and will not stiffen the fibers in you plush very much. Other fabric paints may affect the feel of the plush considerably more, and paints which are not labeled for use on fabric will make the plush hard, stiff, and scratchy.

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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Dyeing lace

Name: Allison

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Alginate

Message: I am interested in dyeing cotton lace (doily size) in different colours. Is this possible?

Cotton is probably the easiest kind of lace to dye. (Rayon lace is dyed exactly the same as cotton.) There is no need to boil or steam the dye, in order to set it, if you use cool water fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes. These are the type of dyes used in all good tie-dye kits, and they are also available by mail-order in an incredible range of premixed colors. See "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

You'll have your choice of application methods. You can use the tie-dye method, presoaking the cotton lace in soda ash and then squirting, painting, or spraying on the dyes. (See "How to Hand Dye".) If you do not add a thickener to the dyes, the colors will run together like watercolors. If you want the dye to stay where you paint it, like oil paints, you can thicken it with sodium alginate or Superclear. (See "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners".)

Alternatively, for different effects, you can use fabric paint or fabric markers. Fabric paints allow you to use metallic or pearlescent colors; these give a great effect when used on top of Procion dye (which has been allowed to set and then washed). Fabric markers contain a kind of fabric paint and allow very fine detail. (See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers".)

If you were working with synthetic fiber lace, your choice of dyes would be completely different, though the same fabric paints could be used. Nylon lace is best dyed with acid dyes, which can be used by immersing the lace with the dye and an acid in a pot of simmering water, or can be painted on, allowed to dry, and then set by steaming over boiling water, in a covered pot, much as you would steam vegetables. (See "How to Dye Nylon".) Polyester lace can be dyed only with a special dye called disperse dye, which can be applied by boiling the lace in the dye for at least half an hour, or by making transfer designs on paper and then ironing them onto the polyester. (see "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".)

I do not recommend the use of all-purpose dyes, such as Rit or Tintex, for any of the above fibers. (See "All Purpose Dyes".) The only time I recommend their use is when you want to dye a fiber blend, such as cotton with nylon, so that both fibers pick up more or less the same color at the same time. If you do use all-purpose dye for any reason, be sure to set the dye by applying a product called Retayne, or the new Rit brand of this product, which is called Rit Dye Fixative (I have not yet seen this product in stores); see "Commercial Dye Fixatives". Do not use all-purpose dyes on polyester blends, because it cannot dye polyester at all.

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

What are the best colors of used clothing to buy to make a Joker costume from Batman for Halloween?

My partner is going to a halloween party as the joker, he is going to buy the clothes form a charity shop and then dye them the correct colour, apart from white and cream what are the best colours to buy?

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Dye is transparent, so the original color will always show through. To get black, you can start with any color at all; if you use enough black dye, and use the right type of dye, black will cover any color. No other color can do that. To get purple, start with white, cream, pink, or light or medium blue; don't try to overdye yellow or orange to get purple. To get green, start with white or yellow or blue; don't try to overdye pink, red, orange, brown, or purple to get green.

What's more important is to check the fiber content of the clothing carefully. There are many fabrics that cannot be dyed, unless you buy a special disperse dye that can be purchased only by mail-order, not in any local shop. The best fibers to dye are 100% cotton, silk, linen, or rayon. Fibers that are impossible to dye with locally-available dyes include polyester, acrylic, acetate, and olefin. It is also impossible to dye anything that is water-resistant, and it is impossible to dye anything that is not washable.

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[This answer was first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on September 29, 2008.]

Monday, October 13, 2008

splattered bleach on a brand new 55% organic cotton/35% recycled polyester/10% spandex skirt

Name: Lizzie M.

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Use Rit Color Remover in the washing machine in hot water, or, for greatest effectiveness, heat fabric in Rit Color Remover on the stovetop.

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Message: I just bought a brand new skirt and unknowingly splattered bleach on it. It is 55% organic cotton, 35% recycled polyester, and 10% spandex. I understood from the site that I need to remove the skirt's color, probably with Rit Color Remover, but then I don't know where to go from there- since cotton fabrics and polyester fabrics are dyed differently when blended with spandex. What kind of dye should I use, so as to no damage the spandex?

