Archives for September, 2008

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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Can I restore the color to a silk shirt that was accidentally washed in the washing machine?

Name: Matt

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Message: Hi,

I have a black designer silk shirt that was accidentally washed in the washing machine. I wanted to know if I can restore the black color to the silk shirt. The shirt currently looks very old and wrinkled with light streaks of whites. Is there anything I can do or is there a professional cleaner that can redye this silk shirt? Please help...thank you in advance...Matt

How very unfortunate that the shirt was dyed with non-washable dyes! There's really no excuse for dyeing clothing with dyes that must be dry cleaned, when washing clothing with water instead of toxic solvents is so much better for the environment, and possibly for your own health, as well. (There is some thought that hanging freshly dry-leaned garments in a bedroom closet, thus causing all-night exposure to the cleaning chemicals, may increase one's risk of lymphoma.)

Fixing your shirt will be a fair amount of trouble. You might find it a better use of your time to just go out and buy another shirt. I recommend that you try a different designer, this time! There are a few professionals who can redye clothing listed on my page Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?, but there's no guarantee that they can make the shirt like new. Contact the dyer to find out how much it restoring your shirt would cost.

If you want to spend a fair amount of effort on attempting to resuscitate your shirt, the first thing you should do is to try to remove as much of the remaining dye as possible. Since dye is transparent, you will find it difficult or impossible to cover up the streaks you currently have in your shirt. Try washing it or soaking it in hot water. Hot water removes dye more efficiently than cold water does, especially if you soak it.

If that does not work, you could try using Rit Color Remover to neutralize what remains of the dye. Rit Color Remover works very well on many dyes, but not on all dyes. There are some dyes that cannot be chemically discharged, no matter what you do. You should never use a chlorine-containing bleach on silk, but Rit Color Remover is based on sulfur, rather than chlorine, and is gentler to fabric.

If you are able to remove the streaks from your shirt, o that it is all a single solid color, then you can redye it, this time using a higher quality dye than the slackers employed by your "designer" did. The very best black dye for silk is the Lanaset Jet Black. You can order Lanaset Jet Black from Paradise Fibers or from Pro Chemical & Dye, among other sources. Somewhat more economically, you can order PRO Chemical & Dye's Washfast Acid Dye Jet Black, which contains one of the two dyes combined in the Lanaset Jet Black. You will need to apply the dye in a very large non-aluminum cooking pot, one which, moreover, you ought not to reuse for cooking, ever again, since clothing dye is not safe for food. The manufacturer can give you a page of instructions and will tell you which additional chemicals you will need to use this particular dye.

Cold water fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes, work extremely well on silk, especially when used with the same soda ash recipe that you would use on cotton, but the mixed colors will tend to produce unexpected hues when used on silk. A black Procion MX dye misture may produce another color, such as olive green, when used on silk. PRO Chemical & Dye sells a dye called PRO MX Silk Black ("PRO MX" is their brand name for the same dyes known elsewhere as Procion MX), which will produce black on silk if you use a large enough amount of dye. Alternatively you can use either Dylon Machine Dye or Dylon Permanent Dye, in black; this dye will produce a true black regardless of what fiber it is used upon, because it is not a mixture. However, both soda ash, and the TSP used instead of soda ash in the Dylon MAchine dye and the Dyelon Permanent dye, will make the silk somewhat softer and a little less shiny. The advantage is that you can use these fiber reactive dyes in a cheap plastic bucket, so that you don't need to ruin an expensive cooking pot, as you do when using acid dyes or all-purpose dyes, which need to be cooked with the fiber.

As far as the wrinkles you are seeing in your shirt are concerned, they might be a greater problem than the color. You will have to use an iron to remove the wrinkles; ironing a shirt well is a skill that fewer people now have than used to have. You can always take a garment to the dry cleaners and ask them to iron it for you; this often costs just as much as the total cost of cleaning and ironing would be, since ironing is the most effort-intensive part of dry cleaning. Whether your designer shirt has become permanently inclined to wrinkle, a the result of having some water-soluble sizing used to stiffen the fabric, is something you will know only after you have tried it. It is possible that this shirt was made badly in more than one way, both the ridiculously water-soluble dye, and some sort of water-soluble treatment that gave it a temporary smooth finish.

I feel that you were cheated when you bought this "designer" silk shirt. Inferior materials were used, on the assumption that you would always dry-clean the item. If better materials had been used, the shirt would not have been damaged by washing. Silk has been used for clothing for thousands of years, but dry cleaning has existed for less than a single century. It makes no sense to use materials so inadequate that they cannot survive a single washing. However, if the shirt was labeled "dry clean only", then the manufacturer has no legal responsibility to use dyes and finishes of a high enough quality to survive exposure to water.

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Is there any reason not to custom-dye 100% cotton slipcovers?

Name: Matthew

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Message: Hi there.

I have recently designed a rather unique slip cover lounge suite which required custom coloured fabric. Frustratingly, the couch manufacturers as well as their fabric suppliers can't provide me with colours even close to what I want. I am now toying with the idea of having the slips done in white and then having them dyed professionally. They are 100% cotton with a durability of 25000 rubs.

When I asked the couch retailers if it was possible to have the white version dyed, they said it was "not recommended". I thought I would get another opinion and judging by other parts of your site, it would seem that there's no problem with it. What do you think their concerns might've been if not just down to salesmanship?

They probably don't understand that there are differences in dye quality and that experts in dyeing can easily do an excellent job. They may have encountered poorly dyed items that were dyed incorrectly. Or, they may be concerned about shrinkage when slipcovers have been made with fabric that is not preshrunk.

There's no reason why you can't get your slip covers dyed, if the fabric has been preshrunk. You can do this by prewashing the fabric in hot water before sewing them into slipcovers, or by dyeing the fabric before sewing. There are excellent, long-lasting dyes that are easy to use, if you follow the correct technique.

It would obviously be a terrible thing to have perfectly-fitting slipcovers made of shrinkable fabric. What fits perfectly before shrinkage will be unusable after shrinkage. This is probably the most important point. Will you be able to get the fabric preshrunk before sewing?

Another issue is that some upholstery fabrics are treated with stain-resistant surface finishes, such as Teflon or Scotchguard; these will make the fabric impossible to dye. Starch used as a sizing can also be a problem.

Your choice of 100% cotton is an excellent one for dyeing. You will need to choose the right dye for your fiber content; there are excellent dyes available for cotton.

I recommend against the idea of using direct dye, or all-purpose dye, such as Rit, DEKA L, or Dylon Multi Purpose. Their notoriously poor washfastness may be countered by the use of a cationic dye fixative (see my page on Retayne), but unfortunately lightfastness is often impaired by these treatments. Upholstery is often faded by light coming through windows, so any treatment that reduces lightfastness is to be avoided, in my opinion.

The class of dye I recommend for use on cotton is fiber reactive dye. It's easy to use, available in in a full range of brilliant or subtle colors, and has high washfastness properties. Brands of fiber reactive dye that work well include Procion MX dye, Remazol dye, and Cibacron F dye. Hot water fiber reactive dyes include Procion H-E and Drimarene X. All fiber reactive dyes are highly washfast when applied as recommended, and many of them are also very lightfast, depending on the specific dye molecule. If you were dyeing one slipcover at a time yourself, I would recommend that you use Dylon Machine dye, if you're located in Europe or Australia, and Procion MX dye in North America, dyeing in a washing machine. I can recommend several companies that would professionally dye your slipcovers in large machines to your exact color preferences, but unfortunately they are all in North America. One is in Canada. I don't happen to have listings for such companies elsewhere in the world, because dyers elsewhere have not registered with me.

For truly unique slipcovers, you can also have 100% cotton slipcovers dyed by custom dyers who work with dye painting, low water immersion dyeing, or even tie-dyeing. A page layout showing your lounge suite design in several solid colors plus one option that is multi-colored would look good.

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Sunday, September 28, 2008

How can I successfully dye fabric with Tintex?

How can I successfully dye fabric with Tintex?

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Procion MX dye is superior to Tintex dye

The Tintex dye that is sold in North America is a hot water all-purpose dye, like Rit. It will not work in room-temperature water, nor in hot tap water. Fiber choice is important; you cannot successfully dye any fiber that is made of polyester, acrylic, or acetate, using Tintex or Rit dye.

