Archives for January, 2010

« 2010 February | Main | 2009 December »

Sunday, January 31, 2010

please dye my dress or help find help

Name: Patricia

—ADVERTISEMENT—

Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Region: San Diego

Message: Please dye my dress???????????????? or help find help

I won't dye your dress for you, but there are some companies who will, if the fiber content is easily dyeable. You're unlikely to find one in your neighborhood, but there are several dyeing services to which you can mail your dress to have them dye it. See my page, "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?". Use email or the phone to describe your dress and find out how much the cost of dyeing will be.

If your dress is not washable, nobody will dye it for you. You can't dye anything that can't be washed.

If your dress is made of polyester, very few dyers will be willing to even consider dyeing it. Manhattan Dyeing Service will, but only if the dress is white; they will not overdye a previously dyed polyester dress to another color. Other dyers are willing to dye only natural fibers, since they are so much easier to dye.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Saturday, January 30, 2010

a problem with the designs not coming out crisp or sharp

Name: Lisa

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Region: New York

Message: I am having a problem with the designs not coming out crisp or sharp. I'm thinking the colors may be getting diluted because of the water on the shirts from soaking. I know I'm mixing the dyes correctly. The colors fading together and its hard to see the distinguish the designs because the colors are going together. I think its because after I soak the t-shirts in the soda ash, I then wring them out but they still very wet. Should I put them in the dryer for a while? Should the shirts just be slightly damp when putting the dye colors on them? Also, if I tie them before soaking them and then the strings and bands start coming out especially if I dry them in the dryer slightly after soaking them. What do you think?

What brand of dyes are you using? It will make a difference in my answer.

I am using Pro MX reactive dyes from Pro Chemical & Dye company. Do you also think the cold weather has to do with it?

Yes, it might. There are several factors, any of which may be what you're looking for:

1. Temperature

Cold weather does make a big difference. If the temperature is a little low, it takes longer for the dye to react with the fabric, and if it's too low, your colors will be paler than expected, even if you allow plenty of time (preferably overnight). A longer and slower dye reaction time gives your dyes more of a chance to spread on the fabric. The practical minimum temperature is about 70°F. A particular sign of low temperatures is that any colors that contain turquoise will come out pale.

What you can do, if your dyeing studio (or back yard, if that's where you do your dyeing) is too cold, is to wrap each piece in plastic wrap, to keep darker parts of the design from staining lighter parts, then roll it up, pop it into a gallon-size plastic bag (depending on the size of the piece), and bring the bagged items into a warm place. See "What is the effect of temperature on fiber reactive dyes?", scrolling down to the section on "Ways to increase your reaction temperature".

2. Thickener

If you don't want your dyes to spread and blend on the fabric, you should use a dye thickener, mixed with your Procion MX dyes. This will allow your designs to be crisper and more clearly delineated. You will use trial and error to determine the exact proportion of thickener you like best for your effects. See my page "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners".

3. More dye

You might be happier with a higher dye concentration. Mix the dyes just as you have been doing, but use two or three times as much, and see if you like the color intensity better. Sometimes this is the answer, though in your case I'm guessing that a combination of warmer dye reaction temperatures and sodium alginate in your dyes will do the trick.

4. Drying the soda ash

Many tie-dyers do like to allow the soda ash presoak to dry in their fabric. I recommend against drying it in your clothes dryer, though, because it's a pain to clean the soda ash out of the dryer, and you don't want it on your regular laundry. Soda ash is a common laundry additive, found in most laundry powders, but you want to rinse it out before drying and wearing your clothes.

I think it's best, if you want to work with dry soda ash, to line-dry your soda-ash-soaked t-shirts. It's a good technique for getting intense colors, but you should be aware that the soda ash on the dry fabric can dust up into the air and irritate your skin and respiratory tract. This is why I prefer to tie dry shirts, or shirts dampened only with water, and only then soak them in soda ash. You can allow them to dry with the soda ash in them, even when they're tied up, because the soda ash tends to inhibit mildew.

5. Old dyes or problem with soda ash

Probably neither of these two is your problem, but it's worth thinking about. If your dyes are over two years old, they may be losing their effectiveness; Procion MX dyes are expected to stay good for only a year or two after purchase. That said, I've had many last longer than that. Another possibility, unlikely but it does happen sometimes, is that you might have mistakenly used urea instead of soda ash when you mixed up your soda ash presoak. These two issues are less likely than my other suggestions, in your case, but it's necessary to consider them.

6. Tying

You might consider using a different type of string. I like to use artificial sinew because it makes it easier to get the ties really tight. Tying very tightly is crucial to getting crisp tie-dye designs. Artificial sinew is a waxed polyester string sold in crafts stores for stitching leather-working projects.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Friday, January 29, 2010

I am looking for someone to dye my "Pepto Bismal"/pink colored ski jacket black

Name: Emily
Region: California
Message: I am looking for someone to dye my "Pepto Bismal"/pink colored ski jacket black. Shell Exterior 1: 92% nylon/polyamide, 8% spandex, 100% polyester backer. Shell Exterior 2: 94% nylon/polyamide, 6% spandex, 100 % polyester backer. Lining: 100 % polyester, exclusive of trims. It's 2-tone; light pink and darker pink with a pink plastic zipper. Please advise. I am willing to ship it to someone who's experienced at this. Thank you so much. Emily

This is probably not a project that can ever work. It might be possible if you are willing to leave the polyester portions undyed. Dyeing the polyester would require such high heat that the spandex-containing portions of the jacket will be ruined.

Nylon is not as difficult to dye as polyester, since it can be dyed with acid dyes, but it's not a good thing that it's blended with spandex. Spandex prefers to remain at a water temperature of 105°F or below, while acid dyes work best on nylon along with heating to 205°F, which, while cooler than the temperatures used for dyeing polyester, is still much too high for spandex.

Do not expect the darker pink portions to end up the same color as the lighter portions. Dye is transparent, so darker sections always end up a different color than lighter sections.

If the jacket is at all water-repellent or stain-resistant, give up on this project right now. Nobody can do a good job redyeing water-resistant fabric. Unfortunately, chances are good that any jacket will be undyeable for this reason. If, when you spatter water droplets on the jacket, most of them bead up instead of soaking in, then your jacket has a water-resistant coating.

There is a list of custom dyers on my web site under "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?". Look only in the first section on that page, "Garment Redyers: changing the color of clothing you already have". Try contacting them to ask whether they would be able to take on this project.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

What color denim (black or white) to dye to get grey denim?

Name: Lenore

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: United States

Message: What color denim (black or white) to dye to get grey denim?

Always start any dyeing project with white, whenever possible. Since dye is transparent, the original color will always show through. Any dye applied to black denim will be difficult to see at all.

Dyeing is not always the only option, though. In some cases, you can discharge (not dye) dark colors to remove them, to lighten the color. See my page on "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?". However, in some cases the dye will turn out to be one that resists all attempts at removal. It is impossible to predict whether a certain black garment can be bleached to a lighter color or not, until you try it.

Unfortunately, there is another problem with dyeing denim. The look of denim is provided by weaving together white yarns in one direction with blue yarns in another direction. The yarns must be dyed before the fabric is woven. If you dye denim, what you'll end up with is colored twill. Without the contrast between the blue warp yarns and the white weft yarns, it's not denim at all, merely twill. It's a different look. IF you could be sure that black denim would bleach out to a lighter color, then this would be preferably to dyeing, since it would maintain the denim look. In a third option, overdyeing a blue denim with gray dye will reduce the color contrast without eliminating it, providing a toned-down blue-gray twill, which might be preferable; obviously the results will be very different with a pale "acid washed" pair of jeans than with a darker starting color.

Choose your dye carefully. Make sure you are dyeing a dyeable fiber, such as 100% cotton. If you're dyeing cotton, do not use an all-purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex, if you want the color you add to last, and to not bleed in the laundry. All-purpose dyes fade quickly and, when you wash the dyed clothing, tend to ruin anything else in the laundry. Instead, choose a fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, Dylon Permanent Dye, or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye. For a single solid color, you'll get the best results by dyeing in the washing machine; see "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Thursday, January 28, 2010

How can I tie-dye an Irish flag so that the white portion stays white?

Name: Greg

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Region: Vermont

Message: First, thank you for compiling all the information on your site. The detail and depth of information is wonderful, and has inspired me to try my hand at tie dying.

My desire is to recreate the Irish flag: I'll have the shirt divided into thirds vertically, with the left dyed green, the right dyed orange, and the center left white. My question is what is the best way to prepare or treat the shirt (either before or after dying) so that the white portion stays that way?

The key for your Irish Flag design lies in preventing the dye from creeping on the fabric. The way to do this is to, 1, use Procion MX type fiber reactive dye, not direct dye or all-purpose dye , and, 2, thicken your dye with sodium alginate.

All-purpose dye (such as Rit or Tintex) invariably bleeds from one part of your fabric to another, so it's not suitable for your project. Even if the colors are distinct when you're done dyeing, the all-purpose dye will always bleed in the laundry, so that, in your project, the white portion of the fabric will pick up faded green and orange, ruining the effect. Never use all-purpose dye for tie-dyeing or dye painting; there are far better dyes that will not cause this problem.

The right kind of dye to use is fiber reactive dye. Fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, can be applied in such a way that each dye molecule forms a permanent chemical bond to the molecules of the fiber in the fabric. This is a simple process, the same as used in any tie-dyeing kit, in which all you need is soda ash or washing soda to make the dye-fiber reaction occur. Allow plenty of time, at least overnight in a warm (70°F) room, so that you can be sure that all of the dye has completed reacting, before you wash the excess out, so that there's no possibility of staining the wrong part of the fabric with dye that is still active. After dyeing, there will always be be some unattached excess dye, which can bleed into unwanted areas, but washing in hot water will completely remove the dye that can bleed. Rinse in cold water first, then wash twice in very hot water, ideally 140°F or higher, and no loose dye will be left that is capable of bleeding in the laundry. Sometimes a third hot-water wash is needed. If you fail to wash the excess dye out adequately, don't worry: any transferred unattached dye can be removed by washing in very hot water, as long as you allowed enough time and warmth for the dye/fiber reaction to completely finish in the first place.

However, even fiber reactive dye will spread a little on the fabric, during the reaction phase, if you don't thicken it. Unthickened fiber reactive dye is lovely for making rainbow gradients, but thickened dye is what you need when spreading and mixing are to be kept to a minimum. I doubt that you want a little pale orange blending between your white and your orange, for example. Tying very tightly with string (my favorite tie-dyeing string is synthetic sinew) helps considerably in preventing dye from crossing that line in your design, but thickening the dye is important, too.

The most commonly-used thickener for tie-dyeing is sodium alginate, a derivative of a certain form of seaweed. See my page, "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners", for information and a recipe. The best place to buy your sodium alginate will be by mail-order from a dye supplier, such as PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts, which is the closest of the major dye suppliers to your location in Vermont. Dye suppliers sell two grades of alginate, one fine (usually labeled "sodium alginate F") for use on sheer silks, and and a coarser grade (usually labeled "sodium alginate SH") that is ideal for tie-dyeing. You can buy your alginate at the same time that you order your Procion MX dye, your soda ash, and the urea that is used to keep the dye moist during the reaction time.

Thickened dye can be used for tie-dyeing, but it can also be used for dye-painting, in which you either presoak the shirt in soda ash, or mix soda ash with your thickened dye immediately before using, and paint, squirt, or drip the dye onto the shirt exactly where you want it to go. This freedom of technique gives you many possibilities for forming your design. Be sure you chose a good shirt to dye, one which is 100% cotton and which does not have any stain-resistant or permanent-press treatment applied to it, and prewash it in hot water.

