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Often, our favorite items look unimpressive due to the loss of color brightness, although the textile itself is not yet showing signs of wear. By updating the color, you can wear them not only “to the country”. We will talk about what and how to dye clothes from different types of fabrics below.
What fabric can be dyed
Fabrics made from natural fibers stain well. It works especially well with linen, cotton and their blends. Silk and wool require special compositions, as these materials do not like strong heat.
With the same paints as “pure” natural fibers, we renew the color of mixed fabrics. These are those in which synthetics are 40% or less. But each composition has its own acceptable level of presence of synthetic additives, so read the instructions carefully.
From synthetics, acrylic and viscose are well painted. For them, you can take the same dyes as for natural fabrics. Pure polyester and nylon are almost impossible to dye at home. So far, there are only a few paints that can cope with this task. We will tell about them below.
Before you dye your clothes, pay attention to the threads with which the seams are made. If synthetics, they may remain the “old” color. This must be taken into account when choosing a color or degree of coloration.
How to choose paint for clothes
There are six types/kinds of fabric dyes in total. But not all of them are suitable for home use. We will only talk about those that can be used at home.
To update color
The most common and cheapest paints for things and fabrics are aniline. But it is worth knowing that they give a “transparent” color. This means that it will not be possible to radically change the color of a thing or fabric with their help. Even if you paint a thing black, the previous one will “look through” through it.
If you want to dye your clothes because it has a stain, the aniline pigment will not cover it either. Perhaps the stain will become less noticeable, but it will still be there. Aniline dyes are good for updating color, but not for changing it.
When dyeing textiles with aniline dye, after all areas are dyed, add salt diluted in hot water. Bring the dye solution with salt and the placed item to a temperature of 80-90°C. This will set the pigment. In this case, the solution becomes transparent, and the color of the textile becomes brighter.
Blue, brilliant green, fukortsin can also be attributed to aniline dyes. These are substances of the same group as aniline pigments. They just have “side” effects – disinfectant properties, thanks to which they have found their application in medicine. They can also be used to refresh the color of products of a similar color range. For example, blue is suitable for blue jeans and blue T-shirts. To refresh the green color – brilliant green. Well, pink or red-brown things will update fukortsin. All these pharmaceutical preparations dissolve in water and are well absorbed into natural tissues. But it will be necessary to wash the “refreshed” things separately, otherwise all the rest will be tinted.
For single coloring and painting
To get a “dense” color, use acrylic fabric paints. They are sold in the form of powder, spray, paste. They are also good for painting fabrics, so they can be found in art stores. They can be with a variety of “effects” – glitter, mother-of-pearl, glowing in the dark.
Acrylic paints can be labeled Textil or Batik. To dye the fabric, textiles are more suitable. They even work with heavy materials such as velor or cotton/viscose jersey. Acrylic paint for batik is good for thin, lightweight fabrics.
This type of paint can be used both for uniform coloring and for creating patterns. For these purposes, there are even markers for painting clothes. They may be washable or indelible. Washables disappear after 2-3 washes.
How to dye knitwear and wool
Knitwear and wool are dyed with special compositions that do not require high temperatures. They may be in the form of powders or pastes. For example, there are vat pigments for dyeing wool and embossed knitwear. They do not dissolve in water – for coloring, add soda to water, then pigment, and mix well. After dyeing, the thing must be soaked / rinsed in water with vinegar. The acidic environment turns them back into an insoluble state, that is, the pigment is “fixed” on the tissue.
There are acid dyes for wool in the form of powders or pastes. They dissolve well in water, but they themselves contain acids that create the required environment for dissolving the pigment.
With yellow and orange shades of vat paints, you need to be careful – they increase the effect of ultraviolet radiation, which accelerates the destruction of the fibers.
How to dye synthetics
As mentioned above, polyester and nylon are difficult to dye at home. There are dry cleaners who can do this, but even they do not give guarantees.