Both Tintex Easy Fabric Dye and Rit All Purpose Tint And Dye are best applied by dissolving the dye in hot water in a cooking pot, adding the fabric, and heating the dye mixture to just under a boil, stirring constantly. The ideal temperature is a simmer, 190°F or 87°C. For very pale colors, you can take the fabric out after four minutes, but for bright or intense colors, you will get much better results by cooking the fiber in the dye for half an hour or longer. Use a cooking pot that is large enough for your garment to move freely when stirred, as otherwise you will get patchy, streaky, or tie-dyed results.

If you are dyeing a protein fiber, such as wool, angora, or silk, or if you are dyeing nylon, you will need to also add an acid to the dyebath. The manufacturers of Tintex suggest using 100 ml (7 tablespoons) of distilled white vinegar per gallon of water in the dyebath. Vinegar is neither necessary nor helpful when dyeing plant fibers such as cotton, linen, or rayon, and nothing can make all-purpose dyes work for synthetics such as polyester or acrylic, but vinegar does help in dyeing wool and nylon.

It is very important that you not use a good cooking pot to dye your clothes in! All clothing dyes, including Tintex and Rit, will contaminate food. You must never again reuse a dyeing pot for food, once you've used it to dye clothing. Also, do not use an aluminum pot, because it will react with the dyes and distort their colors. Use only a stainless-steel or enamel pot as your dyeing pot.

Even when you use heat correctly to dye with an all-purpose dye such as Tintex, the dye is going to bleed. Unlike superior dyes such as the Procion dyes used in all good tie-dye kits, Tintex and Rit dye will fade quickly, and will bleed in the laundry every time they are washed. Be careful to wash garments dyed with Rit or Tintex only by hand, in cold water, separately from other garments. Do not machine-wash clothing that has been dyed with all-purpose dye. If you want to be able to wash your clothes together without bleeding or fading, do not use all-purpose dye; instead, switch to a good fiber reactive dye.

There is one way to make clothing dyed with all-purpose dyes quit bleeding in the wash. The secret is not salt or vinegar, as people who know nothing about dyes often claim; neither of these will work, especially on cotton. The secret is to buy a commercial dye fixative. The best-known commercial dye fixative is called Retayne, but Rit has recently started to produce their own brand of Retayne, which is called Rit Dye Fixative. I have not yet seen it in stores. To buy Retayne, look at the web site for any good dye supplier, such as PRO Chemical & Dye or Dharma Trading Company.

In Australia, completely different dyes are sold under the name of Tintex. Tintex High Temp dyes should be used as explained above, but Tintex Low Temp Dyes are fiber reactive dyes, like Procion MX dyes, and can be used in room temperature water, without any need for cooking. Tintex Low Temp Dyes are much less prone to fading and bleeding than Tintex High Temp dyes.

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This answer was also posted, by me, on Yahoo Answers, on September 27, 2008.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

If I buy the Tie Dye kit by Jacquard it will be non-toxic once it is mixed?

If I buy the Tie Dye kit by Jacquard it will be non-toxic once it is mixed?

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I am going to teach a class and after we got it all set up then they said, 'Are the dyes non-toxic?' I taught my daughters girl scout troop when they were little which was more than a day or two ago! Non-toxic wasn't a concern then. So, I want to make sure I do this right! I was up till 3 am reading your forum. What is 'urea' and what is it used for?

Procion MX type dyes are considered non-toxic when used properly, that is by people who are old enough and sensible enough not to put the dye in their mouths or squirt it on each other. However, the Jacquard Products tie-dye kit does not carry an ACMI Non-toxic Seal on the label. The same ingredients are found in the Rainbow Rock tie-dye kit (produced by a different manufacturer), which does bear a nontoxic label with a reference to the ASTM D-4236. This does not guarantee that a product is completely non-toxic, but it does indicate that it is free of known acute or chronic health hazards other than those indicated on the label.

You will need the MSDS pages if it is necessary to officially show how toxic or non-toxic the dyes are. This must be supplied by the manufacturer of your kit. Since you are using the Jacquard Products kit, you can look at this link to the MSDS pages at Blick Art Materials [PDF]. Here is a link to the MSDS for the Rainbow Rock tie-dye kit [PFD], which contains the exact same ingredients. [Link updated June 18, 2012.] It is easier to read and also less alarming, but it's for the same product by a different manufacturer. MSDS pages are also provided by PRO Chemical & Dye and by Dharma Trading Company, which are the two most popular (and economical) sources of Procion MX dyes.

You will be mixing the dye powders with water in advance, won't you? I recommend that you mix them up one or two days before, for the sake of convenience, if you are using a kit that includes the soda ash as a separate presoak, as the Jacquard kit does. Some tie-dye kits include the soda ash mixed in with the dye powder (I think including the Tulip and Rainbow Rock kits); since the dye will last less than an hour after it is mixed with the soda ash, these dyes must not be mixed up until the children are ready to use them. I don't want children to mix up the dye powders, because the most hazardous thing about the dyes is the way it's so easy to breathe the dye powder, if you're not careful, and children rarely are. If you breathe dye powder repeatedly, you will be at risk of developing an allergy to the dyes; if this happens, you will not be able to use this particular type of dye any more, although there are alternative dye choices. People who have an allergy to a particular type of reactive dye may develop symptoms of asthma whenever they are exposed to the dye powder. This is more likely to be a problem for people who work in the dye industry, of course, but we want to be careful to make sure that it does not happen to us, too. Wear a dust mask when mixing up dyes, and allow the lids to be off of the jars of dye only for a short period of time.

It's important to wear gloves when applying the dye. A friend of mine tie-dyed shirts with this same type of dye with her two sons, none of them wearing any protective gloves at all. They found that the soda ash was so drying to their hands that it caused tiny splits in their skin; these splits were not painful, and they healed in a few days, but it was an entirely unnecessary problem. I have never experienced anything like that, because I always wear gloves when tie-dyeing, and I wash or at least wipe off my skin if I spill soda ash on it. The occasional hole in the glove will result in stains on the skin, which last for two or three days, but not any noticeable harm.

How old are the children you will be working with? If you have time, mail-order some nitrile or latex gloves in size small (for middle school ages through small adults) or extra-small (for younger children), or call around to see if a medical supply store in your area carries small sizes. If the only gloves you can access in time are the one-size-fits-all gloves at the hardware store, you might need to give the children rubber bands to hold them on at the wrists. Reusable rubber gloves that are sold for dishwashing, at the grocery store or the pharmacy, are even better, because they cover more of the arm; you can always find these in size small. Many adult women wear size medium. The cheaper brands of disposable gloves include many defective gloves, so be sure to buy more than you think you will need.

Urea is a humectant, which means it helps the tie-dyed items to stay damp longer so that the dye has time to react with the fiber. The dye requires some moisture to complete the reaction, but urea is considered optional for dyeing. It is included in the MSDS for the Jacquard tie-dye kit, so the urea is probably already in the dye bottles. It's not something you have to worry about, in either case. Urea is not harmful at all. I use a skin cream that contains 25% urea for dry skin.

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Friday, September 26, 2008

Is there anything that would loosen the grip of sodium alginate on silk after steaming with ammonium sulfate?

Name: Susan

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Alginate

Message: Already tried "Search"; I'm working with sodium alginate (Pro Paste "F") mixed with Ammonium Sulfate om heavier-weight silk charmeuse. The sodium alginate really bonds with the charmeuse (of all silks seems to really like the charmeuse).

Is there anything that would loosen the grip of sodium alginate on charmeuse. I realize silk is protien fiber....is there something conventional that would cause SA to come off of the silk?

I use Pro MX dyes, and steam finished pieces. Not practical to go the plastic-on-silk-let-it-stay-damp route (cold basement).

Thought maybe something would pull it off that has a different Ph or something. Or maybe there's a particular soap ( I use synthrapol, not afraid of hot water).

Thank you so much for all of your information, and SHARING it!

How hard is your water? That's always my first question with alginate problems, because alginate interacts with calcium ions in water to make a gel, which is much thicker than you want and very difficult to remove. I've had alginate gel in my dye bottles even though my water is not very hard at all; there was enough calcium in the water or in the dye, to cause a problem. However, since you are using PRO Paste F, you are already using some water softener, which included in ProChem's print paste mixes. (The water softener is sodium hexametaphosphate, sold by ProChem as "Metaphos".) It's possible that you would benefit from using more of the water softener, but it's not likely, unless your water is very hard.