It is possible to mix a bright green and a bright orange using the three dye colors supplied in most tie-dyeing kits, but it will be a lot easier to get just the right colors if you buy a small jar of orange dye and a small dye of green dye. There are no natural unmixed green dyes in the whole Procion MX line, but there are many different hues of premixed greens that you can buy. If you're ordering from PRO Chemical and Dyes, look for their "PRO MX Reactive Dyes", which is what they call their Procion MX dyes. For other good mail-order dye sources, see my page of "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World" page, or take a look at the advertisements on this page.

And secondly, you mention the use of fabric markers to touch-up polyester thread. What about Sharpie permanent markers?

Thanks again for your great site!

Sharpie markers are handy for a quick touch-up on fabric, say if a stray drop of bleach or acne wash created a light spot on a garment, but they're not 100% permanent, if you ever wash the garment. They invariably fade, with time and laundering. If you ever use one for the touch-up trick, keep it on hand, because you'll need to use it again later. Fabric markers last longer on fabric than Sharpie pens do.

However, my experience is that the color produced by even the best fabric marker on polyester thread is duller and paler than the same marker on cotton, and it takes too much time to be worth the trouble to color in the thread on a cotton shirt that's been sewn (like most clothing) with polyester thread. If you need a shirt with cotton thread for better dyeing, try ordering from a good dye supplier. PRO Chemical & Dye sells t-shirts sewn with cotton thread; Dharma Trading Company sells those, too, and also a wide range of other clothing blanks that are sewn with cotton thread. The results are worth the trouble of mail-ordering.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Do you know where in Australia I can buy tie dying dye - not Rit?

Name: Shanelle

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: Australia

Message: Do you know where in Australia I can buy tie dying dye - not Rit etc.? Thanks.

Yes. Scroll down to the 'Australia' section of my page "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

The best dyes for tie-dyeing cotton and other natural fibers are the fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dye or Drimarene K dye. As you already know, all-purpose dyes such as Rit are far less suitable for tie-dyeing.

You may be able to find a tie-dyeing kit in a local crafts store, or sometimes even in a large discount department store. The Jacquard tie-dyeing kit contains Procion MX dye, while the Dylon tie-dyeing kit most likely contains Drimarene K dyes; both will produce brilliant and long-lasting results. The Rainbow Dyes brand tie-dyeing kit does not contain dyes at all, but instead fabric paints; these wear off more quickly, but require less water and thus are useful in areas of drought.

There are several dye suppliers in Australia that sell high quality dyes. The widest range of dyes and related products can be found at Kraftkolour in Melbourne, and at Batik Oetoro in Sidney. You can also buy Drimarene K dyes in Smithfield, near Sidney, from Silksational. If none of these is convenient for you, buy Procion MX or Drimarene K dyes by mail-order, using one of these sources or the mail-order-only company The Thread Studio. Most expert hand dyers buy their dyes by mail-order, for greater selection, better prices, and fresher dyes. You will also need to get soda ash or washing soda, to set the dye, and you'll probably want to use urea, as well, to keep the dyes moist while they react with the fiber (though you can wrap each piece in plastic for the same effect).

A few Australian dyers prefer to mail-order their dyes from Dharma Trading Company or PRO Chemical & Dye, in the US; this can be a surprisingly economical alternative, if you call and request the slowest and cheapest form of shipping, since their Procion MX dye prices are much lower, but I don't know what the customs fees may be.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

How to overdye black jeans with red?

Name: Graham

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Region: California

Message: I have seen several different jean brands (volcom, Bullhead) come out with a black jean that is overdyed with red, like this one [pictured at left].

I really like this look and color, but I've only been able to find this type of overdyed jean in skinny cut. I was wondering if I can make these myself. Should I just buy a red cotton dye and just go for it? Or should I bleach the black jeans first? I'm not really sure how to go about doing this.

I appreciate your help. This website has been really informational. Thank you.

It looks to me as though these black jeans were bleached a great deal before the red dye was applied. There is a little black remaining only next to the seams; in most areas only a partial gray remained before the red dye was applied. If you try to dye black jeans without bleaching them first, you'll barely be able to see any of the red dye, if at all. You need to bleach out much of the black dye in order to get this effect.

For most clothing, I recommend a non-bleach color remover, such as Rit Color Remover, which is sodium dithionite, or Jacquard Color Remover, which is thiourea dioxide. (See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".) For indigo-dyed blue jeans, you cannot use any of these color removers, because of the peculiar chemistry of indigo. I don't know what sort of dye is used on black jeans, but I suspect it's likely to be sulfur black, which is similar in chemistry to indigo. I would probably try chlorine bleach first, the ordinary household bleach that contains hypochlorite, to bleach black jeans, since this is what works for blue jeans. One caveat is that you should use bleach only on 100% cellulose fibers, such as 100% cotton; hypochlorite bleach will damage or destroy synthetic fibers. Another is that some dyes resist all forms of bleaching, so you can't be sure how well this will work for a particular garment until you try it. If it doesn't work, you'll have a pair of black jeans that can't really be dyed.

It's a good idea, after using hypochlorite bleach to remove the color from anything, to neutralize the bleach after rinsing by using Anti-Chlor or Bleach Stop. See "How can I neutralize the damaging effects of chlorine bleach?". This will prevent the hypochlorite and its reaction products from continuing to eat away at the cotton fiber.

Assuming that you successfully bleach a pair of black jeans, or manage to find some bleached black jeans all ready to go, I recommend that you choose your red dye carefully. If you use an all-purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex, or a direct dye such as iDye, you will find that the dye is poorly washfast and fades quickly. It is better to use a fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye; see "About Fiber Reactive Dyes". You will also need soda ash to set the Procion dye, and also a large quantity of salt if you're dyeing in a bucket or in the washing machine. The washing machine is particularly convenient way to dye two or more garments a single solid color. See "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".

If you want to buy your red dye in a local crafts store, look for Jacquard Procion MX dye (not Jacquard Acid Dye or Jacquard iDye, which are different types of dye). If you can't find that, look for Dylon Permanent fabric dye, Dylon Cold Water Dye, Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, or Tulip Permanent dye. If you're located near San Rafael, California, go to Dharma Trading Company. Most serious dyers buy their dyes by mail-order. I maintain a list of mail-order dye suppliers; see "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Monday, January 25, 2010

Only one of the two fibers in my cotton/poly blend pants fades

Name: Pablo

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: USA

Message: You have mentioned that cotton/polyester blends are hard to dye. Unfortunately, my favorite brand of pants are an all-black, 55% cotton, 45% polyester blend. They fade over time, or right away if washed or rinsed in cold water. The stitching stays solid black. When looking at a faded pair, it looks like there is a diagonal pattern of threads that stay fairly dark and others that have faded.

Is it possible that only the cotton or only the polyester part of the blend is fading? If so, which would be a likely candidate to be re-dyed so that the pants will be dark black again?

That's an interesting question. Which dye is fading, the polyester dye or the cotton dye? It could be either. We can't tell for certain from the fact that the polyester thread is not fading, because it was most likely dyed by an entirely different manufacturer, possibly with an entirely different dye.

It's a lot easier to dye cotton than it is to dye polyester, so it would make sense to try dyeing the cotton first. Dyeing the cotton is cheaper, too, since it won't require that you invest in a special cooking pot for boiling the clothing in the dye. (You should not plan to reuse a dyeing pot for food preparation.) The most permanent dyes for cotton are fiber reactive dyes, which can be applied in a plastic bucket or in the washing machine. You should avoid all-purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex, because it fades quickly in the wash.

There are several different types of fiber reactive dye available. For a single garment, you can go to a crafts store or a sewing store and look for either Dylon Permanent Dye or Tulip Dye; both of these include fiber reactive dye, plus the additional chemicals to set the dye. Weigh your garment first, while it is dry, so that you will know how many packets of dye to buy. A one-pound pair of 100% cotton jeans will require two to four packets of Dylon Permanent dye; your 55% cotton jeans should require only half as much, but it's best to use plenty of dye to get a dark black, so I'd recommend you use two packets per pound of fabric.

For dyeing in the washing machine, which is an excellent way to get a perfectly smooth even color, see my page, "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?", as well as this earlier questions: "I want to get the deepest darkest black I can get". You'll probably want to buy at least eight ounces of Procion MX dye from a good mail-order dye supplier, along with soda ash; for washing machine dyeing, you will also need a large quantity of ordinary table salt.

I think that this will work for you. I think that your fading black dye is most likely an inexpensive direct dye, which is a type of dye that's notorious for rapid fading. (It's one of the two types of dye included in all-purpose dyes, such as Rit.) If I am wrong, then you will see the cotton stay dark, and the polyester continue to fade. Dyeing polyester is a pain, because it requires that you use only a special kind of dye known as disperse dye; this type of dye works only when you boil the garment with the dye for some time. This requires a dyeing pot large enough for the garment to move in freely, most likely a five-gallon stainless steel or enamel cooking pot, which will probably cost you at least fifty or a hundred dollars. Dyeing cotton is much easier and less expensive than dyeing polyester, since you don't need to invest in a dyeing pot.

If you buy a new pair of pants, you can immediately treat it in hot water in the washing machine with a cationic dye fixative, such as Retayne. This stuff works great to make direct dye much more permanent on cotton. Unfortunately, it is likely to have little effect on the polyester. See "Commercial Dye Fixatives". You can buy Retayne and similar dye fixatives by mail-order. There is no need to use Retayne on fiber reactive dye that you apply yourself, because proper reactive dye fixing with soda ash is both easier and longer-lasting, but it's a good way to stop poor-quality dyes from fading.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Sunday, January 24, 2010

I am having a lot of problems tie dying socks

Name: Jean

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Region: New Jersey, USA

Message: I am having a lot of problems tie dying socks. The bands on the socks come out great but the rest of the sock fades, or other colors pull out of the one that I put on. Ex: black - I have blues, etc.separating from the black. Again, color on sock is faded but band is beautiful. What am I doing wrong? Is it the material content of the sock? They have about 83-84% cotton in them. Thx for your help.

What kind of dye are you using? That is, what brand is it? Is it Rit dye, or a Tulip tie-dye kit, or what?

It's the Jacquard Procion MX. I soak in soda ash for 30 mins., squeeze out then lay socks flat and squirt with bottle on socks, let sit for a few hours (but you can see the color changing as it sits), wash and that's it.

Okay, that is a good choice of dye, and it looks like the right technique, so the problem is the socks that you're dyeing.

Unlike most fiber blend garments, socks often have their synthetic-fiber components more visible in one part of the sock than another. Th 16% or so of the fiber blend that is nylon, acrylic, polyester, and/or spandex is what's not holding on to the dye, in your socks.

It's never practical to try to dye the spandex portion of a spandex blend garment. The circumstances required to dye spandex can ruin the shape of the garment. With socks, it's best to either accept the lighter-colored portions as they are, or find a different source for socks which don't have as much visible synthetic fiber.

To the upper left is an example of some socks I dyed that had an excessive amount of synthetic fiber on the surface of the foot portion. Is that what's happening to your socks? In contrast, the second picture, below left, is an example of socks from a different source, which dye much more nicely.

With the latter socks, the only time you can see any undyed synthetic fiber at all is when they are fully stretched, and then only in the top portion of the socks, but even then the overall effect is one of bright colors, with a few white threads showing.

