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Blue Cotton Sweater

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

Blue Cotton Sweater

How Well Does Dyeing Clothes Black Work ?

Hi , I bought this navy blue sweater yesterday and wanted to die it deep black. Are there any ways of doing this so that the sweater will turn very black , so that the dye won't bleed in the wash or during usage and won't damage the sweater.

Here are the materials :

95 % Cotton
5 % Spandex

Thanks !!

If you use the right dye, you can dye your sweater a deep dark black that will last for years. The wrong dye will fade almost immediately, though, so buying the right dye is very important.

Don't buy Rit all-purpose dye. It is a hot water dye, but hot water will damage spandex. You must use a cold water dye. Rit dye also tends to fade very quickly, so it's an inferior dye even when your sweater is 100% cotton.

The dye you want to use is called fiber reactive dye. You will not be able to find this dye at the grocery store. If you have a good crafts store nearby, you can look there for Jacquard Procion MX dye, or Tulip One Step Fashion Dye, or Dylon Permanent Dye or Dylon Machine Dye. All of these dyes are excellent fiber reactive dyes. For much better prices and hundreds of color choices, order your dye by mail instead of trying to find it in a local store. In the US, order your dye from PRO Chemical & Dye or Dharma Trading Company. For other countries, see the link below for sources of dyeing supplies around the world.

No matter what dye you buy, it takes a lot more dye to get a good deep dark black. Use two to four times as much dye as the packet recommends. Use a plastic bucket or the washing machine (if the sweater is machine washable), add salt and/or soda ash if required by the instructions on the package of dye, and stir constantly so that the color is even. If you do not use enough dye, you will get the wrong color, and if you do not stir enough, you will get blotchy or streaky results. Closely follow a good recipe for the dye you select.