If the problem is not caused by calcium ions, it's likely to be a physical problem, in which the alginate is merely stuck in the fiber. An answer I've seen recommended for its effectiveness, for removing alginate from heavy silk that's been treated with Procion MX dyes and ammonium sulfate and then steamed, is to soak the silk in very hot water to which you have added plain salt, half a cup per gallon of water, stirring occasionally. If this does not work, try heating the water with the silk in it to a simmer (don't exceed 185°F). After the alginate has come off of the fabric, rinse out the salt water.

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Can you dye a Microsuede (polyester) couch on which NONE of the fabric separates from the cushions or frame of the couch?

Name: jessica

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

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Message: I read the question about dyeing a suede couch that the fabric came off of. But can you dye a Microsuede (polyester) couch on which NONE of the fabric separates from the cushions or frame of the couch?

I thought about using a steam cleaner, would that heat the dye enough to activate it? Then if I clean the machine out, and rinse with a clean wate cycle from the steam cleaner, would that do the job? Am I completely out of my mind?

If so, are there companies that do home visits to dye furniture?
I made the mistake of letting my husband pick out a white couch, and then we had kids!!!!YIKES

No, you absolutely cannot dye a microsuede couch, if the fabric won't come off of it.

Microsuede is made of polyester, which can be dyed only by BOILING it in a special kind of dye (disperse dye) for an hour or so. A little bit of boiling is not enough. Steaming it in place on the couch is simply not going to do it. No professionals will dye a polyester couch without removing the fabric, either; in fact, few professionals are willing to dye even washable polyester garments.

These are your alternatives: 1, use a fabric paint (instead of dye) that works on polyester, or 2, make slipcovers for the couch, or 3, get the couch reupholstered in your choice of fabric. The best results will come from reupholstering. Fabric paint will be a lot of trouble to apply, it will not last as long, and it will not save you money, compared to reupholstering or making slipcovers. It takes a LOT of fabric paint to cover a couch, and it's not cheap, but you can't use cheaper paint that's not intended for fabric, because it will not give good results on fabric. Plus, fabric paint will wear right off of the fabric, since it only coats the surface, and does not penetrate inside the fiber. If money is an issue, I recommend that you get a book on how to reupholster your own couch.

Check out the following two links for instructions for fabric painting furniture, and the third one for a cautionary tale of what happens if you make the huge mistake of trying to dye a couch....

• Can furniture be dyed successfully?

• Scarlet Zebra's Instructions for Painting Upholstered Furniture

• "I just dyed our white canvas couch yesterday DARK BLUE with RIT, then early this am when we went to move it inside both of our sets of hands were blue."

A different approach would be to make iron-on transfer patterns using disperse dye paints or crayons. This works only on polyester and other synthetics, and it will work only for those portions of the couch that you can apply an iron to, with a little pressure. You could make designs shaped like leaves or paw prints, or children's drawings. See, for example, "How to Dye a Polyester Microfleece Blanket" or "Dyeing the Fabric on an Ultrasuede Couch".

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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I am researching a method in which to tye dye cycling socks made with 60% nylon, 39% "coolmax" and 1% lycra.

Name: Sabrina

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Stainless Steel 10 Gallon Stock Pot with Lid

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Color polyester blends with fabric paints

Fabric Crayons
contain iron-on
disperse dye

Message: Hi. I am researching a method in which to tye dye cycling socks made with 60% nylon, 39% "coolmax" and 1% lycra. I see that there is idye poly on the market but wasn't sure whether I needed this in conjunction with regular idye. If I overlooked any info about coolmax, I apologize. Thank you so much!!

You can't use iDye Poly, or any other brand of disperse dye for polyester, on anything that contains spandex. Spandex is very heat-sensitive and will be shredded by the extensive boiling required to dye polyester. Both iDye Poly and regular iDye (a direct dye which works only on cotton and other cellulose fibers, plus silk) are hot-water dyes, unsuitable for any spandex blend.

This means that I do not advise dyeing the 39% "Coolmax" polyester in your socks at all. I advise trying to dye polyester only when there is no spandex in the garment at all. When you see polyester/spandex clothing that is colored, the spandex and the polyester were dyed separately before they were combined into one fabric.

Nylon can be dyed at lower temperature than polyester, but it does require some heat. High heat, close to boiling, is the best for dyeing nylon, but you can dye some nylon at lower temperatures, though you cannot dye it at room temperature. You can experiment with using acid dyes at 140°F to dye your socks. You must do tests to determine whether the wear properties of the socks are significantly damaged by the effect of the hot water on the spandex. You will find that your colors are much paler when you dye a 60% nylon blend than they would be if you were to dye a 90% or 100% nylon fabric, since the polyester in the blend will not take the color at all.

An alternative is to use fabric paint, rather than dye. Fabric paint is often not as satisfactory as dye, in cases when dye will work, because it sits on the surface of the fiber, instead of penetrating it. This means that it wears off more quickly than dye. Items colored with fabric paint should always be turned inside-out before laundering. It also means that the feel of the fabric is slightly changed by the fabric paint, though this is much less of a problem with high quality fabric paints. Try Dye-na-Flow, which is a fabric paint designed to flow like dye, or Dharma Pigment Dyes, available only from Dharma Trading Company. This is the only form of color I can recommend for dyeing your 60% nylon, 39% polyester and 1% spandex socks.

A better alternative would be to find a source for more easily dyeable socks, if possible. For example, a cotton/spandex blend can be dyed easily and with very intense colors, using a cool water fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX, the dye that is found in all good tie-dyeing kits. A spandex-free polyester sock could be dyed with iDye Poly. The main thing you have to avoid is any blend that contains both spandex and polyester. Note that acrylic is just as difficult to dye as polyester, so an acrylic/spandex blend would not be at all useful for tie-dyeing.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

How can I dye an area rug?

Name: James

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Stainless Steel 10 Gallon Stock Pot with Lid

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Message: How can I dye an area rug? It's off white, and I want it to be black. I don't want to get a professional to do it because of the expense. Can I use fabric dye?

What fiber is the rug made from? You must match the type of dye you use to the fiber content of the rug, or else the dye will just come right back out. You will have a horrible mess on your hands, with dye permanently staining the floor under the rug, if you use the wrong type of dye.

With all kinds of dye, you must take the rug outside and rinse it out very thoroughly after you dye it, or else excess unattached dye will permanently stain the floor under the rug, as well as your shoes.

If your rug is made from polypropylene, you won't be able to dye it. Polypropylene must be dyed while it is still liquid, before it is made into thread. The upside is that polypropylene is also very hard to get dirty.

If your rug is made from cotton, you can dye it easily with fiber reactive dyes, such as the Procion dyes found in any good tie-dye kit or in the Tulip One Step Fashion dye in the local crafts store. These dyes can be used at room temperature, so there's no need to cook the rug, a major advantage if it's any size at all. You can take the rug outside to apply the dye, then hose it out very thoroughly after dyeing is complete, to remove the unattached excess dye.

If your rug is made from wool, silk, or nylon, you can dye it with acid dyes. A huge problem is the fact that acid dyes require heating in order to bond to the fiber. Do you have a cooking pot large enough to boil your rug in the dye? It's unlikely, and if you used it for dyeing, you'd never be able to cook with that pot again, because fabric dyes will contaminate food. Dyeing a large area rug with any sort of hot water dye is completely impractical unless you're a professional who can invest in the right equipment.

If your rug is made of polyester, it requires still another type of dye. Polyester can be dyed only with a special polyester dye called disperse dye. It requires higher heat and more boiling than nylon does, so it's more of a problem to dye. Again you'd need a huge cooking pot, large enough to submerge the rug in the dye. You cannot dye polyester at any temperature below boiling; the dye will just rub off.

As an alternative, you can use fabric paint to change the color of all natural and most synthetic fibers, instead of dye. (It won't stick to polypropylene.) However, fabric paint will not make a perfectly smooth solid color. In addition, fabric paint wears off quickly with heavy use, unlike dye.

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Monday, September 22, 2008

How can I fix the color in a naturally dyed indigo hemp blanket?

Name: Julie

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Message: I have scoured your website for the answer to my question with no avail. I purchased a naturally dyed indigo hemp throw/ blanket from the Black Hmong tribe living in the SaPa region, northern Vietnam. I had hoped to use the throw, but the colour comes off on your hands and I am wondering how I should wash/ fix the colour so I can wash the fabric?

I'm afraid that I have bad news for you. Many indigo-dyed items that are sold in the tourist trade, particularly in Guatemala or Vietnam, have been improperly dyed and will continue to crock dye no matter what you do. It is often not possible to solve this problem; it may be necessary to return the improperly-dyed items for a refund, which is impractical for items purchased while traveling.