The socks in my second picture, below left, are the adult bamboo socks that are sold by Dharma Trading Company. Bamboo is a cellulose fiber, actually a form of rayon; it feels comfortable like cotton, and dyes even more beautifully than cotton. As of this writing, Dharma is still selling these socks, and they are very reasonable in price, so I recommend you order some from them. The bamboo socks are available in sizes for adult men and women as well as for children.

Another source of socks that have dyed beautifully for me is the company Maggie's Organics. I've had excellent results dyeing both cotton and hemp socks from this company. Unfortunately, the cost of the socks tends to be much higher, but they are durable.

Socks from other sources, such as Target or Walmart, will usually dye pretty well, if they are at least 80% cotton (watch out for the mostly-acrylic or polyester socks, which are no good for dyeing!), but they are not as satisfactory for dyeing as the bamboo socks from Dharma or the socks I've gotten from Maggie's Organics. If you're going to spend the time to dye socks, it's worth going to the trouble of buying high-quality sock blanks.

Not all the socks Dharma sells dye equally well. Some organic cotton socks I bought from Dharma dyed like the first example picture above. The product description in the catalog was clear in warning that this would happen, however, so it was not a big problem.

The above explains why the band portion of your sock is dyeing well but the foot portion is not. It has nothing to do with the fact that some of your colors are separating from one another. It is normal for any dye that is a mixture of two or more colors, such as the black dye you're using, to separate out into different colors when you paint it on. In order to prevent your color mixtures from separating, you will need to buy a thickener for your dye. See my page, "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners". The most popular dye thickener for Procion MX dye is sodium alginate. It is commonly use in tie-dyeing to keep the dyes from spreading and blending on the fabric. You can mail-order sodium alginate from your dye supplier, such as Dharma Trading Company or Jacquard Products.

Another approach to preventing Procion MX colors from separating out is to use the pure unmixed dye colors. These are listed, for various dye suppliers, on my chart of "Which Procion MX dyes are pure, and which are mixtures?". There is no single-hue unmixed black in the Procion MX line. When I want a black that absolutely will not separate out, I use a different fiber reactive dye, the Remazol reactive black 5. You can buy the Remazol Black 5 from Joann's fabric stores in the form of Dylon Permanent 12 black, or from PRO Chemical & Dye as their Liquid Reactive Black. This is only for dye fanatics, though, I think; dye thickeners will probably meet your needs just fine.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Saturday, January 23, 2010

What is the best fabric that can be used with natural dye (grape), fibre reactive dye, and food colouring?

Name: Afif

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: Malaysia

Message: I'm doing a chemistry project about batik. What is the best fabric that can be used with natural dye (grape), fibre reactive dye, and food colouring, among silk, cotton and nylon? Does the chemical bond related to this case?

The easiest to dye fabric among these three, cotton, silk, and nylon, is certainly silk. Silk is uniquely easy to dye, because it can be dyed just like cotton, or just like wool. Normally there is little intersection between the dyes used for cotton and the dyes used for wool; cotton dyes react with cellulose, while wool dyes react with protein. (Wool will react with cellulose dyes, but wool is damaged by the conditions that are used to dye cotton.) Silk is more resistant to high pH and will dye well with any cotton dye, but since it is composed of protein, like wool, it will also dye well with the acid dyes that work well on wool. Nylon is an interesting case, having chemical linkages similar to those between the amino acids in any protein; it will dye with most wool dyes, but not, generally, with cotton dyes. Nylon usually stays white when treated with cotton dyes at high pH, unlike wool and silk. All of which is just to say, I recommend that you use silk if you want to be able to dye it with the widest possible range of dyes. Comparing the same dye on different fibers will make another good chemistry project.

Cotton forms a different type of bond to fiber reactive dyes than it does to natural dyes, and it will not form the same kinds of bond that protein fibers can form, with acid dyes. For more information on how different types of dyes bond chemically to textile fibers, see "What kinds of chemical bonds attach dyes to fibers?".

Grapes make an extremely poor natural dye; in fact, I would not consider it much of a dye at all, merely an unwanted stain. The purple color of a grape is provided by chemicals called anthocyanins, which turn dull in color when you wash the dyed item. I would recommend a better natural dye, such as powdered turmeric root (which you can buy the the spice section of the grocery store) or cochineal (which, at least in the Unites States, can be purchased by mail-order from a natural dyes supplier) or the hulls of nuts such as pecans or walnuts (which you can gather if you have a tree nearby). You can use pomegranates for a brown dye. In each case, except for turmeric, you should use a large amount of the dyestuff. Weight the dry fabric that you are planning to dye, and then use an equal weight, or even two or three times as much, of the dyestuff, as the weight of your fabric.

However, all of these dyes that I have mentioned so far, and indeed most natural dyes in general, require heat to bond to the fiber, preferably boiling the fabric in the dye for some time. This treatment will cause the wax used in batik to melt. Natural dyes that can be used in cool water are generally very difficult for a novice dyer to use. The natural dye indigo (often used in its synthetic form), which works well in room-temperature water and has therefore been used in batik for many generations, is too much of a challenge for novice dyers for it to be appropriate for a student project. It might be best, for your project, to skip the wax resist used in batik, and merely test how well the dyes work on your choice of fiber.

Most natural dyes will not bond to fibers in their natural state. Instead, you must first apply a mordant to the fiber, usually a salt of aluminum, tin, copper, or iron, by cooking the dye with the mordant. Only after this process can you apply the natural dye by cooking it with the mordanted fabric. Alum is the most popular mordant, because it is less able to be dangerous to people who misuse it; even alum can be fatal, but the fatal dosage for an adult is about 30 grams. If you are careful in how you use it, and keep it out of the reach of children and pets, you can use alum safely. The natural dyes bond to the metal ion, which has bonded to the fiber. Most natural dyes will not bond directly to the fiber, or at least not permanently. Exceptions to this rule include turmeric, walnut, and, I think, pomegranate, though each of these will work better and last longer if you mordant the fabric before dyeing it.

Food coloring cannot be used to dye cotton at all. If you want to try dyeing with food coloring, silk and wool are by far the best choices (wool better than silk, in fact). Food coloring falls into the category of textile dyes known as acid dyes, which can be used only on protein-based fibers, such as silk and wool. See my page on "Using Food Coloring as a Textile Dye for Protein Fibers". You will need to use a mild acid, such as vinegar, diluted in water, and you will need to heat the fabric in the dye, in a pot on the stove. When heating silk, do not bring the dye bath liquid to a full boil (with big bubbles), because the high temperature can damage the silk. Keep the water no hotter than a simmer, about 87°C, in which only tiny bubbles rise at the edge of the pot. Note that aluminum cooking pots will react with acids such as vinegar, and also with bases such as soda ash, so it is best to use a pot that is made of stainless steel or enamel to heat your dyes.

Fiber reactive dye is extremely easy to use, with a high-pH chemical such as soda ash, on both cotton and silk; if you treat it as an acid dye, by using vinegar instead of the soda ash normally used, it will also work on nylon. Silk will take fiber reactive dye under the high-pH conditions required for cotton, using a chemical such as soda ash or washing soda to fix the dye. You can also used an entirely different method, using an acid such as vinegar, and applying heat. Either method will work well on silk. (Just don't do both!) I like to dye silk with fiber reactive dyes in the presence of soda ash, because it is very easy to dye it this way, since no added heat is required, so you don't have to cook the dye reaction on top of the stove. You can dye silk with fiber reactive dye in a bucket, or in a plastic bag, or by squirting the dye on the soda-ash-soaked fabric exactly as in tie-dye. (See "How to Dye with Fiber Reactive Dyes".) Any of these methods will work well, as long as you use soda ash or washing soda. I don't know which of the fiber reactive dyes is easiest to buy where you are. Remazol, Drimarene K, and Procion dyes are the most commonly available. If you are not sure whether the dye you buy is fiber reactive, write to me with all of the information you have on the label and I will try to figure it out.

Good luck with your project.

Friday, January 22, 2010

What are the pros and cons of Drimarene K dye versus Procion MX dye?

I just wrote this on the iTieDye forum, then edited here for added clarity, answering the question,

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

What are the pros and cons of Drimarene K dye versus Procion MX dye?

The pros and cons are mostly the same. Both are fiber reactive dyes, both are very colorfast, both are easy to use, both are pretty much non-toxic but can induce bad allergies if you breathe them, both are commonly used by home dyers. (In Australia, dye suppliers such as Kraftkolour and Batik Oetoro sell Drimarene K powder, just like Procion MX powder. In the US and Europe, Drimerene K dyes for hand dyers are mostly found pre-mixed with auxiliary chemicals, in Dylon Permanent and Dylon Machine and Dylon Hand Dye, and possibly also the new line called Tulip Permanent.)

Drimarene K requires a little more warmth in tie-dyeing, typically 40°C instead of the 30°C that's good for Procion MX. If your temperatures are too low, wrap the items individually in plastic wrap then take them into a warm place, or see other ideas on my page, What is the effect of temperature on fiber reactive dyes?. For immersion dyeing, the manufacturer recommends temperatures of 60°C to 80°C (that's 140°F to 176°F), but you can use lower temperatures as long as you allow enough extra time, and don't let it get too cool. If your colors come out paler than you expect, blame the temperature first.

The biggest advantage of Procion dyes, if you can mail-order them from the right companies in the US, is cost. Here in the US we can buy enough Procion MX dye to color a pound of fiber to a medium shade for as little as 40 cents, American. (There are also places in the US that charge far more per gram of dye, especially for smaller jars.) Costs in Australia are considerably higher; the cheapest Procion MX in Australia I can find is over three times the cost, after correcting for currency. Drimerene K is another 50% higher, so Procion MX is still a little more economical than Drimarene K, even with Australian sources. See my chart of a comparison of dye costs.

Drimarene K dye might be a little easier to wash out after dyeing, to get out the excess unattached dye, than Procion MX is. Might not require as much water. For either Procion MX or Drimarene K, boiling water is far more efficient for this purpose than warm water, especially if you soak in an insulated container to keep the water hot longer. Start with cool water to remove the auxiliary chemicals, before using hot water for washing out.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Is it possible to dye a shower curtain and not ruin its design? And, what is Salt Dye?

Name: Tiffany

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: USA

Message: I bought a fabric shower curtain (100% cotton) and I love the design but I wish that it wasn't white. My friend told me about Salt Dye but I have no idea what he's talking about. Wondering if it is at all possible to dye it and not ruin the design that is already on it?

All right, you have two questions, the first being what you can do, and the second being what salt dye is.

If your shower curtain has been treated to make it water-resistant or stain-resistant, you won't be able to change its color at all, as neither dye nor fabric paint can adhere will to fabric that has ever been treated in either of these two ways.

If, on the other hand, a droplet of water sprinkled on your shower curtain material immediately soaks in, you have the choice of using dye or fabric paint.

Unfortunately, you don't describe how the design that is on your shower curtain was applied to it. Any printed pattern will be covered by the dye or paint, as well; it will continue to show through any color you add to it, but it may be significantly changed by the added color. You cannot completely obscure a printed design, but you should not expect it to be unchanged, either. If you have a black line design on a white background, dyeing the whole thing a uniform light blue, for example, will work great, but if you have a multi-colored printed design, the colors in the print will all be altered by whatever color you apply.