Thanks so much for your help and time! I greatly appreciate it!

I'm afraid I have bad news for you. You cannot use Rit Color Remover or Jacquard Color Remover in room temperature water; they require very hot water, but hot water is bad for spandex. The same problem means that you cannot dye the polyester fibers in this skirt, because polyester cannot be dyed without high heat (typically half an hour or longer, boiling with disperse dye). If you dye this skirt, the 35% of the fiber that is polyester will not be able to "take" any dye whose application requirements are safe for the spandex. You will never be able to get a good color match to the original color.

The best thing you can do is to color in the bleached spots with a fabric marker or even a permanent marking pen, as described in my FAQ under "How can I fix the bleach spots on my favorite clothing?". Match the color of the marker to the color of the skirt, as closely as possible. Be sure to save the marker in order to repeat the treatment, in case your repair wears off after time.

If the marker does not give good enough results, consider embroidering over the spots, or sewing on an applique of some sort.

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Sunday, October 12, 2008

How to add or tie-dye a candy cane, Christmas tree or other seasonal design on a shirt

Name: McKenzie

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Opaque inkjet transfers
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Inkjet transfers for light backgrounds

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Message: Hello,

I just found your site by doing a Google search for tie dye. I'm planning on tie dying a variety shirts for an almost 5 year old boy who just loves the look. I thought it might be a neat idea to attempt a seasonal type tie dye shirt for one of them and wondered if you had any suggestions for how to add/dye a candy cane, Christmas tree or other similarly associated item to a shirt? I know you probably get inundated with questions from tie dye novices like me all the time but I would appreciate any advice you might have.

Thanks so much and have a great day!

The easiest approach would be to dye a shirt in appropriate seasonal colors, then sew on an applique of an item such as a candy cane or a tree.

Another option is to do the same thing, but instead of an applique, use opaque iron-on inkjet transfer paper (also known as dark t-shirt transfers) to add the design. This is very easy to do, and supplies all manner of possibilities, including an actual photo of your boy (very cool, I'm sure he will agree). The one drawback is that the opaque iron-ons are a bit fragile, so the shirts should be washed only inside out, preferably in cool water (which means don't use a white background since they show dirt!), and line dry if possible. For an example, see this picture of a tote bag I dyed and then ironed some photos onto, for my mom.

Non-opaque inkjet iron-on transfers are more durable; if you use black in your design, and dye the shirts in bright light clear colors, they work very well. Check out this picture of a shirt I made for my son this way.

You can tie-dye any simple symmetrical design. Fold a shirt in half vertically, then draw the outline of half of a simplified Christmas tree so that its center is on the fold. Use either an ordinary number 2 pencil or a child's washable marker to do this, on a cotton shirt. Start pleating the fabric along the line, and turn and follow the design as you go, then tie it off once you get back to the center fold. Apply dye of one color inside the tie, and dye of another color outside of it. This is the same technique used for many designs; to learn better what I mean, see this blog post: tie-dyeing a ribbon shape and this illustrated tutorial on how to tie-dye a heart in the Tie Dye Wiki.

When you tie-dye, be sure never to use all-purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex. You need to use a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. This is the kind of dye used in all the good tie-dye kits. If you don't have one already, go to a crafts store and look for a tie-dye kit. There are good ones made by several different companies, such as Jacquard Products, Dylon, Rainbow Rock, and Tulip. For the very best prices, order your dyes by mail-order from PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts, Dharma Trading Company in California, or Grateful Dyes in Colorado. Either buy a tie-dye kit, which will have everything you need, or buy Procion MX dyes, soda ash, urea, disposable plastic gloves, plastic squirt bottles, and a dust mask (for when you mix the dye powders). Also, use only 100% natural fibers, or rayon, for your tie-dyeing; avoid polyester in the clothing you buy to dye.