There is no dye fixative that can be used to set improperly dyed indigo. Indigo is a vat dye, so it has a neutral chemical charge, and therefore cannot be fixed with cationic dye fixatives such as Retayne. Your only hope is to wash the items, preferably in hot water, using detergent. You may use vinegar to rinse your fabric, using two to four tablespoons of vinegar per gallon of water, but this will not produce a miracle cure if your textiles have been dyed incorrectly. It merely neutralizes the high pH that is left on indigo-dyed items after dyeing and is truly helpful only for properly-applied indigo.

This is a commonly asked question on my site. See, for example, the following blog posts:

"How can I stop the dye from rubbing off of fashion denim fabric?" (September 20, 2008)
"I am looking for something that can fix the dark denim dye in a pair of jeans" (February 21, 2008)
"I have bought a viscose denim coloured two piece, and I was wondering if there is any treatment that would hold the colour, as it rubs onto undergarments" (May 13, 2008)
"How do you block the color of cotton blue jeans from bleeding?" (June 23, 2007)
"How do I stop the blue denim color from running?" (October 10, 2007)

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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Is there a certain type of dye that is used most frequently by manufacturers in dyeing cotton clothing?

Name: Elisa

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Textile Preparation And Dyeing

By A. K. R. Choudhury

Message: Hi, I am a graduate student and I am doing my thesis project on dyed cotton fibers. I had a question I thought you might know. Is there a certain type of dye that is used most frequently by manufacturers in dyeing cotton clothing (i.e. fiber reactive, vat, sulfur, etc.)? Thanks!

The world market shares of each of the major dye classes for cotton fibers in the mid-1980s were listed as follows, in the 2006 book "Textile Preparation And Dyeing", by A. K. R. Choudhury:

Sulfur dyes: 29 - 34%
Direct dyes: 27%
Vat dyes: 17 - 19%
Reactive dyes: 9.7% - 12%
Azoic dyes: 8% - 10%
Pigments: 6%

(The two different figures for each dye class are referenced as coming from two different sources, J. Park, in the December 1986 issue of International Dyer and Printer, and a 1986 piece, Problems of Dyed Goods with Reactive Dyes and Advantage of Sumifix Supra Dyes, by Sumitomo Chemical Company, Japan.)

These figures may have changed in the last twenty years, but to find more recent figures it's likely you'll have to consult expensive proprietary reports, which I have not read.

Fashion changes could have a significant impact on market share, since different classes of dyes excel for different types of colors. For example, sulfur dyes are not available in most bright colors, but work well for dull colors such as black. In fact, the best-selling individual dye for cotton is Sulfur Black T (Colour Index Sulphur Black 1). Reactive dyes are important for bright, highly saturated colors.

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Saturday, September 20, 2008

How can I stop the dye from rubbing off of fashion denim fabric?

Name: Mallory
Message: I bought fashion denim at the fabric store and in the process of making it I got the blue dye all over my hands. I got it off my hands okay. What I would like to know is what can and put on it to keep it from bleeding out more when I wash it and wear it.

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Retayne
does not work on indigo denim

Indigo blue denim has special problems with crocking, which is what the unwanted transfer of dye from dry fabric is called.

Proper application of this type of dye by the manufacturer is critical. Indigo is a vat dye, which means that it is chemically reduced to its soluble form, applied to the fabric, then oxidized back to an insoluble form. If indigo dye is applied to fabric at too great a concentration, instead of being applied several times at a low concentration, the dye will fail to penetrate the fiber, so there will be particles of dye on the outside of the fibers, where they can easily rub off.

Other kinds of dye can be set with the use of cationic dye fixatives such as Retayne. Unfortunately, these dye fixatives are ineffective for use on indigo. There is no dye fixative that can be used to prevent indigo dye from rubbing off of poorly dyed denim fabric.

There are only two things I can recommend to you. One is to wash the denim repeatedly, in the hottest water possible. In some cases this will be all you have to do to solve your problem. If, however, the dye continues to rub off of the dry denim, even after you have washed it several times, you must return the fabric to the store from which you bought it. The store should give you a refund if they sell you defective fabric, and fabric that continues to crock dye even after washing is certainly defective. I doubt that they will give you any refund for the time and trouble you have invested into sewing this fabric, however. I hope that washing in hot water will do the job for you.

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Friday, September 19, 2008

Can I buy 2 Tie Dye Shirts with a collar from you?

Name: Roger D.

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Learn to Tie Dye
video instruction

Message: Can I buy 2 Tie Dye Shirts with a collar from you? I am in Toronto.

I'm not currently selling custom-dyed shirts myself, but I know some excellent hand-dyers who are. Please see my page on "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?", and scroll down past the garment redyers to the section on "New items custom-dyed for you, individual orders or larger". Use the contact information listed there, for hand -dyers such as Judy Sall or Generations Tie Dye. They can dye beautiful clothing for you in your choice of colors, size, and style.

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Can Slinky fabric be dyed or painted on? If so, how?

Name: Pam

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Fabric paints
for both natural
and synthetic fibers

Message: Can Slinky fabric be dyed or painted on? If so, how?

Whether Slinky type fabric can be dyed depends on its fiber content. Check the end of the bolt; it will specify the fiber content and care instructions. I have seen Slinky type fabrics that are made of 92% acetate plus 8% spandex, but I've also seen 50% rayon/45% acetate/5% spandex. Which of these you have makes a huge difference in the dyeability of your fabric.

Rayon, also known as viscose, is a cellulose fiber that can be easily dyed at room temperature using fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. However, this dye works only on cellulose fibers and other natural fibers. It will not work on spandex, acetate, or polyester. If you dye a fabric that contains 50% rayon plus 50% synthetic fibers, only the 50% that is rayon can accept the fiber reactive dye, which means that your color intensity will be only half of what it would be if you were to dye a 100% rayon fabric. See "How to Dye Rayon".

Spandex, or Lycra®, is a heat-sensitive fiber, so blends that contain spandex cannot be dyed with hot water dyes. See "How to Dye Spandex". This means that you cannot use disperse dye to dye any spandex blend a solid color, because the only way to dye a solid color with disperse dye is via extensive boiling.

Disperse dye is the only dye that can be used to dye synthetic fibers such as polyester, and it is by far the best dye to use for dyeing acetate. Disperse dye cannot be applied at low temperatures. See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes ".

An alternative to boiling disperse dye is to use it to make transfer designs on paper, and then use a hot iron to transfer the design to fabric. Unfortunately, to transfer disperse dye from paper, the iron must be set on a high heat, at least the cotton setting; the care instructions for spandex clothing invariably warn against using a hot iron. You could do an inexpensive test, using disperse dye fabric crayons and a scrap piece of fabric, to see whether your fabric is damaged by the temperature required for heat-transferring dye. If the high heat does not damage your fabric, then this would be the best method to use to make designs on your Slinky fabric, because the disperse dye penetrates the fabric and leaves not even the slightest stiff or scratchy feeling on the fabric at all, unlike fabric paints.

In general, you may expect fabric paints to stick less permanently to synthetic fibers than to natural fibers, because synthetic fibers are more slippery, so that the binder in the paint has more difficulty in attaching the pigment to the fiber. However. some brands are recommended by their manufacturers for both natural and synthetic fibers. In particular, Jacquard Products advertises their fabric paints for use on synthetic fibers, in addition to natural fibers. Jacquard Products makes a wide range of fabric paints, including Dye-na-Flow, a fabric paint which flows on fabric like a dye; Lumiere, an excellent range of metallic and pearlescent fabric paints; Neopaque, an opaque fabric paint suitable for use on both light- and dark-colored fabrics; and Jacquard Textile Colors. I strongly recommend that you do some quick test designs on some scrap fabric, in order to be sure that the results are acceptable to you, before you attempt to create any large or important project using these materials.

I don't recommend the use of any paint which is not specifically labeled for use as a fabric paint. Artists' acrylics and other kinds of paint will not work as well as fabric paint. Fabric paint is much softer and sticks to fabric much more effectively. You can find fabric paints at most good crafts stores, or you can mail-order them from a retailer such as Blick Art Materials or Dharma Trading Company.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

How do I get rid of dye smell from black jeans?

[I am back after missing several days due to post-hurricane power outages.]

Name: Laura

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Good dyes produce better results

Dylon Permanent Dye
mostly Drimarene K dyes

Message: How do I get rid of dye smell from black jeans? (Store bought.) This has happened with a pair of brown cords also. I have washed them. The smell gets stronger as you wear them or as they hang; it's lighter after washing.