You can dye an untreated cotton fabric with the same cool water fiber reactive dyes, known as Procion MX dyes, that are used in good tie-dyeing kits. See "About Fiber Reactive Dye". You can apply this dye in the washing machine, along with large quantities of soda ash and salt, to smoothly change the entire surface of your shower curtain with the same color. See "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?". If you want a subtly multi-colored design, I strongly recommend you try low water immersion (LWI) dyeing, which is the easiest of all forms of dyeing, and which gives beautiful color variegation. See "How to Do Low Water Immersion Dyeing".

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Shakers for Salt Dyeing

Tupperware Salt & Pepper Shakers with Tropical Water Seal

A more commonly available dye than Procion MX is the type of dye called all-purpose dye, such as Rit. See "About All Purpose Dyes". All-purpose dye is a hot water dye, best applied in an enormous cooking pot on the stovetop, at a high temperature, just below boiling, for half an hour or longer. It's much less convenient and economical than the cool water dyes such as Procion, especially since you should not plan to reuse a dyeing pot for food; cool water dyes do not require a cooking pot. The all-purpose dye also fades quickly, and bleeds whenever it gets wet, so it is, all around, much less satisfactory than fiber reactive dye. To find fiber reactive dye, go to an art supply, crafts store, or sewing store, and look for Procion MX dye, Dylon Permanent dye, or Tulip dye (either their One Step Fashion Dye or the Tulip Permanent Dye). If your local shops do not carry fiber reactive dye, look at my list of "Sources for Dyeing Supplies", for a good source from which to mail-order your dye.

Now, what is salt dye?

1. The main definition of a salt dye is a stain for biology which is a mixture composed of both an acid (anionic) stain and a basic (cationic) stain. Clearly, that has nothing to do with what you're asking about.

2. The next definition of a salt dye is a dye that is used to color salt. Again, not of interest in your situation.

3. The next-most-common usage of the phrase "salt dye" appears to be the use of fabric paint with salt. If you stretch a piece of fabric tightly over any sort of frame, and apply whatever colors of fabric paint that you like, then sprinkle on a coarse-grained salt, the salt will osmotically draw the wet paint toward it, resulting in beautiful streaks of lighter color. This is a popular technique in silk painting. After the paint dries, you brush off the excess salt, and heat-set the fabric paint as directed by its manufacturer, so that it is permanent. See "Salt Effects in Fabric Painting". If you want to use salt effects, you can buy fabric paint from your local crafts store (I recommend Dye-Na-Flow or Setacolor), or mail-order it from a dye supplier such as Blick Art Materials or Dharma Trading Company; Dharma will also sell you the fabric paint in larger economy jar sizes. An advantage of fabric paint is that it will work on cotton/poly blends. Dyes intended for use on cotton won't work at all on polyester, resulting in pale shades.

Don't try other sorts of paints that are not labeled as fabric paints. Artists' acrylics and house paints are unsuitable for painting fabric, because they will turn it very stiff and scratchy; they also tend not to stick as well, when the fabric flexes. Thin fabric paints, such as Dye-Na-Flow, Setacolor, or Dharma Pigment Dyes, will act more like dye and will feel much softer than paints that are not intended for use as fabric paint.

4. A fourth possibility, sometimes called salt dyeing, is the use of a salt-shaker for applying powdered dye, mixed with salt to make it easier to handle. You can presoak untreated 100% cotton fabric with soda ash, as usual for tie-dyeing, and then sprinkle on Procion MX dye powder. The problem with this approach is that the powdered dye flies around in the room, and it is a bad idea to breath the powdered dye, since you may develop an allergy. If you want to try this, do it outdoors, not in your house, and wear a well-fitting dust mask and gloves, as well as an apron or lab coat to protect your clothing. Of course, you should use a cheap salt shaker for this purpose, never one that you plan to reuse for food. I purchased some plastic salt-shakers with flip tops that seal them well, which make it handy to save the leftover dye/salt mixture for another project.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

additional questions on dyeing shirts black

Name: Mike

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: United States

Message: Thank you for taking the time out to explain everything, Paula. I am just going purchasing everything I need for the Procion MX dye and do it in the washing machine. Is there a website I can just buy everything altogether (urea, Procion dye, salt etc.)?

Two of the best sources are Dharma Trading Company and PRO Chemical & Dye. Either of them can sell you everything you need, and they have very good prices. Other art suppliers also sell good Procion MX dye, but the prices are not always as low. See "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

By the way, you do not need urea for dyeing in the washing machine or a bucket. Urea is needed only for direct application of dye, such as tie-dyeing or dye painting. See "What is urea for? Is it necessary?".

Should I get buckets of hot water to get that hot of water then dump it in the washing machine? Or do you think my washing machine can make that hot of water if I set it to hot? and is it important and what is the point of making the water real hot for pre-clean? I'm afraid of shrinking them.

You don't have to use hot water for dyeing with Procion MX dye. However, regular hot water (from the tap if your water heater is set to the standard 140°F) does work best for pre-washing to remove invisible stains that can repel dye, and it works best for removing excess unattached dye afterwards. You can get by with using warm water instead of hot water, as long as the shirts don't have finishes or other problems to remove (which is hard to predict).

In washing out after dyeing, it takes longer to get out all of the excess unattached dye in warm water instead of hot, but if you will always wash the clothes separately by color, and never leave wet clothing sitting in contact with other clothing or materials, it will be okay even if you use cool water (not icy cold).

Also if these shirts are brand new, do I still have to use soda ash on them to get them extra clean? And if so, then where do I get soda ash and what brand and how much with a couple shirts?

Washing with extra soda ash is helpful if there are problems, but it's not always necessary. It's easy, though, since you've got to get some of this stuff for dyeing, anyway.

You can buy soda ash from your dye supplier, or labeled as "sodium carbonate" from the hardware store or swimming pool supply store, or in the form of Arm & Hammer washing soda from the grocery store. Ordering it with your dyes would be simplest. See my page on soda ash.

If you buy your shirts as dyeable blanks from Dharma Trading Company, you don't have to worry as much about pre-washing. With non-PFD clothing bought from a regular store, there's some risk of having more trouble, but it's often a risk worth taking.

Can I get Synthrapol at a store near me like a Wal-mart or Giant Eagle?

No. Synthrapol is harder to get than soda ash. However, you can use ordinary laundry detergent instead. You can order Synthrapol from Dharma or ProChem; it's useful, but it's not essential, unlike the soda ash. See "What is Synthrapol?". Most laundry detergents contain optical brighteners, which may make your black items look less dark, but you can usually find detergent that is free of optical brighteners, marketed for use on black clothing.

It says on the washing machine dyeing page I should reset my washing machine multiple times. Well, how long should I keep them in the washing machine for about 3 shirts?

I like to keep the items I'm dyeing in the washer for at least half an hour. Generally an hour. It's so easy to keep resetting (carry a timer so you don't forget), and then you can be sure you've taken full advantage of the dye. It takes the same amount of time and effort to dye three shirts at once as it does for one. It's less trouble per shirt if you can do more than one at a time.

How much salt for a pound of clothes, and should I put the salt in whenever I put the dye in? Also, should I use soda ash during the dye process or just for pre-cleaning?

Follow this recipe at Dharma Trading Company:
The Tub (Washing Machine, Vat, Bucket) Dye Method
One washing machine load calls for twenty cups of salt and 2.5 cups of soda ash, whether you're dyeing one shirt or six. Soda ash is extremely important for setting the dye, far more important than for pre-cleaning, which is a completely different use.

So how much Procion MX dye should be used on a pound of clothes? I'll just multiply that by 4, unless it takes even more when in the washing machine, does it?

It tends to take more for the washing machine, because you're diluting it in twenty gallons of water. To dye four pounds of fabric (weighed dry) in the washing machine to a deep dark black, I'd use 180 grams or six ounces of Procion MX dye powder. I would not use Dylon Permanent or Tulip dye in the washing machine. By the way, I am assuming that your washing machine is a top-loader; front-loading washing machines are less suitable for dyeing, though it is possible to use them.

Can I use the washing machine process for just one shirt?

Yes, but it seems wasteful, since you need more dye and more salt and more soda ash for a washing machine full than for a bucket. I'd recommend a five-gallon bucket with the three-gallon recipe, for a single shirt that weighs one pound or less. Divide the weight of your shirt by ten to find out what weight of black dye you need to use. Lighter colors do not require as much dye powder, but black always requires a lot.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I want to get the deepest darkest black I can get

Name: Mike

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: United States
Message: Hello,
I read a lot of your website and you seem to know a lot about dying clothes. I was wondering if you could help me out with two things. I have a couple 100% cotton shirts that I want to dye black. I used RIT dye on the one shirt and it came out grayish purple, not black. I read here that RIT dye is not ideal. I want to get the deepest darkest black I can get, what is the best dye to use to dye dark black and what is the best dye process to do to get the darkest black?

You're right, all-purpose dye, such as Rit, is not very satisfactory for dyeing cotton black. The colors tend to be poor, and they fade quickly. A number of other people have written me over the years, telling me about getting a grayish-purple when they had selected a package of Rit dye labeled 'black'.

Instead, I recommend that you use a black fiber reactive dye, either a Procion MX dye, or Dylon Permanent fabric dye. (Don't confuse Dylon Permanent with Dylon Cold or Dylon Multi-Purpose, which are different lines of dye.) The Dylon dye costs more per garment, but can be found in some local crafts or sewing stores. The Procion dye is sometimes available in crafts stores, but usually must be mail-ordered. Another good brand, Tulip, can be found in some crafts stores.

For a perfectly solid color, it's best to do your dyeing in the washing machine. Before dyeing clothing, always pre-wash it in the hottest water it can tolerate, preferably 140°F (check the temperature of your tap water with an immersible thermometer), using detergent plus some soda ash (or washing soda) for extra cleaning power. To find reliable recipes for dyeing with Procion MX dye in the washing machine, see "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?". You can also use Procion MX dye in a plastic bucket, if you are willing to stir it enough to make the color even.

Don't use Dylon Permanent dyes or Tulip dyes in the washing machine; their added ingredients are not measured properly for washing machine use. (Dylon Machine dye is fine in the washing machine, but it's not available in the US.) For each of these brands of dye, carefully follow the instructions that come with them. Dylon Permanent fabric dye can be used in a plastic bucket with hot water. The Dylon Permanent black is a very satisfactory and long-lasting black, and will last as long as Procion MX dye, if the directions on the package are followed closely. Both Procion MX dye and the dyes in Dylon Permanent and Tulip dye are fiber reactive dyes, so they are dramatically superior to any all-purpose dye.

An important point in dyeing anything black is to use enough dye. Use two to four times as much dye for black as you would use for another color. Even Rit might give you a good black if you used four or five packets of dye, instead of one, if you also simmered the clothing with the dye on the stovetop, since Rit is a hot water dye.

The amount of dye in the Dylon Permanent Black dye package is sufficient to dye half a pound (220 grams) of dry fabric. Weigh your shirt on a kitchen scale, or on a scale at the post office or grocery store. If it weighs one pound, you will need two packets of Dylon Permanent dye. If it weights two pounds, you will need four packets. Multiply the amount of water and anything you have to add by the same number.

Dyeing in the washing machine takes a larger amount of dye powder than dyeing in a bucket, but Procion MX dye is economical when ordered in bulk (jars of two ounces or larger); it costs much less per garment than Dylon, Tulip, or Rit dye. You'll also need salt for dyeing in the washing machine, and soda ash or washing soda to fix the Procion dye to the fabric.

