Reuse Recipe: Tips for Dyeing Clothes at Home

Dye Day has become kind of a Spring tradition for me.  Over the course of the year I set aside stained clothes, sheets (big sister A gets bloody noses), and table linens.  Then when it starts to get warm I break out the dyes. This year I had several leftover ones that I decided to just mix together in different combinations and use up. Plus, I had to order some for a doll dress that I am sewing for the neighbor (more on that later) so I ordered I couple extra packs for polyester blends.

I tend to use 2 brands which are both great for different things:

1. RIT Dye -- easy to find at most stores and they have a cool color mixing chart on their website; It works great for natural fibers, but dyes polyester or nylon a bit light
2. Dharma Trading -- has great dyes for natural fibers, but where they really stand out is their dyes for synthetics. I have used their dye for nylon and polyester with vibrant color results. 

Since I just did a big dye day yesterday and it is all fresh in my mind. I thought I would share some tips based on 3-4 years experience. I have made and continue to make a lot of mistakes have a lot of learning experiences while doing this.

Tips for Success

• Despite my best efforts some things just don't dye according to plan. Stretchy T-shirts are especially tricky, I think since they are close to my skin they must get some oils and salts on them from sweat and just never dye themselves evenly. 
• On the other hand, "What have you got to lose?"  (That's what I tell myself).  I would be throwing these stained clothes out anyway and it only costs 2-3$ for a container of dye.
  

  

  looks like a sweaty back right?

• I find the stove top method works best for making colors bright. Keeps things nice and hot.  The water should be boiling hot for polyesters and nylons and nearly boiling for cottons.
  
• Designate a separate pot and utensils (like from the thrift store or an oldie) that will be used just for dyes.  Otherwise it could get into your food and that would be bad for your health.
• Wet everything thoroughly before you put it in the pot and UNCRUMPLE it before you drop it in the pot or it might end up looking like tie-dye.
  
• Make sure the dye is thoroughly dissolved and that the pot was rinsed out with bleach after the previous use. (Otherwise you can get little flecks of another color on your material). 
• The directions say to "agitate" the whole time. That is best done by a combination of stirring and pulling things out to make sure that they are not getting twisted and rumpled. This is very important. 
• Add a cup of salt to cotton batches; this is supposed to be done after the dye and clothes are in. I push the clothes to one side and pour it in then stir vigorously. Undissolved salt grains can make flecks while you are dyeing too. 
• I learned this time around I could reuse batches of dye (let cool and reheat with another load of clothes). I need to experiment more with it.  It seemed to work best with the RIT dye and when it was done within 24 hours of the original dyeing -- otherwise the dye settled to the bottom of the pot... And I also noticed that the colors were a shade lighter...probably because the dye was less concentrated?

Here is a before and after that I am excited about-- some beautiful napkins that have become more and more brown with stains got a facelift and now match the napkins my mom embroidered for us. Success!

Before -- looking stained and dingy,  though hard to see in the picture

After

Another cool thing is that usually the thread used to embroider kids clothes does not take the dye and makes them look like this:

I mixed one bottle liquid Tan RIT with 1/2 a bottle of the liquid Scarlett RIT to get this lovely bright orangey red color. Total good luck.

 Here are the piles of dyed clothes on my laundry room table. There were also a couple black batches still in the wash.  Dyeing things is pretty addictive and a little bit messy. I cover my counter to make sure that it does not stain, but it comes off the stove top easily.