Dyeing Questions Roundup

Tintex gets many dyeing questions about everything from what colours we have to how to dye many difference items. Today we focus on recent questions about dyeing a straw hat and how to dye a blue T shirt brown.

From Gregory: 
"I have a Biltmore straw summer hat that is fading from sunlight exposure and I would like to dye it black. I'm not sure which product is suitable. Can you please advise how best to go about this."

 

Hi Gregory,

It is possible to use the hand dyeing method to apply our black fabric dye to your hat. Proceed carefully, as colour transfer may appear if the dye solution is not rinsed completely after dyeing. There is a chance that you may also experience colour transfer if it rains and the hat gets wet while you are wearing it.

To dye your hat: thoroughly mix Tintex with very hot water (ex: use a kettle to boil water) in a suitable bowl or stainless steel sink. You may use a paintbrush/foam brush to touch-up a specific portion of the hat or you can completely submerge your hat in dyebath. When ready thoroughly rinse the hat until water runs clear. It is very important that you rinse all of the dye out. After dyeing is complete air dry the hat and wear as usual.

This links have more info:

From Lorraine:
"Please can you help I have a royal blue T shirt, what color will it go if I put a brown dye in the machine?"
Blue T Shirts

 

Hi Lorraine,

Tintex is not suitable for 100% polyester (or 100% acrylic) fabric. Blends are dyeable if the majority of the material is a suitable fabric. If your T-shirt is made of cotton (or another dyeable fabric and/or fabric blend) it will be suitable for Tintex. If your T-shirt is made of all polyester it will dye very light or not at all.

If your fabric is suitable for our dye, you could use Colour Remover to lighten the royal blue (to a cream or ivory colour) before. In general, the closer your fabric is to white the closer your dyeing results will be to the package colour.

If you over-dye (dye without lightening first) the brown may have blue undertones. You could think of over dyeing fabric as similar to what happens if you were to blend blue & brown markers or paint together on paper (the new brown colour may still have some blue tones).

Darker colours use double the usual amount of Tintex (for the same dry fabric weight). If you use less dye the brown will be lighter; more dye makes the brown deeper. You may adjust the amount of dye as needed to suit your project.

These links have more info:

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