Need dyeing advice.

[matt]

Hello all.
I am having trouble finding the right shirt in the right colour so I thought dyeing might be the answer. I'm wondering how strong dyes tend to be (the easy to use sort, such as dylon) and whether stripes can continue to show through after dyeing. I'm looking at shirts with bold, dark stripes which I imagine would not be covered up, but also quite subtle stripes too. I'd also need help determining how the colour of stripes might change.

Are there any experts or professionals here who would be willing to dye an item or items for me? I'd pay for this, naturally.
Thanks.

[cosmic grammie]

It never turns out great, in my experience....though I am no expert. Some threads won't dye, some fabrics dye splotchy, the stripes won't turn out the way you want, I'd bet my last dollar. You may just have to experiment, and that could be costly.

Can you buy some plain undyed untreated cotton shirts online, for dyeing, and experiment with your desired colors?? Then if they aren't what YOU want, you can always try to sell them as unique hand-dyed shirts... :D

[tipsylipsy]

It never turns out great, in my experience....though I am no expert. Some threads won't dye, some fabrics dye splotchy, the stripes won't turn out the way you want, I'd bet my last dollar. You may just have to experiment, and that could be costly.

Can you buy some plain undyed untreated cotton shirts online, for dyeing, and experiment with your desired colors?? Then if they aren't what YOU want, you can always try to sell them as unique hand-dyed shirts... :D

I agree, I have never been able to get the right finish using home dyes. Have you thought about looking for fabrics in the colour you want and asking someone to make them up for you, would probably be a whole lot easier.

hth

[sparkysdad]

Hello all.
I am having trouble finding the right shirt in the right colour so I thought dyeing might be the answer. I'm wondering how strong dyes tend to be (the easy to use sort, such as dylon) and whether stripes can continue to show through after dyeing. I'm looking at shirts with bold, dark stripes which I imagine would not be covered up, but also quite subtle stripes too. I'd also need help determining how the colour of stripes might change.

Are there any experts or professionals here who would be willing to dye an item or items for me? I'd pay for this, naturally.
Thanks.


Hi Matt, there is another fairly recent thread on the issues and problems of home dyeing if you do a search you will find it.. ;)

As for your general questions:

Dylon will not give you 100% coverage of stripes in material (in my experience!) you will find that the take up of dye will be affected by any previous print/pattern applied to the garment, or woven in to the fabric.

Using Dylon will also not give a 100% colour match, the type of material and previous finishes will affect the effectiveness of the dye so if you do want a precise colour rather than a reasonable colour match dylon is not for you.

Dyeing striped material there is no way of predicting what the outcome will be - applying lighter dyes to darker fabrics is not usually very successful, but if you had a navy and white striped shirt and applied a yellow dye, you "might" end up with a yellow and navy stripe, or a yellow and sludgy blue (more likely!).. the only way is to try it and see. If you applied navy dye to the same shirt I would expect it to give you a striped pattern similar to a shirt that had a stripe woven in to the fabric..

If you are going to experiment, one of the pitfalls is disparate thread content.. Cotton will take up dye at a different rate to polyester, or a polycotton blend. high synthetic content fabrics will not take up dye as well as low content ones. You may find that your cotton or polycotton
shirt is sewn with nylon thread for example, so you may find that stitchwork is a different colour - particularly with button holes and buttons themselves. Some folk like the contrast.. but it may ruin the look of the shirt for you.

Professional Dyers: If you are prepared to go down this route, you might find it easier to get a decent colour match, but it is likely to be very expensive... Partly because they have to make a batch of dye just for your shirt, and all the necessary cleaning of equipment afterwards.. When I last enquired, it was £100+ to dye a coat.. £180 to dye a set of curtains..

I suspect it will cost far more to dy a commercially obtained shirt to your colour choice than the shirt is worth/costs.. As TipsyLipsy said, you may be far better off looking for fabric in your choice of colour and finish, and spending the extra cash on having a shirt made..:confused:

[matt]

The shirt I would be dyeing would be an expensive hand-made shirt. I have a thing for handwork on my clothes. I like the laborious imperfection of it. So I wouldn't want it to be ruined, but I am not after a specific colour as such. There would be no poly or other synthetics involved, including in the thread.

I am looking at a white and light pink/purple cotton/linen shirt which would be nice if it were a light brown with some hint of tonal variation. Unfortunately I can't link to it as I don't have enough posts.

But as I say, the actual shade produced wouldn't matter too much, and a fairly light wash of colour would suffice. Just as long as the colour was even. Is it easy enough to get an even colour with dylon?

I shall go and look for that recent thread.

Thanks.

[sparkysdad]

The shirt I would be dyeing would be an expensive hand-made shirt. I have a thing for handwork on my clothes. I like the laborious imperfection of it. So I wouldn't want it to be ruined, but I am not after a specific colour as such. There would be no poly or other synthetics involved, including in the thread.

I am looking at a white and light pink/purple cotton/linen shirt which would be nice if it were a light brown with some hint of tonal variation. Unfortunately I can't link to it as I don't have enough posts.

But as I say, the actual shade produced wouldn't matter too much, and a fairly light wash of colour would suffice. Just as long as the colour was even. Is it easy enough to get an even colour with dylon?

I shall go and look for that recent thread.

Thanks.

If the shirt is new, wash it several times on the hottest and longest wash cycles reccomended as you will need to be sure of removing all the fabric finishers applied during manufacture. An extra rise cycle or two might be handy (NO conditioner!) to remove any soap residues.

Generally I have found the machine wash dyes give a more consistent finish than the cold water ones, but that may be down to not using big enough utensils, and not keeping the immersion consistent!! - you do get a better range of colours with cold water dye though.

One option for lightening the colour with machine wash dyes if you are willing to risk the experiment is to bulk out the load with more fabric.. the packet will state the maximum dry weight (500g if I remember correctly!) Adding a little more fabric will result in a less intense colour, though the risk is that you get inconsistent dyeing.. If I were looking to dye an expensive garment, I would probably do a test run on scrap fabrics and garments to test the results first.. ;);)

Hope that helps.

[matt]

That does help, yes. Could you recommend any simple dyes other than dylon?

[sparkysdad]

That does help, yes. Could you recommend any simple dyes other than dylon?

AnnieAnna mentioned another brand on the other thread, though I cant remember if she used it or not, or what the results were like..

One other option you might consider, though it is a bit more technical is to look at organic vegetable dyes - the colour you described sounds like it might be just the kind of finish you were looking for. You will need to mordant your fabric first (soak in an Alum solution) to help the dye set, so it is not as simple as chucking it in the washer.