What makes you think that the smell is caused by the dye?

Your jeans have been treated with a number of chemicals, starting with the pesticides used to kill insects on the cotton plants, continuing with bleaches such as hydrogen peroxide, sodium chlorite, and sodium hypochlorite, to make the cotton white and therefore dyeable in a range of colors, bleach bath stabilizers such as silicates and organic stabilizers, sequestrants such as amino- and hydroxypolycarboxylic acids, aminomethylphosphonates, and sodium polyphophates, and reducing agents such as sodium bisulfite and hydrosulfite. Wetting agents and detergents are added to enabled the previously-mentioned chemicals to penetrate the fiber. Lubrication compounds are added to ease the passage of the rough cotton fiber through the spinning machines, while sizings such as starch, polyvinyl alcohols, or methyl methacrylate copolymers are added to the warp yarns to protect them during weaving. Halogenated phenols are used to inhibit mold formation on damp fabric. Enzymes such as amylase and cellulase are used to soften the fabric. Fabric softeners, including the ones used by manufacturers as well as the ones you may use in the form of dryer sheets, are derived from fats, in many cases from rendered animal carcasses, and will produce a strong and disagreeable odor if they become rancid. Fiber reactive dyes and direct dyes are unlikely to have any significant odor at all, though sulfur dyes, which are inexpensive dyes used industrially on cotton, might have an accompanying odor. All strong odors should be removed in some stage of garment manufacture.

It is the manufacturer's responsibility to remove unsuitable odors that remain from any of the many chemical treatments practiced on their materials. If a purchased garment has a strong odor that is not removable by washing, then it is the product of a manufacturing defect, and should be returned to the point of purchase for a full refund, just as defective clothing whose dye runs should be returned.

If, however, the smell appeared only after you purchased the garment, then you should discard whatever fabric softeners you have been using, as they are the single most likely home source of odor problems. Try a different detergent if necessary, and wash in hot water for most effective washing. After using your washing machine, always leave the door open whenever it is not in use, so that it will stay dry, as the moisture in a closed washing machine will support the growth of unwanted molds and other smelly microorganisms.

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Faster dyeing for a tie-dye party

[I am back after missing several days due to post-hurricane power outages.]

Name: Theresa

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Message: I have a jacquard kit to tie-dye and they referred me to your expertise concerning the amount of time to leave the garment tied and in dyed. Their instructions say 24hrs, unfortunately I am planning t do this for my daughter's 10th birthday party all in about 4 hours!! I hadn't realized the timing! Do you know if it will work to leave the dye on for only 3 hours? Apologies if this is already answered on your site, I wasn't able to locate this specific question. Thanks in advance for your consideration....meanwhile we are going to do a test run this evening and we are crossing our fingers for the best!

Use a little heat. The reaction between Procion MX dye and the fiber triples in speed for every 10°C increase in temperature. Since 10°C equals 18°F, if the dyes take twelve hours to react at 70°F, they will take six hours at 88°F, and three hours at 106°F.

If you follow the instructions for presoaking your 100% cotton shirts in soda ash and applying the Procion MX dyes, you can then pop each shirt into a one-gallon ziplock bag and seal it, then put that bag inside another ziplock bag and seal that one (the freezer type bags are the most reliable), you can float the shirts in a bathtub full of 120°F water and expect the reaction to have completed in a couple of hours.

Another option is to use a microwave oven to briefly heat each bagged shirt until it is hot, watching closely to stop the microwave when the bag starts to inflate with steam. Note that this is safe only for shirts that are still wet; dry fabric will burn if microwaved long enough.

The twenty-four hours in the Jacquard instructions include a safety margin to be sure to allow all of the dye to react, whether with the fiber or with the water the dye is dissolved in. This is important to prevent backstaining, which is the transfer of dye from one part of the garment to another. Backstaining can be a real problem if you unwrap the dyed garments while some active dye still remains, since the active dye can bond permanently in the wrong place. For example, a splotch of purple dye makes an ugly brown if a purple section of the garment is inadvertently allowed to contact a yellow region of the shirt, but if the dye has fully reacted before this happens, then any dye that transfers can be removed by washing in hot water, leaving just the originally intended design.

Backstaining is far less of a problem if you use only colors that go well together, such as fuchsia plus purple plus turquoise, without orange or yellow, or use yellow plus turquoise plus green, without red or purple or orange or fuchsia. You can cut the timing drastically, without adjusting the temperature, and you will still get some permanent color, but the colors will be paler, and any backstaining will not wash out.

See also "Instant Gratification in Tie-Dyeing" (dyeblog entry for July 27, 2008).

Your plan to do a test run tonight is an excellent one! Far too many people charge into doing a party using a technique they've never tried, even once. Always do a test before starting any large or important project!

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Friday, September 12, 2008

Can I use acid dyes for dyeing optics?

Name: Jim

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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!

Message: Dear Sir we are interested in your acid dyes I would be interested to understand more about them can I use it for dyeing Optics.
Please send me more information on this product. ASAP Thank You

You can use acid dyes to dye plastics that are made of nylon, but, as far as I know (my primary interest being textiles), you cannot use them to dye other plastics, such as polycarbonate, nor to dye glass.

See "How to Dye Nylon" and "About Acid Dyes".

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Thursday, September 11, 2008

dyeing a polyester dress

Name: Kristin

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Stainless Steel 10 Gallon Stock Pot with Lid

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Color polyester felt with fabric paints

Fabric Crayons
contain iron-on
disperse dye

Message: I have a dress that is polyester it is a blood red and I would like it to be any color darker plum blue brown black, anything darker, and it doesn't have to be uniformly died, I wouldn't mind a shaded look I know that you said you cant dye a dryclean only dress and polyester is super hard to do. I'm getting the dress hemmed to cocktail length from full and was gonna see what I can test out on the xtra fab. i was thinking maybe some bleach then a dye any siggestions besides don't do it or impossible ha ha ha?

Don't ever bleach polyester. Chlorine bleach will permanently damage polyester, causing a yellowing of the color that cannot be removed.

Before you try to do anything else to this dress, wash it. If it survives the washing without damage, you can try dyeing it. If not, it's not dyeable anyway. Always prewash before trying to dye anything.

You can try removing the existing color with Rit Color Remover. This will work best on the stovetop, but it can also be used in a washing machine with very hot water (you might need to turn up the temperature on your water heater). Closely follow the instructions included with the Rit Color Remover. Some dyes will come right out, while some other dyes will be completely untouched; you can't predict what kind of dye is in your dress until you try it.

To dye polyester, you must boil it with a special polyester dye for half an hour or longer, in a very large non-aluminum cooking pot on the stove. Since fabric dyes can contaminate food, you should save this cooking pot for dye use only in the future; never reuse a dyepot for cooking food. The pot must be large enough to permit the fabric to move freely, and you must stir frequently, or you will get streaky or blotchy results. If uneven color results are what you want, you can use a less enormous pot and less stirring, but boiling is still essential to get the dye to stick to the polyester.

You cannot dye polyester with Rit dye or Procion dye. The only dye that will work for polyester is a special kind of dye called disperse dye. One brand of disperse dye is "iDye Poly". Don't get regular iDye, which is for natural fibers; only iDye Poly will work.

The dye will cost about $3; the pot to boil it in will cost something like $100. It may be less expensive to buy a new dress, unless you're planning to use hot water dyes on another project in the future.

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Is there is any way to get rid of the vinegar smell?

Name: Caroline

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Citric Acid for Acid Dyeing

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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!

Message: Hi, I have been using vinegar and steam setting to hold shapes in silk and was wondering if there is any way to get rid of the vinegar smell? Thanks so much!

Soaking in water would remove the smell of vinegar, but unfortunately it would remove your pleats as well.

An easy way to avoid the vinegar smell when dyeing with acid dyes is to use another acid. Perhaps the same approach will work for steam-setting your pleats in silk.

The purpose of vinegar is to provide a low pH, so, if you want to experiment with this, try substituting ammonium sulfate or citric acid for vinegar. Use pH paper to determine how much to add; in her book, Shibori: Creating Color and Texture on Silk, Karren Brito recommends a pH between 3 and 4 for setting pleats in silk with vinegar. I think you'd use one tablespoon (15 ml) of citric acid or ammonium sulfate in place of eleven tablespoons (165 ml) of 5% white vinegar, since these are equivalent to one another in ProChem's Washfast Acid dye recipes.