One last thing, I should warn you that the stitching that holds your shirts together is almost certainly made of polyester, which will not take the dye. The polyester thread always stays the original color, when you dye clothing that is not specially marked as being sewn with cotton thread.

My other question I have is that I have a one size fits all white hat that is 97% cotton 3% spandex. I also want this the deepest black possible. Should I use the same process and dye I use for my shirts? and how would I go about washing this hat when its finished, you can't put hats in washing machines can you? Won't they ruin?

97% cotton/3% spandex is best dyed with a cool water fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye, exactly like your shirts. However, any stiffening chemical that has been applied will wash out. Whether this is a problem will depend on the style of the hat. It's possible you will need something the size and shape of your head to place the hat on to dry, perhaps adding laundry starch or another stiffener. (Never use starch until after you have fully completed all dyeing steps; starch creates problems when dyeing cotton.) Without knowing what style your hat is, I can't tell you whether it's likely to be necessary to get a hat professional to reblock your hat.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Monday, January 18, 2010

Help! My black western hat that I bought for winter use bleeds terribly everytime it rains.

Region: California
Message: Help! My black western hat that I bought for winter use bleeds terribly everytime it rains.

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Bleeding dye is a sign of poor quality in hat manufacture. There are dyes available that will not bleed when they get wet, but for some reason the manufacturer of your hat chose not to use them. This is unfortunate, given how frequently a hat is required to protect you from the elements. A good quality western hat should be able to survive a bit of rain.

With most dyed articles of clothing, I would advise washing the item until no more dye leaches out, but obviously this is not an option in the case of your hat. There are various solutions to bleeding dye that are not suitable for your problem. For example, Retayne Dye Fixative cannot be used except by immersing the item in very hot water in which the fixative is diluted. If you try this with your hat, it will lose its shape, becoming useless unless you get a hat professional to re-block it. A spray-on product called "Felt Hat Rain & Stain Protector" will not work in your case, because this product is intended for use only on hats that are already colorfast.

The best solution, short of buying a new water-resistant hat, would be to carry a clear plastic hat protector to put on your hat if rain threatens. These "raincoats" for your hat are sold by many hat retailers for about five dollars.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Friday, January 15, 2010

how to bleach and dye pantyhose

Name: Marie

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Dye Removal Chemicals

Rit Color Remover Removes Dyes

Country: USA

Message: I am trying to remember this method, from about the 1980s, where you can take panty hose and bleach them out to dye them. I don't remember if you use bleach in boiling hot water so that you can dye them. Do you have any idea how to do this?

What you're trying to remember is that you MUST use a different chemical than bleach, to remove the color from nylon stockings. Never use household bleach on synthetic fibers such as nylon, because the hypochlorite in the bleach will eat them right up. Chlorine bleach will destroy nylon or spandex, and it creates a permanent ugly yellow color on polyester.

The chemical you used was probably Rit Color Remover, which is usually pretty easy to find in drug stores or grocery stores. It is less damaging to fabric than chlorine bleach. You can use it in hot tap water, but almost-boiling water on the stove top is more effective. It's worth trying the hot tap water first, because it's so much less trouble. Don't use an aluminum pot for heating your Rit Color Remover, because the pot may be ruined; use stainless steel or enamel or glass.

There are other chemicals that work similarly to Rit Color Remover, such as Jacquard Discharge Paste, which is good for making prints or designs. Rit Color Remover is used for removing the color from the whole garment at once. The other dye-removal chemicals are harder to find and usually must be purchased by mail order. See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".

Something new that you may not have thought of yet is that the fiber content of pantyhose has changed over the years, for many brands. They used to contain 100% nylon, but many brands now contain some nylon and some spandex. Spandex makes the pantyhose fit better, thanks to its stretchiness, and it makes the stockings last longer without runs, too. Unfortunately, spandex-blend stockings are not as suitable for removing color from. The chemical in Rit Color Remover is safe for spandex, but the heat required to make the Rit Color Remover work is not. Spandex is very heat sensitive. Heat can make spandex permanently lose its shape.

If you want to try using Rit Color Remover on a spandex blend, try it first in lukewarm water, 105°F, and see if it works at all. If not, try warmer water, but not boiling hot water! Do your tests with hot water on an old pair that you don't want to wear anymore. Keep the temperature below 140°F at the highest, and see if that works for you, and whether it distorts the shape of the pantyhose too much.

If you find some pantyhose that are 100% nylon, it's okay to get them to a temperature as high as 185°F. Use a thermometer. You don't want to allow more than just a few tiny bubbles at the very edge of the pot. A full boil is too hot and might damage even 100% nylon.

To add color to nylon or nylon/spandex with dye, see "How to Dye Spandex" and "How to Dye Nylon". Note that nylon dyes require heat, which can damage spandex; if your stockings are a nylon/spandex blend, try using very hot tap water, no hotter than 140°F, even though it does not work as well for dyeing nylon as nearly-boiling water does. For bright colors, you need to use Color Remover first. Be sure to wash the pantyhose well and dry them, so that the air can remove traces of the Color Remover chemical, before you start to apply dye.

I have to warn you that, although it is not as toxic as chlorine bleach (which is really a dangerous chemical), Rit Color Remover does produce sulfur dioxide, like the other dye removal chemicals that are safer than bleach. This means that it can trigger an asthma attack, if you're sensitive to that sort of thing, and high concentrations can cause lung damage. Be careful to have good ventilation (work outside or with a fan in a wide-open window), and if you're going to be working with color remover chemicals much, get yourself a cartridge-based respirator. A dust mask will not protect you against chlorine bleach or sulfur-containing dye removers, but a good cartridge respirator with organic vapor cartridges will. Dye removal chemicals, especially including bleach but also including all other dye removal chemicals, are much more hazardous than home-use dyes. You can use them safely, but you should be careful with them.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I have an imported wedding dress that is made from polyester with little plastic stars

Name: Ronald

—ADVERTISEMENT—

Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Country: America

Message: I have an imported wedding dress that is made from polyester with little plastic stars that are clear plastic. My wife wants the dress in a off-white or ivory color. Maybe could you help me as to who could dye this dress from the Philippines, or tell me the best way in directions how to go about this task. Thank you.

I'm afraid that the two best approaches would be to 1, accept the dress in its current color, or 2, have a new dress made to replace it.

You cannot dye anything that is not washable; is there any reason to believe that this formal dress is washable? Lined formal garments tend not to be washable. When a dress does not contain care instructions, it is best to assume that it should be dry cleaned only, instead of being washed. Before dyeing anything, you must wash it carefully, in very hot water, to remove any invisible stains which will repel dye, thus leaving splotches in the final color.

Dyeing a polyester dress requires an immense cooking pot, large enough for the dress to move in freely; depending on the cut of the dress, the size of pot required may be five gallons or even larger. After buying this expensive dyeing pot, you should not plan to reuse it for food preparation.

The dress must then be boiled extensively with a special polyester dye called disperse dye. If you dress is not made to withstand boiling, then this will ruin the dress. You cannot dye a polyester dress with any dye that is intended for natural fibers; all-purpose dyes such as Rit, and reactive dyes such as Procion, will all wash off of polyester, having no chemical affinity for it. You will not be able to buy this disperse dye locally, but will have to mail-order it from a dye supplier such as PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts, or Aljo Manufacturing in New York.

In dyeing this dress there is a serious chance that there will be a poor result. It would be worth it as an experiment on a thrift-store dress, but not for altering a new one. Natural-fiber dresses are much easier to dye a new color. Polyester dresses are difficult.

There is one hope for your dress: I've been able to find exactly one company that is willing to dye white polyester dresses to another color. See my page on "Where can I find someone to dye my clothing for me?". Most dyers refuse to even try to color polyester, but Manhattan Dyeing Service says that they do dye white polyester; they are therefore worth your contacting. You can contact them by phone or email, agree on a price, and mail the dress to them to dye. Since they are experts and have the necessary dyeing equipment, they provide the best chance of being able to dye your dress without ruining it.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Could the wood dyes I used to use give me cancer?

Name: Sam
Country: USA
Message: Hi Paula,

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Artist's Safety Book

The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide: Third Edition, by Monona Rossol

I spent a few years occasionally using a very brilliant alcohol soluble dye supplied to me by my employer for use in violin restoration called "Fast Orange". "Fast red" and "fast amber yellow" were also available to me. I think they were made by a company called 7K and they were referred to as aniline dyes.

I searched for info about this product as I became aware that many dyes were carcinogenic but I could find little information other than a possible reference to Sudan 1 (CI solvent yellow 14) being called "fast orange". I also see on your website that the diazo salts for naphthol dyes are referred to as "fast".

Based on the limited information I have, do you have any idea what this dye could have been? Do you think that there could be any connection between the "fast" diazo salts and the dye that I was using?

I'm concerned that I was potentially using a pretty toxic dye. I was always very careful about the dust while using this dye, but I occasionally had some small amount of skin exposure to the varnish before I wised up and started using gloves. I also did not use a vent hood when adding the powdered dye to the varnish. I maybe went through 15-20 grams of the dry dye over a four year period.

Thank you so much for your attention to the safety issues with dyes. There is so little information available and some MSDS don't seem too comprehensive. I think eating lots of broccoli is my only ally sometimes.

This is an interesting question, but I'm afraid I have not gotten anywhere with locating your specific dyes. I haven't found anything about a dye or chemistry company called "7K", and the name "Fast Orange" would refer to ANY orange dye that the manufacturer wants to claim is resistant to fading due to light or water exposure.

"Aniline dyes" is a name that's applied to almost any synthetic dye. At one time most synthetic dyes were manufactured from the chemical aniline, but that has not been true for a long time, and yet the name persists. It's one of those words that sounds more scientific and meaningful than it actually is, the way that it is used. Some dyes described as aniline dyes are unsafe, but many other dyes equally well described this way are safe.

There are many, many dyes with the name "Fast Orange" or "Fast Red". For example, Classic Dyes, one of many large-scale dye suppliers, lists these dyes as being currently in stock under the name "Fast Orange" (with the generic Colour Index names, where available, in parentheses):

Sella Fast Orange 2GC (acid orange 10)
Mor-OrcoLiteFast Orange LG (direct orange, probably a mixture)
Superlightfast Orange 2RLF (direct orange, probably a mixture)
Superlightfast Orange LLLWF (direct yellow 105)
Fourdirect Fast Orange WS (direct orange 29)
Direct Fast Orange ERL (direct orange 37)
Qualfast Orange EGLL 150 (direct orange 39)
Pyrazol Fast Orange GNL (direct orange 61)
Diazol Fast Orange GLLA (direct yellow 105)
Grasol Fast Orange R (solvent orange, probably a mixture)
Luxol Fast Orange GRL (solvent orange 25)

It is clear that the names "Fast Orange" and "Fast Red" tell you almost nothing about the dyes you used.

Some dyes that would be suitable for your purposes, based on what the seller says about them (I have no experience with them), might be the ColorFX Liquid Dye concentrates sold by a company called Wood Essence. What's interesting to me about them is that they are not dyes that bond to cellulose or lignin (the molecules wood is made of); instead, they are metal complex acid dyes that can react only with wool and other protein fibers. Since they do not themselves bond to wood fibers, they require a finish such as shellac or varnish to seal them in, to keep them from rubbing off on anyone or anything that touches the dyed wood. They can be dissolved in water, or, to avoid raising the grain of the wood, they can be dissolved in alcohol, like the dyes you have used. Note that this means that they cannot be solvent dyes, like the banned food coloring Sudan I, because substances that can be dissolved in water or alcohol generally cannot be dissolved in oily solvents. (Remember, oil and water don't mix.)

