The Sewing Place

Dying(colours) beginner

Bonnie23

Dying(colours) beginner
« on: August 19, 2018, 18:05:12 PM »
Hi (sorry if this is in the wrong place!)

I bought some items recently that are REALLY bold and I'm wanting to dim the colours a bit.

I bought a bright red dress which I plan to dye black for night events which is simple enough.

However I also bought a bright pink top that I would like to dye purple. Thinking back to the colour wheel etc covered in school should I buy a blue dye and hope it will go purple or just buy a purple dye? I'm wanting it kind of a dark purple (sorry a bit vague). What would you recommend?

I was also going to buy dylon dye - or are there better alternatives?

Thank you for any advice  :D Bonnie x

Lachica

Re: Dying(colours) beginner
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2018, 18:21:10 PM »
Dying to dye? Firstly, what's your fabric composition? If natural fibres, Dylon or Procion. If your fabric is synthetic, ie nylon, polyester, Google for suitable dyes. I recently discovered Procion dye, it's more concentrated than Dylon, comes as a small packet of powder. I bought mine on eBay. It uses sodium carbonate (aka washing soda) whereas Dylon uses common salt as a fixative. The manufacturer suggests you should buy their purified sodium carbonate but I used what I had in the cupboard and it was fine.

Your memory of colour addition is correct but if I were you I'd use purple to be sure. Dylon Amythyst gives a vibrant deep purple, especially if you use a whole pack for just one top. I'd weigh the garment and adjust the dye amount pro rata, because I like to play with mixing dyes & effects so I have part packets.

For a small item you could use the microwave or stove top, but the washing machine is the easiest way, though packs of washing machine Dylon are more expensive. Dyeing (as opposed to dying) is good fun, especially if you like to live dangerously as you can never be quite sure how the project will work out.
Mary
2020 stash: not gonna count, not gonna feel guilty.

Efemera

Re: Dying(colours) beginner
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2018, 21:18:32 PM »
I spent donkeys years dying stuff and it always came out patchy until I tried this..
It’s great just bung it in the washer...I’ve dyed stuff black.. navy.. orange..
It doesn’t affect you machine either. I washed a white load after dying something black.

Morgan

Re: Dying(colours) beginner
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2018, 10:41:29 AM »
Ready everything you can on PB's site.  It's great

BrendaP

Re: Dying(colours) beginner
« Reply #4 on: August 20, 2018, 11:00:16 AM »
It's a long time since I've done any dyeing (havn't tried dying yet!) but the results were always a bit hit and miss but it definitely depends on the base fibre, or fibres. 

See the competition entry from @SewRuthieSews
https://thesewingplace.org.uk/index.php/topic,4610.75.html
and the reply from @renita
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Efemera

Re: Dying(colours) beginner
« Reply #5 on: August 20, 2018, 16:00:47 PM »
I tried some of that recently and although it dyed the fabric it left horrible little splodges of dye all over it. Like speckles :( I'm trying to work out what to do with the fabric now... overdye it again...?

Did you wash the garment first and dye it while it was wet?..
Try overdying it.

SewRuthieSews

Re: Dying(colours) beginner
« Reply #6 on: August 20, 2018, 23:13:33 PM »
I use Dylon machine dyes. I sometimes mix them (which they tell you not to) but I've generally had good results.

I do find that the fluff which gets stuck in the rubber seal around the door gets dyed also and sometimes comes off the seal and sticks on things in later cycles. So after a dark dye load, I wipe that round with a washable dishcloth, and then run a short cycle with a bit of toilet bleach and some water from the kettle. If the cloth comes out fairly clean and the seal looks clean then I carry on and do a pale wash.

I've had a few disasters but mostly have good fun with it. Polyester stitching doesn't dye.

renita

Re: Dying(colours) beginner
« Reply #7 on: September 04, 2018, 11:39:28 AM »
Hi @Bonnie23, sorry for the slow reply.  Trying to hit an exact colour is always going to be a challenge for a home dyer - if you're happy with the near-enough-is-good-enough approach then I'd be using something like a royal blue, if you want quite a strong, bright, pure purple.  If you want something deeper and more subdued, a bit of navy would perhaps give a better result.

If you go with the purple dye, it might be a bit on the fuschia or reddish-purple side, but it may also turn out perfect - such unpredictability!!

Weighing the garment as @Lachica suggested and then using an appropriate amount of dye for the depth of shade you're looking for is a good idea.  Here's my rules of thumb:

Pale shades might only need 0.5 - 1% per weight of fabric
For mid-strength colours, you need about 4-5% per weight of fabric
For the deepest, strongest colours, you will usually need about 8% per weight of fabric (and as high as 10% for black)

No point adding more dye than that, you will just be wasting the dye as there won't be enough sites on the fibre to hold the dye...

If you don't have scales, one level 5ml teaspoon is (very roughly) 4 grams in my experience.  So if you were doing a mid shade on 100 grams of fabric, 1 teaspoon of dye would be pretty close.

If the fabric is already bright pink, it might already have 6% dye, so you only have about 2% to get it to that maximum.  If it was me, I'd be having a go with about 2% navy and see where I was.  But please bear in mind that a) I like dull colours, b) I'm happy to take a gamble that I might over-shoot and make it too dark and c) I am always happy to over-dye it again. 

I'd love to see before and after shots of whatever you decide to go with.



And hello @Francesca, sorry to hear about your splotches.  You mentioned that the splotches looked like speckles - this suggests undissolved dyestuff to me.  I don't do any washing machine dyeing so my methods might not be terribly useful, but I always pre-dissolve any dye with a bit of warm water before I add it to the dyebath, if I'm going for an even dye effect.  You start with a tiny bit of water and make a smooth paste, a bit like making a roux in cooking, then gradually add more water until you have a clear solution, with no sediment or other signs of undissolved dye.  That should eliminate the tiny speck problem.

If the splotches are larger, they could be caused by something left in the fabric - like starch or spinning oil, or any number of chemicals that are applied to fabrics and garments.  They can often 'pull' the dye towards them and cause sections to dye darker.
To minimise these, your best bet is to give the fabric or garment a really good hot wash, with plenty of detergent - if you don't have a special pre-dyeing detergent, then a good dish-washing liquid is probably your best bet - it's mostly detergent, without too many softeners or other bits that might cause problems of their own.  Plenty of rinsing after the wash, to make sure you have a nice clean 'surface' to work with.

@SewRuthieSews suggestion to watch out for fluff is also a good one - it can cause redepositing issues.  If the fabric is prone to pilling or shedding, it could be causing its own fluff deposits. 

Other suggestions for even dyeing include getting as much water into the machine as you can - water efficient front loaders are probably not the go!

Sorry, I don't have any ideas about how to fix it now - I'd be interested to hear how you go if you decide to strip in off and overdye again.

Don't let it discourage you.  Pale, even shades are hard, even for professional dyehouses!  We had to work hard to ensure the tiny amount of dyestuff had time to spread out evenly over the entire fabric, before adding the salt and other fixing agents that would hold it in place.

Dyeing can be fun, provided you can see the 'variances' from what you were expecting, as 'opportunities' and don't let them beat you up too much.

Happy dyeing (with an e) everyone!  Oh, good gracious, I've just realised how long this post is.  So sorry.  Hopefully it's helpful along the way. 


Morgan

Re: Dying(colours) beginner
« Reply #8 on: September 04, 2018, 11:42:02 AM »