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Saturday, October 11, 2008

Help with dyeing furniture upholstered with acrylic/viscose/polyester/cotton blend

Name: sian

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Message: Please can you help, I have painted my three piece suite dark brown but this paint can not be used on the cushions covers as it will not withstand a lot of rubbing. I have tried dylon on my covers and it has not changed the colour at all. Is there a dye I can use on my three piece suit covers? They all come off. Please help suite is now two different colours the material is acrylic/viscose/polyester/cotton and I need it to go dark brown if possible...please help I'm desparate now...thanks

The acrylic and the polyester in your cushion covers will not take any ordinary dye. The disperse dye that could be used to dye acrylic and polyester will not color the viscose rayon or the cotton. Also, disperse dye requires extensive boiling. This is not practical for large pieces or for anything which shrinkage would render unusable, as with the covers for upholstered furniture.

Since you have already used paint on your furniture covers, there's really nothing else that can be done for them. You cannot remove paint from fabric once it has set.

I recommend that you have new slipcovers made for your suite, or have it reupholstered. If you cannot afford to have professionals do this, buy a good book or two on how to do it yourself. No dye or paint will produce results as good as starting over with new fabric. Many people have learned how to reupholster their own furniture, with good results. It's a lot of work, but nothing else you can do now will look nearly as good.

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Friday, October 10, 2008

I have a large looped cardigan made of bright pink wool. Can I dye it black with acid dyes in my washingmachine?

Name: susan

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Message: I have a large looped cardigan made of bright pink wool. What is the best colour to use to dye it? I would like black but will it take? Also I got a bit confused whether I can use the acid dye to dye my cardigan in my frontloaded machine. It's a beautiful garment but I want to change the colour but not ruin the garment. Thank you for your time

I would not dye a wool cardigan in a washing machine. The agitation is likely to cause it to felt. Felt is wonderful when it's what you want, but I am certain that you do not want your beautiful pink cardigan to felt.

You can use acid dyes to dye your cardigan. Be very careful not to stir it too vigorously, nor to subject it to sudden changes in temperature, and to follow the instructions for your dye closely. You will need a very large non-aluminum cooking pot to use for a dyeing pot; it is not recommended that you reuse this pot for food preparation, if you use any dye other than certified food coloring. Lanaset dyes are the very best dyes for wool, but the Jet Black WashFast Acid dye is less expensive and also very good.

Since dye is transparent, you can produce only those colors that include the bright pink in their make up. You can choose to dye it to a deep dark black, or a medium to dark purple, or a bright orange or red, or some browns. You cannot dye it any lighter color, and you cannot dye it green, yellow, or blue. Keep in mind that when you want to dye anything black, it's best to use two to four times as much dye powder as you would use for any lighter color. Examine your recipe before ordering your dye, and weigh your cardigan while it is dry, to be sure that you are ordering a large enough quantity of dye.

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Thursday, October 09, 2008

Can I dye a machine washable poly rayon blend dress with a few bleach spots on the bottom?

Name: shannon

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Message: Hi your site is very helpful...i am looking to dye a machine washable poly rayon blend dress it is medium gray with a few bleach spots on the bottom i'm not picky about the color i can achieve i just love the garment. Do you have any insight to the best plan of attack? anything would be apprecitated. thanks in advance shannon

Try looking at my FAQ page on fixing clothing ruined by spattered bleach. It's difficult to overdye bleach-spotted clothing, because even after dyeing the spots will be lighter in color than the rest of the garment. Look for a fabric marker to color in the spots. If you can find a close enough match to the original color, you might not have to do anything more than fill in the spots. (Keep the marker, in case your repairs fade with time and washing.)

If the marker does not match closely enough, you might want to combine the marker treatment with garment dyeing, the darker the better. Unfortunately, poly/rayon, like poly/cotton, is difficult to dye. There is no dye that works on polyester that will also work on viscose rayon, or vice versa, and all polyester dyes require a lot of heat. You can't just use a dye that will color cotton and rayon, such as my favorite Procion dye, or even all-purpose dyes such as Rit or Tintex, because the polyester fibers will be left unchanged.

You can dye a polyester/rayon blend in a single step (in addition to using the marker to help fill in the spots) if you buy Jacquard's new "iDye" for cotton and rayon, and mix it with their new "iDye Poly" for polyester. You must have a very large non-aluminum cooking pot to boil the dyes in, because polyester cannot be dyed in merely hot water: it takes a lot of boiling, and a lot of stirring to make the color come out even. Unfortunately, it is not recommended that you reuse your dyepot for food afterwards, because textile dyes are not considered safe for use in food containers. This means you should make a significant investment in a very large stainless steel or enamel dyeing pot, which may cost more than just buying a new dress. I recommend hot water dyeing only for people who like to dye enough that they will be needing the pot for dyeing again in the future.