Since you don't know what kind of dyes these were, it is possible they were carcinogenic, but it's just as possible that they were not. Sudan I's carcinogenicity appears to be low enough to be significant primarily to those who have actually eaten it, as a food additive; if that were the dye in question, I suspect the amount of the risk of harm done by moderate exposures like yours would be very, very small.

High rates of bladder cancer were seen in employees of some dye manufacturers and other chemical industries who were exposed, generally more than twenty years ago, to large quantities of certain hazardous dyes and their precursors, the benzidine-based, toluidine-based, and o-dianisidine-based dyes. There are lists of these dyes in a 1980 US government document, "Health Hazard Alert--Benzidine-, o-Tolidine-, and o-Dianisidine- Based Dyes". Most of these dyes are in the category of direct dyes; interestingly, they were formerly found in all-purpose dyes, such as Rit All Purpose Tint and Dye, up through the 1970s, though they have since been removed from the formulas for safety. A book by Monona Rossol, "The Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide", also gives lists of hazardous dyes. In the future, you can use an MSDS for dyes you use to look for signs that the dyes you are using are or could be based on one of these three chemicals (I will be glad to help in interpreting them).

As far as what can be done among exposed individuals to reduce the odds of future cases of cancer, the most important thing would be to avoid smoking and even second-hand smoke, because the effects of smoking combine badly with the effects of high exposures to carcinogenic chemicals, resulting (if I recall correctly) in risks that are higher than you would estimate by just adding up the separate risks. In fact, smoking alone is currently the biggest single cause of bladder cancer.

I would advise you not to worry particularly, since your exposure levels were low, you took some precautions, and since there is no particular reason to think that the dyes you were exposed to were carcinogenic. However, if you need an additional reason to avoid tobacco smoke, this could be one, and of course it would be wise to find out about the dyes that you use in the future, and to use gloves and avoid the possibility of breathing any dye powders, or any other powdered chemical. And, for what it's worth, we can all benefit from reducing our risks of cancer and other diseases by regularly eating broccoli and other vegetables and fruits.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I would like to dye my baby wrap, and am wondering what dyes you would suggest

Name: Eszter

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Indigo
Natural Dye Kit

Indigo Dye Kit

Country: Hungary

Message: Hi!! I would like to dye my baby wrap, and am wondering what dyes you would suggest, the more natural, the better! (may be licked, etc.)

Surprisingly, I do not recommend most natural dyes for baby use. Almost all natural dyes require the use of mordants to help stick the dye to the fiber. Even the safest mordant, alum, is irritating, and the fatal dose of alum for an adult is one ounce. I wonder how little alum might be required to make a small baby slightly ill—far less than the 30 grams needed to kill a full-sized adult, of course—and I don't want to even try it.

There are a few natural dyes that can be used without mordants, though even those generally perform much better if used with a mordant. You can boil your wrap with powdered turmeric from the grocery store and no mordant, for a pretty though short-lived yellow; unfortunately, turmeric fades quickly in the light. Walnut husks can be used the same way. Indigo is the only natural dye which is both long-lasting and free of mordants, and it makes beautiful blue colors, but, since it's a vat dye, it's more complicated to use and not very suitable for beginning dyers, though there's now a new indigo kit that makes the process friendlier; indigo may be purchased with either natural or synthetic sources, though in either case the indigo dye is the same. Other pretty and longer-lasting colors require either the use of mordants or the use of synthetic dyes.

Fortunately, there are synthetic dyes that are completely safe for baby clothes, if you apply the dyes correctly, and wash out the excess dye correctly, too. I recommend that you dye a cotton or silk baby wrap, or one made of other natural plant fibers such as bamboo, linen, or hemp, using Procion MX fiber reactive dye. (See "About Fiber Reactive Dyes".)

When used correctly (which is easy to do), Procion MX dye forms a permanent chemical bond to the fiber, and will not come off in your baby's mouth even if he or she chews on the fabric. Follow a good recipe such as the ones on my site, using soda ash to fix the dye. Afterwards, wash the wrap once in cool water and then two or more times in very hot water. To test whether you have successfully washed out all of the unbonded dye, you can do a hot press test.

To do the hot press test, dampen your dyed fabric (or yarn or whatever), place it between two white cloths, either both cotton or, preferably, one cotton and one wool, and then use a hot iron to press it dry. If there is any color change, wash the dyed material in hot water again, or, for more efficient use of water, soak the wrap in hot water and then wash it. The temperature of the hot water should, ideally, be 140°F or hotter. Procion MX dye is pretty much non-toxic, certainly less toxic than, say, alum or the natural dye logwood, but if you make sure to wash out all unattached dye, you don't even have to think about that.

There are many ways to dye a natural-fiber baby wrap with Procion MX dyes. You can dye it a solid color in the washing machine, provided that you wash it carefully enough beforehand that there are no invisible stains left to cause the dye to take unevenly. You can use an ordinary tie-dyeing kit (avoid the ones made by Rit, because they contain a less permanently bonded type of dye that is not as suitable for baby clothes); tie-dye in any pattern or combination of colors you like. If you like to do batik, that's a fine method for decorating baby clothes. Low water immersion dyeing is another excellent way to color a baby wrap with good Procion MX dyes.

Since you are in Hungary, I do not know exactly where you will be wanting to buy your dyes. Procion MX dyes are available by mail-order from many European sources. Look at my list, "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World", scrolling down to the section on Europe. You can also mail-order dyes from some companies in the US, such as PRO Chemical & Dye or Dharma Trading Company, whose much lower prices on dyes make up for the higher cost of shipping overseas, at least if you call them and specify the slowest and cheapest shipping method when you order.

Procion MX are not the only baby-safe fiber reactive dyes you can use. You can also use Remazol dyes, Drimarene K dyes, or Novacron F dyes (also known as Cibacron F or Sabracron dyes). These dyes all form the same extremely safe permanent chemical bond to cotton, silk, and other natural fibers. Most Dylon dyes are fiber reactive dyes (with the exception of their Multi Purpose line of all-purpose dye), including Dylon Machine Dye, Dylon Hand Dye, and Dylon Cold Dye. If you buy a Dylon dye, follow the package instructions carefully, before washing out the excess dye as described above.

This is a popular and much-discussed topic. For more information, see the following pages:

"Safest dyes for baby clothes"
"Is it safe to dye a sling for my baby?"
"Explaining the safety of Procion dye to 'organic' moms"
"Natural dyes lead-free? Safe?"
"Single-color gradation from natural" [picture of purple gradient-dyed baby wrap]
"Questions about ombre/gradation dyeing long piece of fabric..." [beautiful pictures of hand-dyed baby wraps]

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Monday, January 11, 2010

Which dye type would be best to dye silk curtains with cotton/rayon fringe in a home setting?

Name: Lisa

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: United States

Message: Which dye type would be best to dye silk curtains with cotton/rayon fringe in a home setting?

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

Washing fringe can be a problem. It inevitably tangles badly in the washing machine, and takes hours to disentangle and straighten out with a comb (though it helps to apply fabric softener and work with it wet). It is best to avoid the washing machine when washing anything with fringe, and the same goes for dyeing. This is a shame, because the best way to dye washable curtains is in a top-loader washing machine, unless you're interested in tie-dyeing or low water immersion dyeing. (The latter can be much more beautiful than dyeing a solid color, and it's much easier, too.)

As far as dyeing silk and cotton or rayon fringe the same color, there are two options. One is to use Procion MX dye, in any of their single-hue unmixed dye colors, with soda ash to fix the dye. Silk and cotton will turn out the same color if dyed with an unmixed dye color, but they will turn out different colors if dyed with a color mixture such as green or brown. (Cotton and rayon dye alike.) Use low water immersion dyeing for interesting mixed colors, or dye in a huge bucket (see the washing machine dyeing page for recipes), with a great deal of stirring, for a solid color.

The other option is to use all-purpose dye, such as Rit. Unfortunately, all-purpose dye has some major drawbacks. It can be expensive to buy enough boxes of all-purpose dye to color a big project, since each box dyes only about a half pound of fabric (though it will dye more fabric if you want a pale color). Weigh your curtains, dry, to find out how many pounds of fabric you have to dye. Worse, all-purpose dye tends to fades quickly in the wash. However, you won't be washing your curtains a great many times, so that probably won't matter to you. All-purpose dye may be a good choice for this project. Unlike Procion dye, it will not work at room temperature; it works best when applied in an enormous cooking pot, heated to 190°F. (It's best to plan never to reuse the pot for food preparation after using all-purpose dye in it.) It can, however, be used in very hot tap water (140°F), carefully following the dye manufacturer's instructions, if washfastness is not a concern. (The use of cationic fixatives such as Retayne to increase the washfastness of all-purpose dye should be avoided for situations in which light fading is an issue, obviously including most curtain locations.)

Whatever dye you choose, be sure to wash the curtains very thoroughly before you attempt to dye them. Invisible stains will repel dye, resulting in uneven dyeing. Failure to stir frequently enough during the dyeing process will also result in uneven coloration.

Also note that the current color of the curtains is critical. White curtains can be dyed any color, but red curtains cannot be dyed green, nor blue curtains orange. Since all dyes are transparent, the original color of the dye will combine with the color of the dye you add, sometimes resulting in a completely different color. This will follow the same rules as mixing paint colors.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Can I return aged-look jeans to a solid original blue?

Name: Heather

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: USA

Message: I have looked for the answer on your website and have found things similar but not exactly the same as my problem. I bought a pair of levi's 100% cotton on-line. They were advertised as like new but when I received them they have a slightly worn white area down the front of the legs and in the seat. This looks as if it might have been done on purpose for "style". It is not a severe bleaching, but the areas are noticably lighter and it appears the jeans are not "worn out" in these ares.

Can I return these to a solid original blue, or will this color disparity always remain? The rest of the jean is still rather dark and I am not sure how much dye they will absorb as well. I think they may be saved with dying but do not know what color to use, especially after reading information on vats. (Yikes) I thank you in advance for your help.

Jeans are often purposefully pre-worn.

Most new denim jeans these days have purposely been roughed up, before they were sold for the first time, to meet the requirements of fashion. It's difficult to find new denim jeans that have not been sanded, abraded, acid-washed, enzyme-washed, stone-washed, or in some other way treated to give a false appearance of age and wear.

If you dye denim, it will end up nearly a solid color, and won't look at all like new denim. The 'look' of denim is created by weaving white yarns in one direction with blue yarns perpendicular to them. If you dye your denim navy blue, then all of the threads will be navy, and there will be no white threads at all. What you'll get will look like a solid-color blue twill. The lighter parts of the jeans will always stay a bit lighter than the darker ones, but if you dye them a dark blue or black color, with a lot of dye, the difference will be slight.

If what you want is solid-color navy or black jeans, then it will be easy to go ahead and dye them. Don't use an all-purpose dye, such as Rit or Tintex, because the dye will fade quickly, and it will bleed in the laundry, often ruining anything you wash the jeans with later on. Instead, you'll want to use a fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. You can buy this dye economically by mail-order, or you can go to a crafts store and look for Procion MX dye, Dylon Permanent Dye, or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye. For the Dylon or Tulip dyes, follow the package instructions carefully; for the Procion MX dye, you can most easily dye your jeans in a top-loading washing machine, with salt and washing soda, without harming the machine; see "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".