I have also read about steaming silk for an extended time (several hours instead of fifteen minutes) to set pleats, without any vinegar at all, so I'm not quite sure how necessary the acid is for this technique.

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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

How can I dye a backpack?

How can I dye my Jansport backpack? I want to tie-dye it
in a sunburst or a swirl.

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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!

What is your backpack made of? You must match the type of dye you use to the fiber it's made out of. Cotton is not the only fiber that can be dyed, but other fibers require different dyes to dye well.

Most Jansport backpacks are made of nylon, which can be dyed with acid dyes, if you heat them in the dye with an acid in a large enough pot on top of the stove. You can't dye nylon at room temperature. (Note that you should never again use this pot for cooking, because all fabric dyes may contaminate food.) If your backpack is made of polyester, you can't use acid dyes; in that case, you must use disperse dyes. See How to dye nylon and How to dye polyester for instructions and more information.

Is your backpack water-resistant? Oftentimes a waterproof coating is sprayed onto backpacks. If water beads up when you splash it on the backpack, instead of soaking in immediately, then you won't be able to dye it. A backpack that repels water will also repel every sort of dye.

What color is your backpack? Dye is transparent, so it will not show on top of a dark color. Whatever colors are already on the backpack will still be there after you dye. This means that in many cases the only practical color choice is to dye it black. The only preexisting color you can dye in different bright colors is white.

As an alternative to dyeing, you can use a nice soft fabric paint, such as Dharma Pigment Dyes or Jacquard Dye-na-Flow. Unlike dye, fabric paints do not have to be boiled into the fabric, so they can be applied at room temperature. However, they will work only on uncoated fabric, not on coated nylon. After drying, Jacquard fabric paints require heatsetting in a commercial dryer (home dryers won't get hot enough) or else the addition of an acrylic catalyst such as Jacquard AirFix to the paint before you use it. Any surface treatment of your backpack's fabric will prevent anything you use to change its color from working. If it's water-resistant, just forget the whole project.

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[Portions of this answer were originally posted, by me, on September 5, 2008, on Yahoo Answers.]

Monday, September 08, 2008

washing out Procion red MX-8B after batiking

Name: Kay

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Soda Ash
Dye Fixer

Liquid Castile Soap

Message: Did I read somewhere on your web page that you no longer use fiber reactive MX-8B dye? Is this a dye that needs a 90 degree temp.? I dyed some shirts (batiked) in water about 70+ degrees using washing soda for fixer. I shortened the time they are in the dye but didn`t rinse or wash them for at least 18 hours. I took the wax out in very hot water, almost boiling using soap and washing soda. I thought I had all the excess color out. Rinsed them and fixed them with Dharma Dye Fixative. The color stays in for a while but loosens up after a time ( months?) and comes out. Is this a problem with this color. I love the color and hate to give it up. How is MX-5B for a color and for fastness? Thank you for any help you can give me.

Do you mean red MX-8B? You have to include the color base name with the code for the code to mean anything. (See "What do the letters and numbers in the code name for a Procion MX type dye mean?".)

I haven't given up using red MX-8B altogether, but I prefer to use red MX-5B in many cases. It's very close in color to the fuchsia, and works very well for mixing other colors, which is probably why one catalog's name for it is "mixing red". Its reactivity and its solubility are more similar to the other colors, so it's better to use red MX-5B when you want it to behave like the other dyes you are using it with. Red MX-8B is better when you want a maximum of difference in the behavior of your different dye chemicals, such as when you want to see turquoise halos around directly-applied purple dye mixtures.

Red MX-8B is the most highly reactive of all of the Procion MX type dyes. It does not require a higher temperature; in fact, it should be able to handle lower temperatures than any of the other dyes in its class. For the same reasons, it tends to go bad faster, both after mixing with water, and in its shelf life while still in powder form. I do not recall noticing that either of these two red dyes washes out any more or less easily than the other.

The boiling water used for wax removal should work well for removing excess dye, too. Boiling water is the most efficient for the removal of excess unattached dye. However, there are several other factors than can make a complete washout difficult or impossible.

One of these factors is sizing in the fabric, such as starch; when starch is used as a sizing in fabric, it canot be removed even with boiling water. Fiber reactive dyes work as well to color starch as they do to color cotton fiber. However, the colored starch will gradually wash out, resulting in the appearance of non-washfast dye, as the colored starch appears in the wash water.

Another major factor in inadequate dye washout is hard water. Dyes can form complexes with the calcium ions found in hard water, and these larger dye complexes can be much more difficult to wash out. It is important, if you have hard water, to use a phosphate-containing water softener, sodium hexametaphosphate, in both your dye mixtures and, if your water is very hard, in your washing water. You can buy this water softener from your dye supplier. Don't use a grocery-store phosphate-free water softener, such as liquid Calgon, because it contains carboxylates that interfere with dyeing.

I always recommend that dyed items be rinsed in cool water before they are washed in hot water, and I do not use soda ash when boiling out wax; instead, I use a few drops of a true soap, such as Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap. (Don't pull your fabric out through the melted wax at the top of the pot, because some of the wax will go back into the fabric, but instead allow the wax to cool and harden before you remove the fabric, so that you can brush the wax off.) Hot water in the presence of salts and other auxiliary chemicals encourages the hydrolyzed dye to form a loose attachment to the fiber, similar to the way less washfast dyes such as direct dye cling to the fiber, which makes it more difficult to do a good washout of the unattached dye.

I think it is a mistake to use Dharma Dye Fixative, or any other cationic dye fixative, such as Retayne, on fiber reactive dyes, when a good washout can be used instead. I recommend these dye fixatives only for less washfast dyes, such as direct dyes or all-purpose dyes, or in cases when a severe water shortage makes proper washing out impossible. Once you have used a cationic dye fixative, you are no longer working with the permanent bonds that form between the fiber reactive dye and the fiber; instead, even unattached, unbonded dye will be stuck to the fabric and impossible to wash out thoroughly. The problem with this is that the unbonded dye which is stuck to the fiber with the cationic dye fixative is not as wash-resistant as properly bonded fiber reactive dye. It is better to complete the washing out of the excess unattached dye before using a cationic dye fixative, but then, once you've done this, the cationic dye fixative is not necessary. Even boiling will not break the permanent bonds between fiber reactive dyes and fiber, once auxiliary chemicals have been removed. (Another popular class of fiber reactive dye, the Remazol or vinyl sulfone dyes, can become detached from the fabric if exposed to heat in the presence of soda ash, so rinsing in cool water is even more important for those.)

So next time, to summarize, I do not recommend that you give up red MX-8B, if you like it, though I would encourage you to also try red MX-5B. I recommend that you use PFD fabric (labeled "Prepared For Dyeing"), or test non-PFD fabric first with iodine to see whether or not it has starch in it; don't use starched fabric for dyeing. Get some sodium hexametaphosphate to add to your dye mixtures, and rinse your dyed fabric with cool water before you use hot water for washing out dye or for removing wax. Avoid using Dharma Dye Fixative or similar products with fiber reactive dye, at least until you've washed out all of the excess unattached dye.

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Sunday, September 07, 2008

dyeing with beautiful blue butterfly pea flowers

Name: Thor

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Books About Natural Dyes

Message: Hello,

You have a very informative site. Thank you for the lovely time! Butterfly pea flower

I am curious whether you have heard or know of the use of the inflorescence from Clitoria ternatea having been used as a dye. I could only find use as a colorant for food (rice) in S. E. Asia.

It has an intensely blue color that seems to be quite stable towards light, and does not turn brown or gray in the short and very limited tests I've done. I simply mashed the flowers onto a sheet of white paper and observed it over the course of several weeks (indoors).
The anthocyanin principally responsible for the color is ternitin. I plan on doing several extractions wit different solvents an varied pH when enough material is acquired.

No, I'm afraid I have not heard a thing about successfully using any blue flower as a textile dye. Good blue natural dyes are very rare.

It's not enough for a substance to have a lovely color, in order to be a textile dye. It must also have some affinity for the fiber, so that it sticks to the fiber even after washing. For example, beets are a lovely intense red color, but if you try to dye fabric with it, the best color you are likely to get is a pale beige. The beautiful red color just washes out. It makes a good food additive, however, since foods that have color added do not have to withstand washing.

Anthocyanins are also found in foodstuffs such as blueberries and grapes, which make notably poor dyes. If you try to dye textiles with most anthocyanins, you end up with drab grays or browns. Ternitin is supposed to be more stable than other anthocyanins, so its results might be less disappointing, but I would not expect it to be highly suitable for use as a textile dye.

