Dyeing - For a New Color! How to Dye Clothes & Stuff!

As mentioned before, I like to redo old stuff. One of the things I do, often, is dye things clothes, and other stuff, a different color. I do it to fabric, clothes I’m going to remake, and clothes I wear but want to be a different color, vintage lingerie, all sorts of stuff. This is another thing I started doing in college to some of the thrift store finds I was re-doing (by the way, if you are in the dorms in college, they DO NOT like it when you dye stuff in the dorm washers! Even if you clean them thoroughly when you're done. Just a tip.).

Working on the maxi dress while dye is setting.

That’s what I did for most of the day Saturday, plus got about halfway done with a maxi-dress I’m making from some vintage fabric for the shoot upcoming next Sunday. I have a bunch of vintage lingerie that I’ve collected over the past several years, several of which I planned to dye. Saturday was the perfect day to take care of that little chore and after I did the first couple of slips I thought, “I should write a blog post about this.” Not long after that one of my friends asked me a question about dying a dress that had a discolored spot on Facebook – perfect timing!

So, for the novice, here is a step by step guide to dyeing clothes and textiles. There are tons of different techniques and you can dye all sorts of things besides fabric and clothes, but these are the basics.* You do need to be careful about what you are trying to dye. Some fabrics will change chemically if they are dyed. Silk, for instance, while it takes dye beautifully, will completely change texture if it is dyed, unless it is washable silk. Acetate will shrink in strange ways, completely changing the shape of the garment. Some types of rayon will also shrink, and so will some wool (although sometimes if its a sweater you can stretch it back into shape while it's wet). So be cautious and research your fabric if you're concerned about it.

Some fabrics will take dye and some won’t. Heavy polyester fabrics need a special chemical dye, RIT won’t work on them. You may have heard that dye won’t take on synthetics, but that is not necessarily true. I’ve had good luck with nylon and some lighter weight polyesters and blends. I’ve also used dye on leather, suede, wood and wicker with good results, but the technique is different. I know people hate to here this, but experience is sometimes the only way to judge accurately what will work and what won't. So if you don't have it, ask someone who knows fabric.

Blah white lingerie pre-dye

There are two main reasons to dye something. 1 - you just want it to be a different color or 2 - to save a stained or discolored item you would like to keep.  If you are dyeing because of a stain or bleach spot, you will need to treat the stain first and remove as much of it as possible. You will also need to do this if you want something to be a lighter color than it starts out. Then you need to remove as much color from the item as you can. If you don’t need to lighten the color of your item you can skip the next couple of paragraphs!

I do keep a little dye on hand.

To lighten an item you can either bleach it (I fill the washer about half way with as hot of water as is safe for the item and then dump in several cups of bleach, stir it up – I let the washer agitate before adding things and periodically while they’re soaking -  and let the item soak for several hours).  This seems like common sense, but just to make sure - if you haven’t used bleach in your washer before please make sure you rinse it out well and make your next load a load of whites, just to be safe!

If it’s a white item that is stained, this sounds contrary I know, but unless your item is a fairly sturdy cotton you don’t want to bleach it. Some synthetics will dissolve in bleach and on some other blends chances are it won’t take the stain out. Depending on the fabric content, bleaching could just turn your item yellowish. If you need to get the stain out of a white item that your normal stain removal tactics haven’t worked on (try using pre-wash treatments, soaking, etc.), try hydrogen peroxide.

Put an old rag under the stain, get some hydrogen peroxide and either a medicine dropper or a q-tip, and dab it on the stain. Let it sit for ten minutes or so and check it. If it’s gone, you’re good, if not, try it again. You can repeat this multiple times. Once the stain is out or lightened enough that it’s not noticeable rinse the item out thoroughly. Then if you still want to dye it, you’re ready to go. You can use this on some other colors as well, just be sure to check for color-fastness in an unseen spot first.

Some of the dye colors I'm mixing, plus salt.