If, instead, what you want is the denim blue-and-white look, as most people do, then don't try dyeing your jeans. The only way to get that denim look is to dye the yarns before weaving, so it's too late for dyeing after the jeans have already been sewn.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Does the soda ash need to be repeated? If I use urea, do I need to use salt too?

Name: Lucy

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: Canada

Message: Forgive me if this sounds simple, I am just learning this. Does the soda ash need to soak into the material once, or every time you do a full immersion dye, as done in Batik. Also if I use urea, do I need to use salt too?

What kind of dye are you using? Soda ash or another high-pH chemical is essential when dyeing with fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes, but it's useless for direct dyes or all-purpose dyes, and actively harmful for acid dyes. Urea is handy for fiber reactive dyes, though not essential, but it, too, is no use for all-purpose dyes. In this answer, I will assume that you are using Procion MX dyes, since they're the best and most popular cotton dye among hand-dyers, and your questions don't seem applicable to wool. My answers would be completely different for a different class of dye.

Soda ash washes out easily, so every time you wash or rinse your fabric, you'll have to add it to your fabric again. Every new high-water-ratio immersion dye bath will need its own dose of soda ash added, too.

Urea and salt have nothing to do with each other. Neither can substitute for the other in dyeing.

Salt helps the dye to find the fabric if there's a lot of water. If you are using a large amount of water, as in tub dyeing or washing machine dyeing, you must add a lot of salt. If you are using a small amount of water, as in tie-dyeing or dye painting, you do not need to use salt. Salt is optional in low water immersion dyeing; it can increase the contrast in the patterns that form, but you don't need it for the dyes to work, since so little water is used in low water immersion dyeing.

If you are tie dyeing or dye painting, then urea is a good idea. Add it to your dye mixtures so that the dyes will stay wet on the fabric long enough for the dye-fiber reaction to occur. You can wrap your wet dyed items in plastic, instead, if you prefer, before putting them in a warm place overnight to react. However, if you are immersion dyeing, there's no need at all for urea, since there's already enough water present to keep the fabric from drying out before the dye reaction has completed. In some cases it might help in dissolving a little more dye, but in most cases you're better off using better dye dissolving techniques, instead of worrying about urea.

For more information, explore the Frequently Asked Questions section of my website; in particular, check out the section on dye auxiliary chemicals, such as the following:

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

• "What is urea for? Is it necessary?"

• "Do I need to use salt, in dyeing?"

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Friday, January 08, 2010

dyeing a polyester bed canopy

Name: Jennifer

—ADVERTISEMENT—

Dye polyester and poly/cotton blends

Country: Canada

Message: Hi there,

I know you don't recommend dyeing polyester, however I have a 100% polyester gauzy fabric in white which is a bed canopy for my daughter's room. I would like to dye it a lime green colour like in this picture (at the left) from Hearthsong, and was wondering if the weight of the fabric (being so light) would make it ok to dye with regular fabric dye (like Tulip brand)?

You can dye polyester, but you cannot do it with a dye intended for cotton or wool. Dyes intended for natural fibers will not stick to polyester, but you can buy special dyes for polyester. I recommend that you weigh your canopy (dry) so that you know how much dye to buy, and mail-order some disperse dye. Disperse dye is the only type of dye that will work to dye polyester.

One brand of disperse dye is Jacquard Products' iDye Poly. Don't confuse this with plain iDye, which is a direct dye for cotton and other natural fibers only. Look specifically for iDye Poly. It should be applied by boiling the fabric with the dye in a very large cooking pot, but some of the instructions from Jacquard seem to imply that it will work in the washing machine on the highest temperature, though I'm sure the color would be much lighter, if ti works at all that way.

Another option would be to use a very thin fabric paint, such as Jacquard's Dye-Na-Flow or Dharma Trading Company's Dharma Pigment Dyes. These two fabric paints can be used on polyester, as well as on natural fibers, and they can be diluted and applied in a large plastic bucket in room temperature water, then hung out to dry. (Hang it outside, or arrange plastic under the fabric as it hangs, in case some paint drips off.) This would save your cooking pots from exposure to dye. Dharma Pigment Dye is a fabric paint that can be diluted with quite a lot of water, making it the more economical choice for large pieces. It would be particularly exciting to mix their fluorescent yellow and their fluorescent green for your canopy, because the color will seem to glow in sunshine or under a black light. See the Dharma site's fabric paints page.

Since you're in Canada, you'll probably find it more convenient to buy your dyes or fabric paints from a Canadian source. G and S Dye is a good dye retailer in Toronto, and they do mail-order. They now carry iDye Poly, and they also sell a pigment dye system. Call or email them to ask whether their pigment system would be suitable for your thin sheer polyester and how they would recommend you use it. (For contact info, see my list, "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".)

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Can I dye an orange spandex-blend dress purple at home?

Name: Danielle

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: United States

Message: I have an orange dress, 94% viscose and 6% spandex. I need the dress to be purple...is that possible for me to do at home?

I'm sorry to have to say that it's impossible to dye anything that is orange to make it purple. The yellow color in the original orange dye will combine with purple to make brown. Dyeing an orange dress purple will result in a brown or rust color. The original color always shows through when you dye anything, unless the new color is one that can cover that particular color.

If you could remove the orange dye, then you could dye the dress purple. In some cases, dye can be removed from a garment with a product such as Rit Color Remover (which contains sodium dithionite) or Jacquard Color Remover (which contains thiourea dioxide). Unfortunately, both of these chemicals work best in very very hot water, while the spandex in your dress will be damaged by heat. Your dress may permanently lose its shape if you put it in water over 140°F. It's best to obey the garment's care instructions, which probably tell you to wash it in water no warmer than 105°F. Household bleach, which contains hypochlorite, will do even more damage to spandex, leaving holes in it after even a brief exposure. It's not a good idea to ever try bleach on a spandex blend. See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".

I think you'd better concentrate on colors that you can dye an orange rayon/spandex blend dress. Orange can be dyed to make it red, or rust brown, or dark brown, or black. You can certainly do any of those at home yourself, preferably in the washing machine. Would any of these colors suit you better than the color you have now? If so, be sure to use a cool water dye, such as Procion MX dye. Avoid using a hot water dye such as Rit All Purpose dye, since heat is bad for spandex. See "How to Dye Spandex". Viscose rayon can be dyed with the same dyes that work on cotton; see "How to Dye Rayon".

Some local crafts stores carry Jacquard Procion MX dye; Michael's carries Tulip Permanent Fabric dye, which is a brand of Procion MX type dye, while Joann's Fabrics carries Dylon Permanent dye, a warm-water fiber reactive dye that, like Procion dye, performs much better than any all-purpose dye. For mail-order sources of economically-priced high-quality dyes, see the page "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World ".

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

trying to dye cotton rope two different colors, with the line of demarcation between the colors to be as sharp as possible

Name: Larry

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: US

Message: Hi: I'm trying to dye cotton rope two different colors, with the line of demarcation between the colors to be as sharp as possible. IOW, blue rope, then red rope with no bleeding or feathering. Is this possible? I tried tying the rope tightly, but it still bled up the fibers. Thanks.

What kind of dye are you using? Are you using a hot water dye, such as Rit all-purpose dye? If so, I recommend that you stop using it, and buy some good fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, or a good tie-dye kit (any brand but Rit). All-purpose dye tends to bleed, so it's not going to work in this project, and it's fixed by heat. Fiber reactive dye is fixed at room temperature, using soda ash, so it's more versatile and allows more approaches to solving your problem.

In some cases, tying tightly will be sufficient, if you're using Procion MX dye. If that doesn't work, then the next thing to try is thickening your dye. You can mail-order a dye thickener called sodium alginate from any good dye supplier. (It's also available from food industry suppliers, but a dye supplier will be less trouble for most people, plus you can order some economically priced good dye while you're at it.) Another suitable dye thickener is called SuperClear. To learn more about dye thickeners, see my page, "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners". To find a dye supplier to order the thickener from, see "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

The combination of using a dye thickener and tying tightly often works very well. Try tying a very sturdy thin string, such as artificial sinew (available in crafts stores) or dental floss, around your rope as tightly as possible, then apply one color of thickened dye to one side of the tie, along with the soda ash required to set the dye (use the tie-dyeing recipe). Allow the dye to fully react, then wash out the excess dye, using first cool and then hot water, as usual. Allow the rope to dry very thoroughly, and then repeat on the other side of the tie with the other color. Before you do this, use a scrap of rope to test whether the amount of thickener you're adding to the dye is the right amount to suit you. You can add more, for thicker dye, or less, for thinner dye.

Less convenient though perhaps more effective would be the option of using a non-water-soluble resist, such as batik wax or hard soy wax, to resist the dye of one color while you apply the other. The reason why it's less convenient is the need to remove the resist before applying the other color. Batik wax is best removed by boiling. Soy wax can be removed by washing in hot water (140°F) with plenty of detergent, enough to be sure the wax does not solidify in your pipes and clog them. These resists are great for designs, but for a simple line like yours, I prefer the ease of combining thickened Procion MX dye with tying.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Dyeing sky blue cotton curtains a dark brown

Name: Emily

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Country: England

Message: Hi,
I have had a look at your website which is really helpful but I just wasn't too sure on what I actually want to dye. I have some very thick cotton curtains which I have been given. The main colour is a dark sky blue and the lining is navy blue, I want to dye them a neutral colour maybe a dark brown but I am not sure if it will actually come out brown or if it will come out as a dark olive green, if you could give me some advice that would be really helpful and much appreciated.

Are the curtains washable? If so, you should be able to dye them. Be sure to wash them carefully first, using hot water, because any invisible stains there may be on the curtains will prevent the dye from taking evenly. It is always important to thoroughly pre-wash anything you want to dye.

Your results will be much better if the curtains are 100% cotton, and free of any stain-resistant or permanent press finishes, than if they are made of a cotton/polyester blend or if they have any surface finishes that may repel dye.

Blue plus orange equals brown. If the color you add to the blue is too yellow, then you will get green or olive, instead, but if you then add more red, the color will become more a neutral brown. So, the color you want will not be impossible to reach, though, depending on what dye color you choose to begin with, you may need to repeat the dyeing with another color of dye to adjust the color of the curtains.

The lining will end up as a darker color than the main color of the curtains, but that should not be a problem. The lining will probably end up nearly black, while you dye the main part of the curtains the color that you want.

Since you are in England, you probably have access only to a front-loading washing machine. Dylon Machine Dyes are a brand of warm water fiber reactive dye that is widely available in England, and it is designed for use in front-loading washing machines. Carefully follow the directions on the package; add salt or other ingredients only if the instructions specifically say to do so. I think you should try dyeing your curtains with a brown Dylon Machine dye (they have both Dark Brown and Woodland Brown mixtures); if your results are too greenish after you have washed out the excess dye and dried the curtains, then repeat the process with a deep red.

In the US, Dylon Machine Dye is not available, and top-loading washing machines are more available, so for American readers in this situation I would recommend using a top-loading washing machine recipe with Procion MX fiber reactive dye, soda ash, and salt. Procion MX dye is also available in England, by mail order from suppliers such as Fibrecrafts. See "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Monday, January 04, 2010

How to dye Zhu Zhu pet hamsters

Name: Pat

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

White Zhu Zhu Hamsters

Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Chunk

White is the best color to choose for painting a different color.

Country: United States

Message: Hi, I'm trying to find out how to dye the zhu zhu pets to make them different colors for a sick friend that is collecting them, can you tell me what I would need to do in order to do this so that I can fullfill my sick friend's wish. Thank you for your assistance regarding this matter.

