🏵FABRIC DYE RECOMMENDATIONS PLEASE🏵

Pruett · ‎10-30-2013

Hi friends!

I hope putting this in Home is best. I was thinking some Home projects involve fabric dying so here goes.

I have 4 fabrics I want to dye black.

All of them were washed with something that ruined them and made the colors streak uneven taking a dark brown color lighter in some spots and they look terrible. (Very long story I won't go into lol!) I think they're worth saving if I can.

One is 100% cotton. The others are blends, 90 rayon 10 spandex, 90 cotton 10 spandex, and 85 cotton 15 spandex.

I think I need to remove all the color then dye them.

I was reading about Rit Dyes, Dylon Dyes and iDye Jacquard products.

If anybody has experience can you please suggest which dye products you like?

TIA!!!!

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

I've used Rit dyes before, both the powdered and the liquid. There's a newer formula called Rit Dyemore for synthetic fabrics so choose the right one according to your fabrics. You need to use hot water, to open the fibers of the fabric so the dye will penetrate better. You'll want to make sure your particular fabrics are safe in hot water. With darker colors you may need to double up on the dye, but since you're going black I don't think you need to remove color beforehand. IMO, that would require even more black dye for repeating the dying process to get your color deep enough. It would be different if you were completely changing the item from one color to another, like changing a blue top to yellow, for instance.

I find it most convenient to dye in the washing machine, but you need to stay on top of it and not allow yourself to get distracted as you may want to stop the machine to allow your garments to sit in the dye bath longer than the timed setting, especially when dying dark. You might also want to use the Dye Fixative to set your color during the washing machine method. Once the dying is complete, I'd leave the garment(s) in the machine and do a cycle with a little detergent and either cold or lukewarm water to make sure the excess dye gets rinsed out thoroughly.

When you're finished with your project, don't be alarmed if your washer tub is stained. Run a hot load with some old towels that you don't mind bleaching, detergent and a couple cups of bleach to get that cleaned off.

There's a lot of guidance on the Rit website that can help you.

CelticCrafter · ‎03-09-2010

I haven't dyed anything in a very long so don't know if there are better dyes on the market or if they have changed them but it was my experience that synthetics did not take color well.

The only thing I ever had luck with was 100% cotton.

Fressa · ‎03-20-2012

The fabric dye that I use is Rit. They do have one that strips the color so you might consider this before the color dye. Check the labels because all fibers take dye differently. i think you may have the best luck with the all cotton item. You might have to select a color that is darker than your current color because of the brown spots unless the color stripper doesn't remove it. You also might want to check the website for Rit dye and see if they give any tips. It might save you $, time and some frustration.

Pruett · ‎10-30-2013

@JeanLouiseFinch @CelticCrafter @Fressa

thank you! Having computer troubles but finally got in here long enough to give you my Thanks.

loriqvc · ‎11-06-2011

The response from @JeanLouiseFinch is great! I definitely recommend not removing the color if your intended result is black, and using the fixative along with the dye will be very helpful. (I just dyed a whole pile of faded jeans to a dark indigo blue over the Christmas break and was impressed with the increased color saturation and staying power that was provided through the fixative, which I had never used before.) Good luck...

Tigriss · ‎03-12-2010

I've been thinking of doing something similar, but I've got a polymix of some sort of curtains that are pink, a more pink Pepto pink. I would love to dye them something else like a darker blue or blue green, but not sure what color of dye to go with to get the results. They are from a thrift shop and work so well for my patio door, so they are worth saving but my colors have changed. They are great at keeping out the summer heat. I think doing Rit DyeMore in a denim blue color might workout to a bluish purple hue which is ok too! Any color suggestions? Could I use the Rit color stripper on a polymix then dye? Help please. Thanks!

Pruett · ‎10-30-2013

@Tigriss wrote:
I've been thinking of doing something similar, but I've got a polymix of some sort of curtains that are pink, a more pink Pepto pink. I would love to dye them something else like a darker blue or blue green, but not sure what color of dye to go with to get the results. They are from a thrift shop and work so well for my patio door, so they are worth saving but my colors have changed. They are great at keeping out the summer heat. I think doing Rit DyeMore in a denim blue color might workout to a bluish purple hue which is ok too! Any color suggestions? Could I use the Rit color stripper on a polymix then dye? Help please. Thanks!

@Tigriss

I'm obviously not an expert and haven't had time to experiment yet but I hope the posters who are experienced experts can advise.