Dyeing your garments can sound tough, messy, and downright scary. However guess what? It’s none of these issues! In any case, I’m the lady who dyed her wedding ceremony costume so I might put on it once more. Belief me, anybody can dye garments at dwelling as a result of it’s straightforward, easy, and loopy reasonably priced. And it’s an effective way to make belongings you simply aren’t sporting much more wearable as a substitute of simply giving up on them. Or giving them closet area however by no means reaching for them as a result of the colour simply isn’t your favourite.
Dyeing materials is nice technique to customise, alter, or reinvigorate your garments with a brand new hue. I wasn’t actually sporting this shirt, denims, or sweater a lot, so I used to be on the verge of eliminating them. The white shirt and denims had a weirdly yellowed tint that made them look a bit of soiled – and the inexperienced sweater was previous & pale. Then I spotted I might dye them my favourite shade (duh… black!) and so they’d be simpler to include into my wardrobe. So ultimately, I bought 3 “new” items of clothes from one $4 bottle of dye!
Notice: This submit isn’t sponsored by Rit. It’s only a dye that’s extraordinarily straightforward to seek out (they even have it in our grocery retailer!). We’ve used different manufacturers with equal success up to now.
My Greatest Garments Dyeing Recommendation
The #1 factor I inform folks frightened about dyeing their garments is to keep open-minded in regards to the end result. Attaining a exact shade is tough, even for professionals. That’s as a result of MANY components affect the result: the material mix, the merchandise’s authentic shade, your dye focus, the time soaking, and many others. So this course of is extra about transferring garments in the direction of a shade (darker, greener, pinker, and many others) than hitting a precise shade goal. For instance, black dye turned my button-down and denims beneath darker and nearer to black, however neither one is a real deep black. The excellent news is I additionally love grey and it eradicated the yellow tint they each had. So finally I just like the end result much more than earlier than!
Personally, I believe that’s a part of the enjoyable of this DIY venture. You by no means know precisely how issues are going to end up! And with these garments (and with my wedding ceremony costume) any consequence could be an enchancment over the present variations that weren’t getting worn.
Provides Wanted To Dye Garments
Listed below are the supplies it’s best to collect earlier than dyeing materials. We like to make use of the “bucket methodology” (it may also be finished in a sink or tub). If you’re dyeing bigger objects like bedding or curtains, it’s also possible to use your washer.
- 1 bottle of Rit All-Objective Liquid Dye
- 5-gallon bucket (we discovered it useful to have 2)
- Boiling water
- 1 cup of salt (for materials with cotton, rayon, ramie, or linen)
- 1 cup of white vinegar (for materials with nylon, silk, or wool)
- 1 teaspoon of delicate dish cleaning soap
- Giant stick or spoon to stir with
- Rubber gloves
- Hose or bathe sprayer to rinse
- Washer
We selected to work exterior so we didn’t have to fret about spills or splashes. If you’re working inside, it’s finest to guard your work space with a dropcloth, plastic tablecloth, or towels. The dye doesn’t are likely to stain if wiped up shortly, but it surely’s all the time finest to cowl your work floor simply in case.
Rubber gloves are additionally beneficial to stop potential pores and skin discoloration from the dye.
What Materials Can I Dye?
Rit All-Objective Dye is nice on a variety of materials, particularly pure fibers like cotton, wool, linen, ramie, and silk. It additionally works on synthetics like nylon and rayon. For materials containing greater than 35% polyester, acrylic, or acetate, Rit recommends their Artificial Materials Dye. You can not use the bucket methodology with that dye (it should be finished on a stovetop). So test your clothes tags earlier than starting to make sure you’re utilizing the proper product and methodology.
Step-by-Step Directions
The entire course of took about an hour (minus washing time within the washer), so seize your provides, cowl your work space, and let’s get began. Right here’s an outline of the steps.
- Pre-Wash Your Garments
- Put together The Dye Answer
- Add Clothes
- Stir
- Rinse Completely
- Wash Once more
1. Pre-Wash Your Garments
Materials should be clear and freed from stains earlier than dyeing. Ship every thing via the washer earlier than you start, and deal with any stains. Don’t use cloth softener, since that may intervene with dye absorption.
The material additionally wants to stay moist, so skip the dryer. In case your garments are already dry, soak them earlier than starting. That is the place our 2nd bucket got here in helpful!