In fact, the only good true blue natural dye I know, indigo, is not obtained from flowers at all. Indigo is the best natural blue textile dye; it can be obtained from some fifty different plants, around the world, and is now mostly produced through synthesis from petroleum products. This dye chemical is so superior to other natural blue dyes that it has been discovered repeatedly by different cultures around the world, using different source plants (plants which probably produce the indigo molecule as a natural fungicide). Indigo is applied differently from other natural dyes; most natural dyes are acid dyes or mordant dyes, while indigo is a vat dye, which means that it must be chemically reduced and then applied in an oxygen-free dyebath.

If you want to try using your butterfly pea flowers as a textile dye, I recommend that you use wool yarn or fabric. Any acid dye will work better on a protein fiber, such as silk or wool, than it will on a cellulose fiber such as cotton. Most natural dyes work best when used in large quantities; in general you might expect to need three pounds or so of the blue part only of the flowers, for every pound of wool. Mordant the fiber before dyeing it. Different mordants can alter the color in different ways, and are required for adequate washfastness of most natural dyes other than indigo; the safest mordant to use is alum, though it is not non-toxic. A typical dye recipe requires extensive simmering of the dyestuff in water, which is then strained and simmered at length with the premordanted fiber. However, heat destroys the purple anthocyanins in grapes, and is likely to cause your lovely blue anthocyanin to degrade, so it would be best to use temperatures well below boiling. Adjusting the pH with vinegar or another acid, or with a base such as sodium bicarbonate, may dramatically affect the color produced.

I would be interested in learning about the results of any further color experiments you do.

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Saturday, September 06, 2008

Is there someway to strip the color from a shirt completely before you re-dye it?

Name: Kory

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Rit Color Remover Removes Dyes

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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Good dyes produce better results

Message: Hello,

I have some expensive colored cotton shirts that have faded around the collar when I handwashed that part to clean it. I would like to re-dye them. To get the most consistent coloring throughout, is there someway to strip the color from a shirt completely before you re-dye it?

Any response would be deeply appreciated.

There are two main choices for stripping color from a cotton shirt: chlorine bleach, and sulfur-based color removers such as Rit Color Remover. I prefer Rit Color Remover because it is gentler to the fabric. Another good choice is Jacquard Color Remover, which is based on a different sulfur compound. Not all dyes will lighten in color when treated with bleach or color remover, so it's always a trial-and-error kind of thing. You can use Rit Color Remover in the washing machine, with the hottest tap water available, or on the stovepot in a large pot. A large washing machine will require two boxes. See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?"

When you redye the shirts, go to a little extra trouble to find a high quality dye, because good dyes are easier to use and keep their colors for years longer. Do not use an all-purpose dye , such as Rit dye, because it runs in the wash, and fades quickly. Instead, use a fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You will not be able to find this dye in the grocery store. A good crafts store will carry it, under such brands as Jacquard Procion MX dye, Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, Dylon Machine Dye (in Europe or Australia but not in North America), Dylon Cold Dye, or Dylon Permanent Dye. You can also purchase Procion MX dye by mail-order, for much lower prices per garment. (A two-ounce jar of Procion MX dye is enough to dye eleven pounds of cotton fabric to a medium shade, whereas the individual packets of dye of any brand typically dye only half a pound.) See my page "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

The easiest way to get a smooth solid even color on clothing is to dye it in the washing machine. See "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?". You can dye up to eight pounds of clothing to the same color at once. Weigh your clothing while it is dry to find out how much you have to dye. For smaller amounts of clothing, such as just one or two shirts, you can use three gallons of water in a five-gallon bucket, following a recipe that requires nearly constant stirring, to get the smoothest color possible. Since a washing machine holds about twenty gallons of water, this requires a fair amount of dye. If you want to obtain dark colors, you will need a lot more dye than if you want light colors; use more dye still if you want black. It takes a lot of black dye to make a good rich dark black on clothing.

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Friday, September 05, 2008

I am searching for a product that can be used to paint a design on tagua slices & remain permanent w/out wearing off? Paint does not work.

Name: Melody

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Message: I am searching for a product that can be used to paint a design on tagua slices & remain permanent w/out wearing off? Paint does not work.

Have you experimented with permanent markers, such as Sharpie pens, or fabric markers, such as Jacquard Tee Juice markers? The pigment from a good fabric marker should soak in better than ordinary paint, so that the color will not chip off.

Tagua nuts can be dyed with fiber reactive dyes that are intended for cellulose fibers, or with natural dyes after mordanting with aluminum acetate . See
"Dyeing tagua nut slices to use as jewelry".

Try not to soak the nuts in water (or dye plus water) for too long, in order to reduce the risk of cracking.

With time, oils in the tagua nuts will migrate to their surfaces, which may change their appearance. Their colors will naturally darken, so whatever color you apply will eventually be changed.

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Thursday, September 04, 2008

Where can I get my wedding dress dyed black?

Name: Crystal

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Message: Hello,
I have contacted many different people regarding this question and no one seems to have an answer yet. I am looking for a place/person to dye my wedding dress black. Do you know where I could look for a place (anywhere in the US) that would do this? Maybe an estimate on how much it would cost and how long the process would take.

I know this probably sounds really weird, but we are having a halloween wedding and currently my dress is Ivory.

-- I thank you so much for you time and hope you have a good day. Thanks for all your help.

I don't think it's silly, but I'm not sure that buying a readymade dress and having it dyed is the best approach. Instead, I would generally recommend buying some beautiful black silk fabric, and finding an expert local seamstress to sew your wedding dress from it for you.

What fiber is your ivory dress made out of? Silk and rayon are easy to dye, but polyester requires a lot of boiling with disperse dye; on the other hand, boiling might damage your dress. Is it labeled "dry clean only"? It's impossible to dye anything that is not washable.

The page you need to look at is "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?". The top section includes four commercial garment redyers, only one of which, Manhattan Dyeing Service, expresses willingness to dye synthetic fibers such as polyester. You can contact them via their website (there's a link on the page) to enquire about prices.

How easy it is to redye a wedding dress depends on what it is made of, and whether it is washable. Dyeing invariably involves a great deal of washing, and wedding dresses are often not made in a sturdy enough manner to survive.

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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Dye from shirt accidentally transferred to hair!

Name: dnp

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Set Dyes in Commercial Clothing

Retayne

Extra Strength Hair Dye Color Remover

Message: My friend has a bright pink shirt that has been washed numerous times. She was wearing the shirt the other day and fell asleep with a wet head on her shoulder. Her blonde hair turned pink at the area where it was touching the shirt. Is it really possible that because her body tempature was high and she had a wet head of hair that it would turn her hair pink in the contact area? If she were sweating, would the shirt turn her white sheets pink too?
Thanks

It is certainly possible that dye from the shirt transferred to your friend's hair. This is something that should never happen, but inadequate dye fixing sometimes does occur. It is the fault of the manufacturer, and the garment should be returned to where it was purchased for a refund and possibly enough money to pay for the removal of the pink dye from the hair.

The best test for dye permanency is to dampen a piece of dyed fabric and place it between two piece of white cloth, one made of cotton and the other made of wool, then press it with a hot iron until it is dry. Some inadequately washed dyes will transfer to wool but not to cotton (or vice versa). It is possible that the dye in this shirt will run only onto protein fibers such as human hair and wool, but not onto cotton, because of the chemical differences between protein fibers and cellulose fibers.

If your friend is unable to return the shirt and wants to continue to wear it, the best way to rid dyed clothing of excess unattached dyes is to wash it in HOT water, 140°F or higher (that's 60°C or higher). Some dyes are naturally not very firmly bonded to fabric, but will continue to bleed or crock even after many washings. It is possible to fix most of these dyes in place, after removing excess dye by washing, by applying a commercial dye fixative, such as Retayne or its generic equivalents. It is hard to find this product in local stores. If you have a local quilting supply shop, ask for Retayne there. Otherwise, you have to buy it by mail-order. Most good dye suppliers will carry it, and some will carry more than one brand. Retayne is applied in the washing machine, in hot water. See my page on "Commercial Dye Fixatives".

Your friend should try hot water first to remove the dye, as hot as she can stand without danger of scalding. Hot water always removes loose dye better than cold water will. If her hair is naturally blond, it will not have absorbed as much dye as if it has been bleached and color treated. The color treatment process makes hair more porous and able to accept loose dye. (This is no excuse for the mistake made by the manufacturer of your friend's shirt!)