With luck you will be able to find a fabric marker, or even a "permanent" marker such as a Sharpie pen, that matches closely enough that you don't have to bother with dyeing a poly/rayon blend.

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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

We need info on the 7 steps of the scientific method of tie dying shirts

Name: Amy

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Message: my daughter is doing a science fair project (she is in 6th grade) and we need info. on the 7 steps of the scientific method of tie dying shirts because she found it interesting..... So, we need answers to the 7 steps.... Could you help??? Thanks

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I believe you will find the seven steps of the scientific method on a handout supplied by your daughter's science teacher. Please contact him or her first. Or, try a web search with the phrase "Seven steps of scientific method". (This link looks like one good source.) Different teachers may divide the scientific method up into more steps, or fewer steps, and it is important to follow the assignment. Your daughter will need to follow the steps as given in the handouts for science fair projects at her own school. If necessary, call the science department at her school to ask.

I can help with ideas on tests to run, or with how to digitize the results, once your daughter has translated her teacher's information to a specific question she's interested in. For some ideas of questions others have investigated, see here, and scroll down through the questions:
Questions About Schoolwork in the All About Hand Dyeing blog
For example, she could buy a Jacquard Products brand tie-dye kit, which requires a cotton shirt, and compare how well the dye works on cotton fabric to how well it works on polyester fabric, or she could soak one shirt in the soda ash dye activator supplied with the kit, as the instructions indicate, but skip this step for another one.

I recommend against using all-purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex dye, for tie-dyeing. All-purpose dye is not satisfactory as a dye on cotton, and it is highly unsatisfactory for a science project because you cannot specify what chemicals were used. Instead, use specific fiber reactive dyes (for cotton or rayon) or acid dyes (for wool or nylon), preferably in single-hue unmixed dye colors. If you use a good tie-dye kit, such as the Jacquard brand tie-dye kit, I can tell you exactly what dye molecules are included, which will make for a vastly more satisfactory science project.

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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

safety of reusing dye pots for food

Name: Anne

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Message: While your web site says it's not safe to use a pot for dying with Rit dye and then use it for cooking again, Rit says this is OK and safe to do. A friend and I tie-dyed this weekend using Rit dye using my nice stainless steel cooking pots, and now I'm concerned that I need to throw them out based on what I read on your site. (She brought over the materials, and I had not researched tie-dying before we did a couple of test shirts. We have to tie-dye 24 shirts for my kindergarten son's class at school, so now that I have read more on your site, I'm going to buy some fabric reactive dyes and we'll try again next weekend.) But can you tell me why your advice differs from Rit's advice on safety? The MSDS on the Rit website seems to suggest that ingesting Rit dye would only cause minor stomach irritation. Thanks!

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Rit does not specifically say that it is okay to reuse dyeing pots for food, but they do imply it by not indicating otherwise. I believe that they are wrong to do so. They should be clear about whether or not it is safe, in writing. [A Rit representative told Anne on the phone that it's safe to reuse dyepots for food, because, she said, their dyes are non-toxic; however, their failure to say this in their instructions or on their web site makes it deniable, and there is no certification showing that Rit dyes actually are non-toxic.]

I do not trust Rit dye for safety, although I know that it is much safer than it used to be, because it used to include known hazardous dyes based on benzidine. These dangerous carcinogenic dyes were sold in all-purpose dye mixtures through the 1970s. (See the government document "Benzidine and Dyes Metabolized to Benzidine" [PDF].) Benzidine-based dyes have been mostly phased out in the US since then; however, Rit all-purpose dye contains some acid dyes which are not claimed to be non-toxic. Some acid dyes which are in common use are suspected of being carcinogenic; Rit dye does not anywhere tell us whether they use any of these, among the acid dyes that they use in their all-purpose dye mixtures. In contrast, they do claim that their Proline direct dyes, which, unlike their all-purpose dyes, do not contain acid dyes, are not toxic.