Before dyeing anything, the first step is to learn what materials it is made of. It appears that Zhu Zhu Pets toy hamsters are constructed from polyester, plastic, and metal.

Let us assume that you are going to try to color only the polyester fur part of the toy hamster. Polyester is a difficult fiber to dye. You cannot dye it with ordinary fabric dyes, such as Rit all-purpose dyes, Procion fiber reactive dyes, or any sort of acid dye (which works for some plastics). Polyester can be dyed only with a special kind of dye which is called either disperse dye or transfer dye. For more information on dyes for polyester, see "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".

You also do not want to immerse the toy hamster in a dyebath of boiling polyester dye. Doing so would surely ruin the mechanism. Any coloring material you use should be one that can be painted on without much rinsing out of the excess dye.

If there are any flat parts of the toy, you might be able to apply disperse dye as transfer dye, by coloring paper with disperse dye crayons or paints, and then using a hot iron, such as you would use to iron clothes, to transfer the dye to the polyester. See "Iron-on Fabric Crayons for Synthetic Fibers", to see how this is done. However, I imagine that dyeing just the ironable flat portions of the toy will probably not be very satisfactory.

That leaves fabric paint as the best option. See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers". You do not want to use an ordinary house paint or artist's acrylic paint, because these paints dry to a stiff, scratchy feeling that is not at all suitable for a cute toy. Instead, you must seek out special fabric paint. Not all fabric paints will work on polyester, but some will. All fabric paints manufactured by Jacquard Products, such as Dye-Na-Flow, and Dharma Trading Company's Dharma Pigment "Dye" System, are suitable for polyester, assuming that it has not been treated with any stain-resistant finish.

Before you attempt to color any Zhu Zhu Pet, you must obtain some that are the lightest color possible. To get the true color of any fabric dye or paint, you must start with a white base. The original color of the polyester fur will show through. If you start with a dark color, you will not be able to see much color change after you apply the paint. If you start with a pale pastel color, the original color will show through the paint color you choose, and combine with the color—for example, if you use blue paint on a yellow Zhu Zhu, you will end up with a green one—but the lighter colors will certainly work better than darker ones. White is the best base color to begin with, by far, if you can find any in that color.

Get a cheap plastic hair comb to use as you apply the paint, to use to unstick any clumps while the paint is still wet. Apply the paint with care so as not to mess up the fur. Apply as lightly and thinly as possible. Use a paint brush to apply the paint from the jar. You can dilute Dye-Na-Flow paint with up to 25% water (adding one part water to three parts of paint), to thin it, but do not add more water than that, since the paint will not stick as well if you do. Dharma Pigment Dyes, which, in spite of the name, are thin fabric paints, not true dyes, can be diluted considerably more, which makes them a more economical choice for large volumes of toy coloring. You can add up to four times as much water as you have of paint, or even more water for paler colors, if you use Dharma Pigment Dyes. Be sure to read and follow the instructions that come with your fabric paint.

Where can you buy these fabric paints? Some good hobby or crafts stores carry Jacquard's Dye-Na-Flow fabric paint, but not all of them do. Dye-Na-Flow is better than most other fabric paints, for your purposes, because it is thinner and flows more like a dye. The other good choice is Dharma Pigment Dyes, which also mimic dye, because they are so thin. You cannot buy Dharma Pigment Dyes at the crafts store, but instead must mail-order it from Dharma Trading Company. (They will accept checks or money orders, if you don't want to use a credit card.) Dharma Trading Company also sells Dye-Na-Flow paint, in addition to many other paints and dyes that would be less appropriate for your purposes. They also sell a metallic and pearlescent fabric paint, called Lumiere, which you should consider for special effects on your Zhu Zhu Pets. You could even paint one black or a dark color, let the paint dry, and then add highlights in metallic gold or silver paint. Dharma Pigment Dyes are available in true fluorescent colors that "pop" under black light. Both Dye-Na-Flow and Dharma Pigment Dyes will flow together to blend colors, so you could create a rainbow color gradation design. Once you are free to choose your own color schemes, the possibilities are endless.

I would like to see a picture of one or two of your recolored Zhu Zhu pets, after you have painted them.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Do you think natural dyes are better than synthetic?

Name: Jasmyn

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Yoplait Strawberry Yogurt is colored with carmine, a form of the natural dye cochineal, which is made from the dried bodies of insects that feed on cactus.

Natural Dye COLORS Collection

Natural Dye Kit

This comprehensive natural dyes kit contains Cochineal extract, Quebracho red, Logwood grey, Fustic, Indigo, Alum (Aluminum Acetate), Alum (Aluminum Sulfate), Cream of Tartar, Madder extract, Logwood purple, Cutch, Soda Ash, Iron, Scour (Washing agent for cellulose), Reducing agent for indigo (thiourea dioxide), Hide glue, pH strips, Mask and Gloves, and Instruction Book.

Buy from
Paradise Fibers

Country or region: California, USA

Message: Hello, my name is Jasmyn. I am in 8th grade. I am working on a science project about dyeing fabrics with natural dyes. The information I got from your website has been very helpful. I tried a few recipes and had good luck. The samples will make a good presentation for my project.

I would appreciate it if you would please answer a couple questions that I can include in my project:

1. Do you think natural dyes are better than synthetic?

No, by most criteria, most natural dyes are inferior to the best synthetic dyes, because they are harder to apply and more expensive, and natural dyes usually require toxic mordants, and tend to fade more quickly when washed. Any color that can be obtained from natural dyes can also be obtained with the correct mixture of synthetic dyes, but the opposite is not always correct; some hues are very difficult to obtain with natural dyes. (Some natural dye enthusiasts claim that natural dyes make more beautiful colors than can be obtained with synthetic dyes, but this is incorrect, the result of a lack of knowledge of color mixing.)

About mordants: Most natural dyes will not stick to fabric unless the fabric has been treated by boiling it with a mordant such as alum (potassium aluminum sulfate), chrome (potassium dichromate), copper, or tin, but mordants can be dangerous: each of these mordants has caused human deaths due to swallowing them. Alum is the safest of the metal salt mordants, because it takes one ounce to kill an adult who swallows it, instead of just a few grams. Unlike natural dyes, most synthetic dyes can be used without mordants, instead requiring safer chemicals such as sodium carbonate (soda ash) or dilute acetic acid (vinegar).

2. Are there advantages to using natural dyes?

A key advantage is being able to grow your own dye, though it can require a surprisingly large amount of a dyestuff to produce enough dye to use.

Another is that some natural dyes are safe to eat (although some other natural dyes are poisonous, and mordants are poisonous); for example, cochineal is commonly found, named "carmine", as a coloring in pink-colored yogurts or in lipstick.

The biggest advantage of natural dyes is simply aesthetic; the idea of using natural dyes is very pleasing.

3. What are the disadvantages of using natural dyes?

Unfortunately, the disadvantages of natural dyes are many.

A much greater quantity of a natural dyestuff is needed to dye a given amount of fiber than for a synthetic dye. For example, one pound of cotton can be dyed with 5 grams of Procion MX synthetic dye, or with half a pound (230 grams) of goldenrod flowers.

As a result, one of the most important disadvantages is that natural dyes cost many times more than synthetic dyes. In many cases, if you buy natural dyes, it will cost you $5 or $10 or even more to dye the same amount of fabric that would cost only about 50¢ to dye with a synthetic fiber reactive dye.

Natural dyes fade much more quickly than synthetic fiber reactive dyes, so clothing is discarded sooner, resulting in a greater cost for each year of wear, as well as the cost to the environment associated with the production of fiber for new clothing. Surprisingly, this means that synthetic dyes are not necessarily less eco-friendly than natural dyes.

4. What natural sources are more successful and give vibrant color?

Indigo is a dye that is usually now derived from synthetic sources, but it can be extracted from several different species of plants, and produces a beautiful bright blue. The synthetic indigo used to dye blue jeans is chemically identical to natural indigo. Cochineal is a wonderful red dye, derived from the dried bodies of an insect that infests prickly pear cactuses. The spice turmeric is easy to use, because it does not require a mordant, and it is very concentrated, so you can easily produce a beautiful bright yellow by boiling your fabric with it; unfortunately, it fades rather quickly upon exposure to light. Quercitron, a natural dye made from the inner bark of black oak trees, makes a better, longer-lasting yellow dye, but it is difficult to buy. Logwood produces purple or black depending on what mordant you use it with.

Thank you very much for your input to my Science Fair Project.

Good luck with your project. I'm glad you've found my site to be helpful.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

Friday, January 01, 2010

The dyebath changes color when soda ash is added

Name: Julie

—ADVERTISEMENTS—

Region: Tennessee

Message: I do a lot of full immersion dyeing using Procion MX dyes and your site has been a tremendous help to me. I don't know that my question is very important, but it's something I've been curious about for a long time. I've noticed that at the stage I add my soda ash solution to the dye bath, the color of the bath often changes. Most frequently, it becomes more yellow than previously. As far as I can tell, the color of my fabric does not change when I put it back in the dye bath after adding the soda ash. Can you tell me what causes the color change? And does it affect the color of my fiber and I just can't tell, or does it only affect the dye bath itself?

I've noticed this myself. What's happening is that many dyes can act as pH indicators. They are a different color at a high pH than they are at a low pH. The exact pH at which the color changes is specific to each dye. Here's an example of a Procion MX dye that is two different colors at different pHs:

(from "Boysenberry MX dye turns red with high pH", a post I made three years ago in the Dye Forum.) The bluish red color on the left is PRO Chemical & Dye's Boysenberry (a "pure" unmixed single-hue dye, which I think is magenta MX-B, also known as reactive violet 13), in plain water, while the orangish red color on the right is the same dye with soda ash added. At the higher pH, the dye also seems a bit weaker in color. The color of the dye in the fiber is affected similarly to the color you see in the dyebath.

The reason for the color change is that a low pH allows a proton (a positively charged particle, which is a hydrogen ion) from the water to join the chemical structure of a dye. When the pH is increased above a certain point (a point which is different for different dyes), there are fewer available protons in the solution, so this extra proton leaves the dye molecule. The color of a molecule depends directly on what wavelengths of light are reflected by it. Any changes in the chemical structure of a dye molecule will also affect the energy of the light that it absorbs, and therefore the color (if any) that is reflected by the molecule. The loss or gain of an extra proton is enough to make big changes in the energy of the light that the electron bonds in the molecule can absorb, and therefore in the color of the dye.

The color that the dye changes to when the soda ash (or other pH changer) hits it is not permanent. The final color of the dye will depend on the final pH. Once you have washed out the soda ash, the pH will be low enough that the color of the dye in your fiber will go back to the original hue.

You can see the same sort of color change in many colored substances. It's the basis for pH indicators, such as pH paper, which changes color according to the pH of the solution you dip it in. You can even see it in some foods. For example, the anthocyanin pigments that color red cabbage, grapes, and blueberries all change color according to pH. If you add an acid (low pH) to an anthocyanin pigment, it will turn it red, but a basic (high) pH will turn it blue. Compare the color of a bit of red cabbage juice in vinegar, which is acid, to the color in water to which a bit of baking soda has been added. If you make the pH high enough, it will turn green. Add more acid and the color will return to a more reddish color.

Since the colors of the textile dyes you're using revert to the neutral-pH color once the pH is neutralized, the only practical aspect to this color change, in dyeing fabric, is that it means you cannot eyeball your color mixtures, for being the color you're trying to get, once you have added soda ash.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)