Dying White Shirts
Caroline
thinking of buying white shirts with black numbers on the back and the team logo
on the front and dying them myself.
Can people give me their experiences, good and bad, dying white cotton T-shirts
a certain solid color?
I am particularly curious about:
1. Whether this works well simply by following the package (Rit dye?)
directions. Is the color even after dying?
2. Whether the dye will run when individual players take their shirts home for
the first time after dying and wash them.
Atom1
last, and is expensive considering the amount you'd need to either redo or
get the color needed. Here's a site that can give you the ins and outs of
dying as well as sell appropriate dyes. http://www.dharmatrading.com
Michelle
Italy
"Caroline" <caroline1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:FlsUc.4057$3O3....@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
Christopher
>news:FlsUc.4057$3O3....@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> > My softball team needs shirts. I would like a rose color. At the moment,
>I'm
> > thinking of buying white shirts with black numbers on the back and the
>team logo
> > on the front and dying them myself.
Isn't there somewhere online you can find shirts that are already made in the
color you want? I see amateur leage clothing on people all the time, and they
don't look as if they're wearing stuff that was dyed.
Robert Morein
"Caroline" <caroline1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
Wash them with a new red shirt. Works every time
Slinky
Tshirts the color saturation might not be consistent because the
item/garment doesn't have enough space in the dyepot. Ideally the
item in question is able to float free and unscrunched in the dyepot -
unlikely with an adult Tshirt.
I find the best results with Procion Liquid H series dyes, plus
washing soda (a total of 3 base primaries at $12/bottle to achieve
"dusty rose"). Steam or heatset for fastness. I dye handspun cotton
thread/yarn in quantities of up to 4oz. I haven't tried to dye any
large items.
Additionally, once you finish sampling - necessary to find the right
"recipe" to produce the exact shade you want - you'll have the
challenge of maintaining that exact shade through the entire run of
shirts.
So you have the expense of the dyes, the expense of new materials for
sampling, the prospect of wasting a few shirts along the way, buying a
very large pot which you'll be unable to use subsequently for anything
except chemical processes, plus all the safety equipment (goggles,
gloves, mask, apron, etc) you really should use to ensure your
continued good health.
I'd say it'll be cheaper for you to BUY shirts of the color you want.
Caroline
> > "Caroline" <caroline1...@earthlink.net> wrote
> > > My softball team needs shirts. I would like a rose color. At the moment,
> >I'm
> > > thinking of buying white shirts with black numbers on the back and the
> >team logo
> > > on the front and dying them myself.
>
> Isn't there somewhere online you can find shirts that are already made in the
> color you want? I see amateur leage clothing on people all the time, and they
> don't look as if they're wearing stuff that was dyed.
Ya know I did google yesterday and was surprised to find that, for once,
purchasing through the Internet is not always the cheapest way to go.
My local T-shirt stores easily beat what I saw for online prices.
As you say, I am sure most teams do *not* dye their shirts! :-)
But I tire of having these unattractive T-shirts after the seasons end and,
perish the thought, having actually paid a lot more money for them then I think
is appropriate for such a crappy looking shirt(!).
OTOH, it's also true that a dusty rose-colored T-shirt will not be easy to find
and I may have to pay a couple extra bucks for it.
So dying seems worthy of my consideration. This is a new team and I know they're
not going to be picky and may very well prefer to save a couple bucks on a one
season softball shirt. (Games will be mostly under the lights, to boot, so no
one will be all that impressed by the shirts, anyway!)
Caroline
> DyEing cotton is relatively simple, but with items as large as adult
> Tshirts the color saturation might not be consistent because the
> item/garment doesn't have enough space in the dyepot. Ideally the
> item in question is able to float free and unscrunched in the dyepot -
> unlikely with an adult Tshirt.
>
> I find the best results with Procion Liquid H series dyes, plus
> washing soda (a total of 3 base primaries at $12/bottle to achieve
> "dusty rose"). Steam or heatset for fastness. I dye handspun cotton
> thread/yarn in quantities of up to 4oz. I haven't tried to dye any
> large items.