Even non-toxic substances are not considered safe for using in cooking utensils, however, if they have not been tested and found to be safe in food. Whenever you see a claim that a substance is non-toxic, find the specific details of which outside organization certified the product as non-toxic, and find out just what the certification claims. If there is no outside certification by a company other than the manufacturer, then the claim of "non-toxic" is fairly meaningless. It's important to research the meaning of the safety labels on a product. If the product label specifically includes the AP label of the ACMI, then it is safe enough for use with children; however, a claim that a product "conforms to D-4236" is used on materials known to be somewhat toxic, as long as they are safe when used as directed; it does not mean the product is non-toxic and safe to use on food preparation utensils. (See http://www.artsafety.org/labels.html.) Without an ACMI label, "non toxic" does not mean very much.

In your case, I would not throw away the stainless steel cooking pots, as long as they are free of deep scratches that could retain dye, but I would subject them to far more than the usual cleaning. Long ago I made the mistake once of dyeing with Rit dye in my stainless steel brewing kettle, before I found out that this is not a recommended practice. The pot had been washed many times in the several years that passed before I learned better (and before I learned that fiber reactive dyes would have worked much better). By the time I knew that a dyeing pot should never be reused for food purposes, unless only food-safe dyes have been used in it, the pot had been used for food so many times that there was no point in worrying about it any longer.

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Sunday, October 05, 2008

Dyeing costumes with a Jackson Pollack spattered look

Name: carol

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Message: Hello. I am constructing costumes for a dance piece. 30 dancers in white cotton leggins and shirts. I need to dye them to look like a "jackson pollack" print. In other words a "splattered" look. Not tie dyed. Deep rich colors (10 in a group) one group will be blues and purples - another group of 10 will be oranges yellows and reds and the final group of 10 greens. Obviously I need to be able to wash these costumes frequently - dancers sweat lots - - . Can you help me? thanks a lot.....

It is possible to use tie-dye dyes with a spatter technique to get the effect you want. You'd use a bit of sodium alginate to thicken the dyes, so that they would not spread as much. To use the soda ash needed to set the dye, without having the garments wet so that the dye spreads quickly on contact, you can either add the soda ash directly to the dye immediately before applying it, or you can soak the cotton (or cotton/spandex) in soda ash, as for tie-dyeing, and then line-dry it with the soda ash in the fabric, ready to react with the dye.

The advantage of using Procion MX fiber reactive dyes, which are the type found in all good tie-dye kits, is that they will react with cotton permanently. This will produce the most washfast results possible. Other types of dye, such as Rit dye, require very hot or boiling water to set, and will fade far more quickly, and run in the laundry. If you order your Procion MX dyes in jars of two ounces or more per color, from a good dye supplier such as Grateful Dyes in Colorado, PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts, or Dharma Trading Company or Jacquard Products in California, they will cost a fraction as much as the dyes you can buy in stores, and you will have a wide range of dye colors to choose from. (See Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World.)

Be sure to also get soda ash, sodium alginate or print paste mix, water softener, and (optionally) urea. Except for spattering the dye on, instead of tying the fabric and then squirting the dye on to saturate, you can use the exact same recipe as is used for tie-dyeing. See Michael Fowler's recipe on my sodium alginate page. To learn about the other chemicals I mentioned, see the "Dye Auxiliaries" section of my dyeing FAQ. For the dye application, you will want to experiment a little to see what gives the best results. You might spatter the dye by dipping a brush into the dye and stroking a stick across the bristles, or use a cheap spray bottle for a finer mist of color (the nozzles of many cheap spray bottles are adjustable for droplet size) — be sure to use breathing protection if you spray dyes, or you may use an eyedropper or pipette to apply spots of dye.

Alternatively, you can use fabric paint to spatter or spray your costumes. Fabric paint may be easier for some novices to use in that you don't have to make sure the paint reacts with the fabric, as dye needs to. After spraying, allow the fabric to dry, then heat-set as recommended by the manufacturer. The simplest way to heat-set fabric paint is to use a commercial dryer, for half an hour or longer, to heat the dry clothes. (Home dryers do not get hot enough.) Dry heat does not work to set dyes, but is ideal for setting fabric paint. However, fabric paint is not as durable on clothing as dye is. It tends to wear off from use and from washing. Costumes colored with fabric paint should be turned inside-out for washing, and washed on a delicate cycle, or hand-washed, in order to delay the wearing off of the fabric paint from the fabric.

