Before you try to remove a dye stain, spot-test your stain remover solution on a hidden area of the stained fabric. Red – create purple using blue dye, orange with yellow dye, or a range of deeper, subdued colors with darker dye colors in high quantities. If your load of whites is now pink, it’s important to follow these steps for the best chance of restoring your clothes to their previous whiteness. Do this before you tumble-dry any of your load, as heat will only further set the colour-bleeding. Do not tumble-dry any stained clothes before you treat them, as the high heat can set the dye stain. Polyester is a synthetic fiber that is known for being very durable and practical in sportswear, but it also means it doesn’t have a lot of the absorbent abilities that natural fibers do.

Pay attention to the type of pattern your fabric has before you decide whether it’s a good candidate for overdyeing. Printed fabrics – things like floral sheets or polka-dot dresses, are usually printed (or yarn-dyed) using a pigment dye that absorbs into the fabric. When you overdye this fabric, each existing, original color will mix with the overdye. For example, if your original fabric is pink with yellow flowers that have green leaves and you add it to a red dye bath – the fabric will become red (or reddish pink) with orange flowers and muddy brownish leaves. This may or may not be the result you’re going for, so think about how the dye will mix with each individual color before you commit to overdyeing. Beige – almost any “antiqued” version of a color can be created from a beige base. Neons are unlikely, but you can use a dusty pink using a bit of red dye, a mossy green using some spring green dye, etc. Beige is similar to mixing a very light brown, it will tone down any dye color slightly and make it appear slightly muddy and less intense.A large stainless steel pot to hold your fabric and dye. The pot will need to be big enough to comfortably hold the entire piece of fabric and won’t spill while you stir. Stainless steel won’t be stained by the dye. In natural dyeing, Overdyeing is used to create colors with dyes that might interact badly with each other if they were mixed directly, and it’s also used to update colors that fade over time. Is it easy to overdye fabric and clothes? That doesn’t mean dyeing polyester is impossible – manufacturers do it all the time. Dyeing polyester requires specially formulated dyes and special treatments to open its fibers so they can absorb the special dye pigments, which will create a colorfast result. If a faint stain still remains, cut a lemon in half, rub the juice into the stain, and let the white fabric sit in direct sunlight. This is another effective way of removing stains from white clothing. Because of this, polyester is very difficult to dye because it naturally won’t absorb the dye very well. If the dye isn’t specially formulated to work with synthetic fabrics, the colors won’t show up well, and the result isn’t permanent.

First, you’ll want to pay attention to fiber content. A cotton shirt that is made using a polyester thread will result in dye being absorbed differently. It’s likely that the polyester thread will retain the original color while the fabric itself absorbs the dye. Hoodies and t-shirts often have prints on them (we discussed this in the patterned fabric section above) so it’s best to test in an inconspicuous area to determine how the fabric, print, and dye is likely to interact. Always act as soon as you notice a dye stain. The longer a stain has to set, the more difficult it is to remove. Grey – similar to beige, grey will neutrally offset any overdye color. Depending on the shade of grey you start with and the end result you’re after, this can look great with nearly any dye color. Many garments have special pleats and features that are heat-set to keep their shape forever. If you use heat to dye these items, it can damage these features and the garment itself. Kat has been sewing since her feet could reach the pedals, starting with quilts she made with her mom and eventually graduating to garments. She now makes everything she wears, occasionally teaches classes, and shares her projects on social media. Highlights include her wedding dress, shoemaking, and a love for almost any fabric that comes in hot pink! Read more…If you have a polyester blend with less than 35% polyester (or other synthetic materials), you can safely use the Rit DyeMore dye for natural fabric instead. If the dye stain was caused by a non-colourfast item in the load, make sure to remove that item and hang it to dry. Keep it separate from other clothing so it won’t stain again. Create blue-purple dye with dogwood bark, red cabbage, lavender elderberries, purple mulberries, cornflower petals, blueberries, purple grapes, or purple iris. You can use this chart and list to plan out what color your overdye bath should be. Do keep in mind that results can’t be guaranteed and that different fiber contents and fabric types can impact the outcome of a dye project. The list below anticipates that one of your ingredients is the fabric and one is the dye bath – it doesn’t matter which is which. Polyester is one of the most widely used fabrics because it is inexpensive, strong, and resilient. However, if you want to dye polyester fabric to freshen up a look, it may not go well if you don’t know what you’re doing.