RIT also makes a color remover that works really well, although you need to make sure you’re well ventilated and DO NOT breathe the fumes, they are seriously nasty. Actually this goes for the dye too.  When I use the color remover I dissolve the color remover in hot water first either in the garage or right by an open window, keeping my face well away and pouring carefully to minimize the dust, and then add it to a washer partly filled with hot water, close the lid and agitate the machine to mix. Important - when you add the color remover or powdered dye, hold it right above the water and pour it in slowly to minimize the dust in the air. Do not have the washer agitating while you pour it in, it will circulate more of the toxic dust.

Add your item/s and set the washer so it agitates for a couple of minutes, then turn it off and let it soak for a bit, say 10 or 15 minutes. Then agitate some more, so on and so forth.  After your item has lost most or all of its color, let the washer go through the rinse cycle to rinse your item. Once you’re finished, rinse your machine well and make your first load afterwards whites, just to be on the safe side!

Things you will need: 

1.      Something to dye things in – this can be a giant stockpot – stainless steel so it won’t stay the color you dye; a sink or a washing machine. It depends on what you have available and how large the item is or how many items you plan to dye. If you want your item to be black or very dark, the stove method works the best.

2.      Dye. I just use RIT dye, because it’s easy to get and pretty inexpensive, there are plenty of other brands though, just make sure you read the directions first! Pick the color you want. If you want it to be especially dark or bright or you are dying more than one item or two smallish ones, use two packets or bottles (it comes in both powder and liquid forms, I usually use the powder). Don't be afraid to mix colors!

3.      Bleach or Color Remover, if you are dyeing a lighter color than the original or because of a stain. Plus bleach for clean-up.      

4.      Something to stir with. I have a big dowel that is my “dye stick.” I use it for everything I dye.

5.       Salt, quite a lot, depending on how many items you are going to dye

6.       Vinegar 

7.       Somewhere to rinse things out.

8.       Whatever you want to dye.

9.        Rubber Gloves (unless you want rainbow fingers!)

My dye stick

10.    An extra bucket.

All right, now to the dyeing!

I am going to use a slip for this example, and do it on the stove.

        Fill your pot up about half or 2/3 of the way full. Put it on the stove and turn the heat up high. Add about ½ cup of salt for each 2 1/2 gallons of water, stir to dissolve. When your water is really hot but not boiling, add your dye (If you are using either the sink or the washer, dissolve your dye in 2 or 3 cups of boiling water and salt before adding it to the hot water you fill the sink or washer with.) and stir well and carefully – drops spattering will stain! On the stove, once your dye is in turn down the heat a bit. If it boils over you will have a huge mess!  




  


   

      Once your dye is fully dissolved, get your item wet in hot water, squeezing out the extra then shake out your item so it’s not crumpled, make sure its wet evenly and everywhere. Carefully add it to your pot of dye.

 Stir often and carefully.

     

      
    

      Take the pot to the sink or wherever you plan to rinse (choose somewhere close if you’re doing the stovetop method, you DO NOT want to trip and spill a pot of dye on the floor!). I just dump the whole pot, clothing and all, CAREFULLY into the sink. Then you can start rinsing it with warm water. Gradually move to cold water and rinse until the water runs clear. Then rinse with water and vinegar to set the color.

       

        




    
      If I am only dyeing one item, I will fill an extra bucket with cold water and stir in another 1/2 cup of vinegar.  If I have several I fill the washer with cold water and add the vinegar. Put your item into the cold water with vinegar and swish it around really well before rinsing thoroughly.

    

 In the washer, just let it go through a rinse cycle after this. If you just did one item, dump it out in the sink and rinse it again with cold water.  The vinegar helps to set the color and prevent bleeding in the future. Although you should still wash it separately several times in cold water!

I like to put things in the dryer for a few minutes, unless they are wool or something else that will shrink. The heat helps set the color.

Ta –da, you are done and the proud owner of something that is now a different color than it was before!  Happy Dyeing!

Some of the vintage lingerie I dyed on Saturday.

*The RIT website has some great information on going further! http://www.ritdye.com/