At the moment, there are only a few dyes for home dyeing of synthetics (acrylic, polyester, polyamide, nylon). Jacquard Idye Poly and Rit Dye More Synthetic work best. These are American colors.
Jacquard Idye Poly is sold in bags that you throw into the water. Can be dyed by hand or in the washing machine. The paint also works at low temperatures – about 40 ° C. So it is also suitable for dyeing delicate fabrics (underwear, swimwear as well).
Rit DyeMore – color in a bottle. Designed specifically for dyeing synthetic fabrics. Suitable for blended fabrics with more than 35% synthetic fibers. One important point: it is necessary to dye fabrics at a temperature close to the boiling point. Not all things can stand it.
How to dye fabric: dyeing methods
When choosing paint for clothes, read on the package how to dye the fabric. At home, this can be a manual method (with and without boiling) or coloring in a washing machine. Paints for hardware use, you can use at home only at your own peril and risk.
Preparing clothes for dyeing
first – correctly determine the amount of pigment to obtain the desired color. Paints for clothes are usually sold in bags, less often in jars or tubes. One package is designed for coloring a certain amount of canvas. Therefore, first weigh the thing (things) and see how many packages or how much pigment you need. If you need a lighter shade than shown on the package, add less pigment, if darker, pour more than recommended.
Second moment: Worn items should be washed. If there are greasy stains, they must be removed. It is very important. Otherwise, in this place after painting there will be a spot of a lighter (as a rule) color. You can use dish detergent or even bleach for washing. But all detergent residues must be carefully removed (double rinsing in a washing machine can help with this).
The third: Remove hardware before painting. Everything that can be removed / cut off – remove. There will also be lighter spots under the fittings, and the metal, when boiled, can react with the paint and give a completely different color.
hand coloring
For manual dyeing of fabrics or clothes, an enameled or stainless steel container is needed. Its volume should be at least 30% larger than the volume of the liquid in which the dye must be diluted. The pigment is diluted in water, brought to a boil, wet things or fabrics are immersed. For some paints, you need to add salt or soda. You need ordinary table salt or baking soda. If other components are required, they are indicated in the instructions.
For some inks the cloth may be dry, for others it may be damp or even wet. But the thing or fabric must be clean.
When using aniline dyes, do not add salt immediately. It is better to dissolve it later, when the thing is painted over. Pour off a liter of the solution, dilute the required amount of salt in it and, while actively stirring, pour the solution into the container with the thing / fabric to be dyed. Bring the temperature to the limit a couple of times (in most cases it is 70-90 ° C).
For some dyes, boiling is necessary, for others it is enough to soak the fabric in a warm or cool solution. In any case, the dye should cover the entire thing. To obtain a uniform color, the fabric should be “stirred”. Seams and places of double / triple overlay of tissue should be pressed more often and more actively. When boiling, plastic or wooden (without bark) sticks / tongs are used for this. If the solution is slightly warm, you can do it with gloved hands.
After the specified time has passed or you have obtained the desired color, the fabric is taken out and rinsed in warm water until the water is clear. Sometimes it is necessary to add vinegar to the water. All details of the process are indicated on the packaging or in the instructions.
Dyeing clothes in the washing machine
It is easier and faster to dye things in the washing machine. For this there are special dyes. On the packages it says “fabric dye for dyeing in the washing machine.” They are poured/poured into a tank (drum) or powder compartment. Clothes are placed in the drum and the washing mode recommended in the instructions is switched on. Some dyes require a subsequent wash with detergent at the “normal” temperature for the type of fabric. Actually, everything. At the end of the program, take out the dyed item and dry it away from sunlight.
How does the machine react to paint? On special practically does not react in any way. Sometimes the sealing gum is colored, but the color is gradually washed out. For a guarantee, after dyeing, run an empty washer (or almost empty, in which rags or things that are not afraid to touch up a little) are washed for a short program. The powder is guaranteed to wash away the remaining paint and then you can use the washing machine without problems.