If you were using synthetic fibers such as polyester for your costumes, I'd recommend the use of fabric paint, but since you are using cotton, Procion dye will probably be the best choice. Cotton is one of the easiest of fibers to dye well, when you use the right type of dye.

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Saturday, October 04, 2008

I would like to dye a white sweater black; it is 60% polyester & 40% cotton. Can it be done?

Name: mary

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Message: I would like to dye a white sweater black. It is 60% polyester & 40% cotton. Can it be done?

It's possible, but I strongly suspect that it will not be practical for you.

First, there is no single dye that will work on both cotton and polyester. You would have to buy two different dyes in order to dye all of the fiber in the sweater black; if you dye only one of the two fibers, you will get a pale to medium gray. Ordinary dyes, such as Procion dye or even Rit dye, will not work at all on the polyester in your sweater. They will just wash out.

Secondly, you will have to invest in a large stainless steel or enamel dyeing pot, because there is no dye for polyester that does not require extensive boiling. You will not be able to safely reuse this pot for food, because all textile dyes are considered unsafe for use in containers used for food preparation. You cannot use an inexpensive aluminum pot for this, because aluminum can react with the dye or the auxiliary chemicals, turning the metal dark and altering the colors of the dyes. A large stainless steel pot is an excellent investment if you are planning to use hot water dyes again in the future, but it's too expensive simply to change the color of a single garment.

A third problem is that cotton shrinks when exposed to high temperatures. If you boil your cotton/polyester blend sweater for an hour, as is necessary to dye the polyester, then the cotton fibers in the yarn will shrink. I cannot predict whether or not this will render the sweater unwearable for you.

To dye both the cotton and the polyester, you can use two different steps, one to dye the cotton, and one to dye the polyester. This is necessary in order to use the highest-quality hand dyes for cotton, which are the fiber reactive dyes, which keep their colors through many washings. Alternatively, you can use a direct dye on the cotton at the same time as the disperse dye for the polyester. This is the method Jacquard Products recommends for their brand of polyester dye. You can mix their "iDye" dye, which will dye only the cotton, with their "iDye Poly" dye, which will dye only the polyester.

The direct dye in the "iDye" for cotton is not particularly resistant to washing out. In order to render direct dye permanently non-fading, it is important to use a commercial dye fixative, such as Retayne, after you have finished dyeing and washing out excess dye from the sweater. Alternatively, you can hand launder the sweater in cold water, separately from other garments, to avoid problems if the dye runs in the wash.

To dye this cotton blend sweater, here is your shopping list:

One three-gallon or larger stainless steel or enamel cooking pot (do not reuse this pot for cooking food!)
One long-handled spoon, to be used to stir the sweater constantly throughout the dyeing process
One or more packets of iDye dye (use more dye for a darker black)
One or more packets of iDye Poly
One bottle of Retayne or another cationic dye fixative

Do not omit any of these items, if you want to dye your sweater a dark black. You must buy both kinds of dye, in order to dye both of the fibers in your sweater. As you can see, the expense of this project is probably much more than the cost of just buying a new sweater.

If you don't want to go to that much trouble, consider dyeing your sweater a different color. If you try to dye a polyester/cotton blend garment with just cotton dye, you will get a paler, more muted color. If you use black dye, you will get gray; if you use red dye, you will end up with pink; if you use bright purple, your sweater wil turn a pale lavender. I recommend that you use Procion MX fiber reactive dye, which can be used in cool water, with no need for a cooking pot at all. This will save dramatically on the effort and expense involved in recoloring your sweater. You can buy Procion MX dyes from a good dyer supplier, or you can buy it from a crafts store under any of several different brand names. Look for Jacquard Procion MX dye, or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, or Dylon Permanent dye. Any of these dyes will change the color of your blended sweater to a pastel color, which will last for years in spite of many washings.