2. Put together The Dye Bathtub
Combine your resolution in a container sufficiently big on your garments to maneuver freely. This is usually a sink, bathtub, bucket, or bowl. We selected to work exterior this time, however we generally put a bucket or bowl in the sink or bathtub.
To arrange your dye resolution:
Begin with scorching water
Rit recommends 3 gallons for each 1 pound of cloth. Water needs to be scorching, ideally a minimal of 140º. We used a mixture of scorching faucet water and a pair of pots of boiling water. We used a kitchen thermometer to test, however precision isn’t mandatory. Depart room on your materials to be added, so don’t overfill the container.
Add salt or vinegar
Use a measuring cup so as to add 1 cup of desk salt (for cotton, rayon, ramie, or linen) and/or 1 cup of vinegar (for nylon, silk, or wool). These will assist improve the colour.
Add dish cleaning soap
Subsequent, add 1 tsp of delicate dish cleaning soap to your resolution. It will promote even dyeing throughout your cloth.
Add liquid dye
Now, add your Rit Dye to the water. Rit recommends 1/2 bottle for each 1 lb of cloth. Nevertheless, extra might be added to realize a bolder or extra saturated shade. We used an entire bottle. Combine your components effectively.
Notice: Rit additionally sells concentrated powder dye. It’s solely a greenback cheaper ($2.50 vs $3.50) however solely goes half so far as the liquid, so we often go for the simpler, pre-mixed liquid model.
If you happen to’d like, you’ll be able to take a look at your shade by dipping a paper towel into the combination. This isn’t exact, however it’s a fast technique to see if you must add extra dye or dilute with extra water. That is useful if you happen to’ve mixed a number of dye colours to make a customized shade.
3. Add Clothes
Wring out your garments by hand so they’re moist, however not dripping. Add materials to the dye tub and use your stir stick to make sure they’re absolutely submerged. We dyed all 3 items of clothes collectively.
4. Stir, Stir, Stir
Sluggish and steady stirring helps obtain a fair and constant shade throughout your cloth. At a minimal, stir constantly for the primary 10 minutes. You possibly can proceed this course of for as much as an hour. Some materials (like nylon) want much less time, whereas others (polyester) want extra. We did this batch for half-hour, stirring slowly and constantly the whole time.
John did this half whereas I photographed the method and introduced numerous issues to him as wanted (it’s good to have an additional set of palms however very attainable to do that solo too – I’ve finished it absolutely alone earlier than). To remain entertained by the waiting-and-stirring stage this time, John watched Survivor on his telephone whereas I picked up certainly one of our children after college. The purpose I’m making right here is that this venture isn’t very rigorous. It’s usually fairly enjoyable. If you happen to’d like, you’ll be able to periodically test the colour throughout this ready interval. Simply do not forget that moist materials seem darker.
5. Rinse Completely
Put together a spot to rinse your clothes earlier than eradicating it from the dye tub. We used our spare bucket exterior to get a lot of the dye out after which moved inside to the bath for a extra cautious rinse. However first, we wrung out every clothes merchandise over the bathtub.
Then we used our backyard hose to spray off a lot of the extra dye. You possibly can already see how completely different materials reacted to the identical dye resolution!
In the end you wish to rinse your cloth till the water runs clear from the material. This takes time! We most likely spent 15 extra minutes inside rinsing with our bathe sprayer. Use cool water for this step.
It’s not essential to rinse in two areas. The white bathtub simply made it simpler to see if the water was clear.
6. Wash Once more
Lastly, wash all objects in your washer once more with heat water and delicate detergent. Throw in an previous towel along with your garments to behave as a “shade catcher.” This course of removes the remaining dye and assist to set the colour. Dry as regular in your dryer. We sometimes repeat this course of twice simply to be secure. In case your washer has an “further rinse” setting, it doesn’t damage to try this too. It will simply assist eradicate dye operating throughout future, common washings. Notice: don’t skip the colour catcher towel. Ours catches SO MUCH COLOR.
The Closing Consequence
Like I mentioned up entrance, a part of the enjoyable of dyeing your garments is seeing the ultimate end result. These 3 items turned out every thing from a lightweight grey to deep charcoal (I wouldn’t name any of them a “true black” shade). However this positively achieved my objective of creating them much more wearable for me.
Extra Clothes & Cloth Tasks
Listed below are another initiatives utilizing cloth, dye, or optimizing my wardrobe.
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