If hot water does not remove the pink dye from the hair, there is a product available that can be used to remove dye. It is called something like "Color Oops", and it is based on the exact same chemical that is found in Rit Color Remover, which is used for this purpose on clothing. Do not use Rit Color Remover on your hair, because the related product that is made for hair will be formulated to be much kinder to the hair. I would advise getting a professional hairstylist to help remove the pink dye. If your friend's hair is dyed, the color might be stripped out, leaving it white. (See the forum post "Color Remover for hair!".)

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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Where can I buy cotton dyes in Malaysia?

Name: Melisssa

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Dylon Machine Dye
mostly Drimarene K dye, but you can also order straight Drimarene dyes from Batik Oetoro and KraftKolour in Australia

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Dylon Permanent Dye
mostly Drimarene K dyes

Dylon Cold Dye
mostly Procion MX type dye

Message: Where can I get colour dye for cotton in Malaysia?

I'm sorry, but I have been unable to find local sources for textile dyes in Malaysia.

The best dyes for cotton are the fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion, Remazol, or Drimarene K. Another kind of dye, which does not resist washing as well, is direct dye; this dye may be available to home users when no other dye can be found. A third kind of dye for cotton is called napthol or azoic dye; I don't think it's suitable for home use.

One way to find a local source for dyes is to contact a large dye wholesaler and ask for the names of any retail establishments that buy dye from them in order to repackage it in quantities that are small enough for individuals. The closest contacts I can find for Dystar (maker of Remazol and Procion H-E fiber reactive dyes) are in Thailand and in Indonesia, as follows:

DyStar Thai Ltd.
193 Lake Rjada Building, 17th floor
Ratchadapisek Road
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110
phone +66-2-2 64 04 70
fax +66-2-2 64 04 74

PT DyStar Colours Indonesia
Menara Global Building
22nd Floor
Jln.Gatot Subroto Kav.27
Jakarta 12930
phone+62-21-5270550
fax +62-21-5270520

Another global source of dyes is Clariant (maker of Drimarene K fiber reactive dyes); here is a contact for them:

Clariant (M) Sdn Bhd
79, Jalan Teluk Gadung 27/93A, Shah Alam
Malaysia 40000
Tel/Hp : 0351918711
Fax : 0351918717

Huntsman Textile Effects (maker of Cibacron F fiber reactive dyes), can be contacted at the following addresses:

Huntsman Textile Effects 
c/o Tioxide (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. 
Sdn Bhd,C-1-1, Sunway Business Park 
Jalan Todak 4 Pusat Bandar 
Sebarang Jaya MY-13700 Seberang Jaya, 
Penang Malaysia
Tel.: +60-12-402 08 80	
Fax: +60-4-818 08 69

Huntsman (Singapore) Pte. Ltd 
150 Beach Road #06-05/08 Gateway 
West Singapore 
Tel.: +65 6297 3363	
Fax: +65 6390 6400

The above companies should be able to tell you what retailers they supply dye to in your area; you can then buy your dyes from the suggested retailers. In general the companies listed above have large minimum order sizes, perhaps 5 kilograms per dye color; be sure to ask whether they would be willing to sell you smaller quantities, such as half a kilo of each dye color you buy.

I know that Indonesia also certainly has companies that sell fiber reactive dyes, since these dyes are popular in the Batiks that they export, but I cannot tell you where they are.

Many people who cannot find a good dye supplier in their home countries mail-order from other countries. When ordering from a foreign country, you will need to enquire by phone or possibly email to find out how much the cheapest form of shipping will cost. Often the online ordering systems quote the costs only for a very fast form of shipping, which causes shipping costs to be prohibitively expensive, but if you select a slower delivery method, the prices become quite reasonable. In some cases, international shipping is cheaper for an individual than buying dyes locally.

Your first question to an international dye supplier will always concern whether they will ship to your country. Unfortunately, Dharma Trading Company, in the US, does not currently ship to Malaysia. I know that PRO Chemical & Dye, also in the US, ships internationally to many countries; like Dharma, they have much lower prices, for the small quantities an individual can use, than dye suppliers in most countries, even after the cost of a relatively slow form of international shipping is added. If you look at my page, "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World", you will find contacts for the above retailers, as well as a couple of mail-order sources in Australia, and you should also consider European sources.

Please let me know if you find a good local source for textile dyes, because this question comes up regularly.

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Monday, September 01, 2008

How can I dye polyester felt for a pigeon costume?

Name: Stefanie

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Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Stainless Steel 10 Gallon Stock Pot with Lid

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Color polyester felt with fabric paints

Fabric Crayons
contain iron-on
disperse dye

Message: Hi Paula,

I am making a pigeon costume for my son (from the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus) and needed 1.5 yards of light blue plush felt. It doesn't come in that color, so I bought some white and am now trying to figure out how to dye it. The felt is 100% polyester.

After reading several posts on your blog, I have decided to try the iDye poly dye in Blue. I see that you recommend boiling instead of just using hot water in the washing machine. My question is since I want a very pale blue, do you think the washing machine would be good enough? The iDye Poly Blue looks very dark, so I don't want it to completely saturate.

Also, is this going to ruin my washing machine? I've never dyed anything before.

Dyeing in the washing machine will not ruin it, but I'm not at all convinced that it will give you acceptable results on 100% polyester. (Pigment dyes and basic dyes are likely to permanently stain a washing machine, but not acid dyes, reactive dyes, or disperse dyes.)

I have not used the iDye Poly yet myself, so I don't know yet whether or not using 140°F water will produce enough color, rather than none at all. Normally, polyester dye requires extensive boiling (or an iron-on heat transfer) to do a good job at all. Most tap water is heated to less than 140°F; you can check your washing machine water temperature in a hot cycle with a thermometer to see how hot it gets.

The instructions in the iDye Poly package say to simmer one packet (14 grams) of dye for 2 to 3 pounds of fabric in just enough water for the fabric to move freely, for half an hour to one hour. Using a larger amount of cooler water — a typical washing machine load is 20 gallons — might result in a blue so pale that it's difficult to see. There are instructions inside the package for dyeing natural fiber/polyester blends by combining a packet of iDye for cotton in the washing machine with a packet of iDye Poly for polyester, but there are no instructions at all for dyeing pure polyester in the washing machine, which suggests to me that it will most probably give poor results.

What I would recommend instead is that you use a good fabric paint. The advantage of fabric paint is that you can use it at room temperature, in a cheap bucket. You don't have to boil it. The results will be more predictable. Some fabric paints require heat-setting, but that's just ironing the fabric on high for 2 to 3 minutes, or, if the amount of fabric is too large for that to be practical, putting it (already dry) in a commercial clothes drying machine for half an hour. (Don't rely on a home clothes dryer, because they do not get hot enough.) Not all fabric paints require heat setting at all.

Take a look at Dharma Trading Company's Dharma Pigment "Dye" system. This is a fabric paint that can be used for pigment dyeing or tie-dyeing. It will not produce a perfectly crisp solid color, but instead a slightly aged look, like the "pigment dyed" clothing you sometimes see being sold. For your costume, I think this effect should be perfect. A very nice detail about the Dharma Pigment Dye is that the manufacturers do not think that heat setting is necessary at all on polyester. You can dilute these fabric paints with a white pigment dye base (on the same page) in order to lighten the color. They are more economical than many fabric paints, because they can be diluted with up to four times as much water and still bond to the fabric.

There are also other brands of fabric paints that will work. They will all give a pigment-dyed effect, rather than a crisp perfect solid color. Jacquard Dye-Na-Flow Fabric Color is a fabric paint designed to flow like a dye; you can dilute it with up to one-third as much water. All of Jacquard's fabric paints, including Dye-Na-Flow , Jacquard Textile Colors, Lumiere , and Neopaque , are supposed to work fine on polyester, unlike some brands. They do require heat-setting. Ordinary artist's acrylic paints can also be diluted and used, though they will produce a stiffer, scratchier feeling on the fabric than a good fabric paint will. You can even turn acrylic paints into fabric paint by mixing them with a product called Fabric Medium, but it's easier to find fabric paint than fabric medium in the stores.

If you really wanted to use dye on felt, I would recommend buying 100% wool felt and acid dyes, but for your purposes I think that pigment dyeing with fabric paint will be easier and produce just the right effect. You can also, of course, paint details on the fabric using fabric paint, which will be very handy in giving a costume the perfect final touches.

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