I do not recommend that you use another hot water dye, such as Rit dye, because all hot water dyes require heating for best results, which means that you have to invest in the dyeing pot. Like fiber reactive dye, Rit dye will fail to dye the polyester in your sweater, but it can dye the cotton. Cool water dyes are much easier to use than Rit dye, require less expensive equipment, and last much longer without fading.

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Friday, October 03, 2008

Can I use this product on a 100% cotton coat which is dry clean only?

Name: Rose

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Message: hi,
Can I use this product on a 100% cotton coat which is dry clean only?

Which product are you referring to?

Assuming that you are talking about some sort of dye, since many different dyes are discussed on my website, no, you cannot dye anything that cannot be washed.

Some items marked "dry clean only" turn out to survive washing very well, whereas others will ruined, especially clothing that has a lining. (Typically, the lining will not shrink as much as the outside of the garment, which will ruin its fit.) If you wash your coat in the washing machine and it survives, and if it is also neither water-resistant or stain-resistant, then you will be able to dye it. I recommend a cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, applied in the washing machine.

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Thursday, October 02, 2008

dyeing nylon and lace vintage slips

Name: Katie

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Message: I saw that someone asked about dying vintage nightgowns and I read your answer, but I just have one question for clarification. I need to dye vintage slips that are currently white, to a chocolate brown color. The slips are usually nylon and I don't know what the lace is, so from reading your response, I think I am supposed to use a disperse dye to handle the nylon and the lace (maybe polyester?). Did I come to the correct conclusion after reading your answer? Thank you for your time, I just need a quick answer if you have a minute, thanks!

If both the fabric and the lace are nylon, then it's best to use some sort of acid dye. I prefer either Lanaset dyes or the Washfast Acid dyes. The Lanaset dyes are the best, but they also cost twice as much, and the Washfast Acid dyes are good.

Disperse dye will work on nylon, but it's more trouble to use than acid dye, and it is not as washfast on nylon as acid dyes are.

Polyester can't be dyed with acid dye; if you have polyester lace, you must dye it with disperse dye. If you have a combination of polyester and nylon in one garment, the nylon might dye to a somewhat different hue than the polyester, since, in some cases, some of the individual dyes in a premixed dye color will work better on one fiber, while another in the mixture will work better on the other fiber.

I think that nylon lace is more common than polyester lace, but whether this is true for the garments you've been seeing, I don't know. If you have a scrap of the lace, you can try a burn test. Polyester smells sort of sweet when it burns, while burning nylon smells like celery. See
Fabrics.net's Burn Test page and Ditzy Prints' Fiber Burn Chart. Or, you can just try dyeing with acid dye, and see whether the dye works on the lace, and does not wash out afterwards.

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Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Help! I have just managed to get a form of household bleach on my black Nylon and Acrylic top and it has gone a reedy colour. If I were to dye this black again, would it work, and if so what dye would you recommend?

Name: karen

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Message: Help! I have just managed to get a form of household bleach on my black Nylon and Acrylic top and it has gone a reedy colour. If I were to dye this black again, would it work, and if so what dye would you recommend?

No, I'm sorry, this is not likely to work.

Uncoated nylon can be pretty easily dyed with acid dyes (the best black dye being the Lanaset Jet Black, which you can order from Paradise Fibers), but acrylic cannot be dyed black. If you try to dye acrylic with acid dye, or with all-purpose or fiber reactive dye, the dye will just wash out. You can dye both nylon and acrylic with a special polyester dye called disperse dye, but you can get only pale to medium shades on acrylic, which means that the best you could get would be a medium gray. That will not help your situation enough to be worth the trouble and expense. The only dyes that will work to dye acrylic black are a class of dyes called basic dyes, which are hard to get and which in some cases I consider too toxic for home use.

The one thing you can try to do, after washing the shirt thoroughly and possibly neutralizing the remaining bleach, is to use a fabric marker, or even a permanent black Sharpie pen, to try to color in the stain. Sometimes this gives surprisingly good results, depending on the fabric and on the bleach stain itself, and at least it doesn't cost much or require expensive equipment such as a non-aluminum dyeing kettle. Fabric pens work better and last longer than the marks from a Sharpie pen, but you can keep the pen and reapply it as needed.

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