I'm Dyeing... Anyone Else?

Rubber Ducky ↓

Tue, Feb 24 2015, 10:15 pm

OK, maybe it's not quite that melodramatic. I cannot find a shell to match my new dress, and after much internet searching and calls to 2 different shell and clothing shops, it appears that lavender is OUT as a fashion shell color this year. Which is what happens when I buy a dress on clearance. But I digress.

So I was in Michael's buying frosting in tubes to decorate my yearly batch of Purim gingerbread people, and decided to see if they had purple dye — for clothes, not gingerbread. And I found some RIT purple dye, which looks like it could ruin my washing machine and turn all my clothes purple in just one load, but you can also mix the stuff up in a bucket and stir clothes in hot water like they must have done in the ancient days before there even were washing machines.

I'm planning to test this on an old white shell in the interest of scientific inquiry. Has anyone done this? Advice? Tips? Did it work? Was the color even? Please share!

Dolly Welsh

Tue, Feb 24 2015, 10:18 pm

Here is a tip: wet the shirt thoroughly first. Never put a dry shirt into a dye batch.

As lavender sounds like a light color, don't leave it in long.

Wear rubber gloves, the kind for dishwashing. Try to keep it off your skin.

Rinse very well.

Air dry.

Throw it out after this one use.

It might bleed onto your other clothes.

Would this do?

http://www.dharmatrading.com/c......html

The neckline is high. If you don't like the neck taping it can be removed, perhaps by a seamstress. She would carefully cut it off, run a line of hand running stitching around it to keep it from stretching, bend it under, and fix it down with fabric glue. Or not.

This is darker:

http://www.dharmatrading.com/c......html

Here is a scarf for the neck:

http://www.thaisilks.com/produ.....d=432

greenfire

Tue, Feb 24 2015, 10:27 pm

actually dyeing instructions would tell you to soak for a while - a quick trick is to put it in baggies to heat up in the microwave

then after rinsing excess by hand you have to wash it properly in the machine ALONE [or with any other items you suddenly had the urge to dye] - do not wash with other clothes until there is no dye residue

also remember the colour will probably be lighter than when it's soaking it in

vintagebknyc

Tue, Feb 24 2015, 10:54 pm

I've done it on top of the stove in my grandmother's gefilte fish pot. (it's the biggest pot we have.)

dolly is correct, item has to be fully wet. color you get depends on both the color you start with and the kind of fabric--cotton, wool, etc. sometimes there are big surprises!

seeker

Tue, Feb 24 2015, 11:13 pm

I used a strong disposable aluminum pan, doubled, on the stovetop because I think you're not supposed to use dye in food pots.

Don't know if you'll get your exact matching color, though. Aren't there places that custom dye shells for you? I've heard they're fairly reasonable and you don't have to waste time and money on the one you get wrong first. I was not looking for a specific shade when I did my dyeing project, so I can't help you there.

↑ Rubber Ducky ↓

Wed, Feb 25 2015, 12:47 pm

Thanks all for your advice. The shell is mostly cotton so I think it will take the dye OK. Not sure about the thread. Iy"H I will conduct the experiment tomorrow and — we'll see!

myself

Wed, Feb 25 2015, 2:48 pm

Rubber Ducky wrote:

Thanks all for your advice. The shell is mostly cotton so I think it will take the dye OK. Not sure about the thread. Iy"H I will conduct the experiment tomorrow and — we'll see!

IME, polyester stitching doesn't dye well.

↑ Rubber Ducky

Thu, Feb 26 2015, 4:17 pm

I dyed the shell this morning. Soaked it well before adding it to lots of very hot water, 1/2 a packet of RIT purple dye, salt, and dishwashing liquid in a tall plastic tub. You're supposed to stir the garment for 10 - 30 minutes but after just 2 minutes it was already really dark. At which point I panicked, grabbed it out of the tub (thanks for the suggestion to wear gloves!), rinsed it and — forgot all about air drying first — threw it into the washing machine.

After a cold wash cycle the shell looked... blotchy. And in my head I was making deals with G-d if it would only come out right, and also contemplating trying again with my other white shell. Then after coming out of the dryer it looked... fine. The blotches all disappeared. No light patches. No streaks. The stitching didn't really color much — I guess it's poly or nylon filament thread — but the effect is nice.

(Yes I know the shell needs ironing!) It even came out a pretty good match for the dress. I'd dye again! Very Happy

FranticFrummie

Thu, Feb 26 2015, 6:06 pm

I LOVE the Jacquard dyes from Dharma Trading Company. The quality is amazing, and they are extremely colorfast if you heat set them in the dryer or with an iron.

I have a couple of bright red cashmere sweaters that I could not part with when I became frum. I dyed them dark purple, and I am so happy I did (they were crazy expensive, no way was I going to donate them!)

I hand dye silk ribbons in ombre colors to use in my jewelry and ribbon embroidery. I make silk flowers from the ribbons for my hats, too.

I had a bunch of long sleeve cotton shells that had gotten stained and grubby over the years, but they were super comfy and still fit, so I made stencils of fun patterns, and the put the dye in a spray bottle and stenciled the front of the shirts to hide the spots. Sometimes I take old lace doilies, starch and iron them flat, and they use them as stencils with the spray dye.

Use a few Swarovski hot-fix crystals here and there, and you have a designer original that will have your friends asking you where you got that amazing shirt. No one will know that it was an old shmatte! Very Happy

amother

Red

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 9:11 pm

DD got a gorgeous cream brocade dress for her vort in the summer. We are wondering if we can dye it for a winter Sheva Brochos. I know there's such a thing as Winter White, but she's not interested.

The dress is polyester. It wasn't too expensive, and she says she wouldn't wear it anyhow so we might as well try.

Should we do black (ugh, in my opinion) or navy? (Also we added a piece of fabric so now we really can't be sure if the other fabric will dye the same....)

mummiedearest

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 9:32 pm

amother wrote:

if you added fabric and the fabric is a different material, it's probably not worth dyeing. polyester doesn't dye well, from what I understand.

zaq

Sun, Oct 11 2015, 10:55 pm

Forget about trying to dye polyester. It won't take the color and the dress will simply look dirty. The extra fabric is an added liability because it will take up color, or not take it up, differently from the rest of the dress. Sorry.

You will notice that all the items FF has dyed were of natural fabrics--silk, cotton, cashmere. These take up dyes beautifully. Synthetics, not so much, and polyester, not at all.

RIT apparently has a dye called DyeMore that can supposedly be used on polyester. However, you have to use very hot water, which will do this dress no favors.

My advice: Admit defeat, give the dress to a gmach and make a needy kallah happy, rather than ruin it so that no one would be caught wearing it to wash windows, let alone to a Sheva Brochos. And Mazal Tov!