>
> Additionally, once you finish sampling - necessary to find the right
> "recipe" to produce the exact shade you want - you'll have the
> challenge of maintaining that exact shade through the entire run of
> shirts.
>
> So you have the expense of the dyes, the expense of new materials for
> sampling, the prospect of wasting a few shirts along the way, buying a
> very large pot which you'll be unable to use subsequently for anything
> except chemical processes, plus all the safety equipment (goggles,
> gloves, mask, apron, etc) you really should use to ensure your
> continued good health.
>
> I'd say it'll be cheaper for you to BUY shirts of the color you want.
lol (but with respect for your experience)
Okay, I get it!
Thank you for the detailed explanation.
Maybe I'll spend the extra coupla bucks for some tolerable color and experiment
with dying in the off-season.
Thanks also to Atom1, Christopher, and Robert for sharing your experience. :-)
Slinky
<caroline1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Maybe I'll spend the extra coupla bucks for some tolerable color and experiment
>with dying in the off-season.
Dyeing is fun. Start with small stuff and experiment. Buy a white
WOOL sweater at the thriftshop. Run it through the washer a couple of
times to full (shrink) it. Then cut out potholders, which you can dye
in the microwave with Wilton's icing colors, Easter Egg pills, or
squeezy-bottle (expensive) food color. Water to cover, a splash of
vinegar, and nuke until slightly bubbly. Rinse when cool and hang
dry.
I'm quite the enabler when it comes to fiber stuff. Dyeing is
something I avoided doing for a long time because I thought it is
complicated - and it is, sometimes (cotton and silk are more work than
I usually want to invest, but I do it anyhow to get the colors I
want). Dyeing wool is simple and you don't have to worry about food
safety and your kitchen equipment if you use food-safe dyes, which
just happen to work quite well on wool.
Lou
"Caroline" <caroline1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:FlsUc.4057$3O3....@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
I'm
> thinking of buying white shirts with black numbers on the back and the
team logo
> on the front and dying them myself.
>
> Can people give me their experiences, good and bad, dying white cotton
T-shirts
> a certain solid color?
>
> I am particularly curious about:
>
> 1. Whether this works well simply by following the package (Rit dye?)
> directions. Is the color even after dying?
I used Rit once. It works IF (and it's a big if) you follow the directions
carefully.
As I recall, there were instuctions on the box for doing the dyeing in the
washing machine. You have to use hot water, and the items can't be crowded.
It took me two tries - even though I used hot water the first time, contact
with the cold machine tub cooled the water enough so that results were less
than satisfactory. For the second attempt, I filled the machine with hot
water, let it agitate for a few minutes to warm everything up, drained the
machine, refilled again with hot water, and followed the instructions on the
box. Results on the second attempt were much better.
I never tried the kettle of hot water on the stove method - I can't imagine
being able to do that without making something of a mess from dripping.
I was dyeing curtains that had faded with age a dark brown. Absolute
uniformity of color wasn't a requirement in that situation, since curtains
hang "bunched up", so I don't recall if the results were up to the level of
what I'd want for clothing.
> 2. Whether the dye will run when individual players take their shirts home
for
> the first time after dying and wash them.
Don't remember one way or the other, but then curtains aren't something that
get washed every week.
I'd suggest you give it a try if for nothing else than to get it out of your
system. My guess is that you'll end up buying the shirts twice - once to
dye, and the second time in the color you want or a color you find
acceptable, but who knows, maybe you'll hit it the first time and like the
result. Even if the result isn't quite perfect, it might be good enough for
your intended use.
Caroline
"Lou" <lpogoda...@comcast.net> wrote
snip
Re dying T-shirts for a softball team's use:
> I'd suggest you give it a try if for nothing else than to get it out of your
> system.
Ha ha, indeed! You might be one of the better clincal psychologists around! :-)
> My guess is that you'll end up buying the shirts twice - once to
> dye, and the second time in the color you want or a color you find
> acceptable, but who knows, maybe you'll hit it the first time and like the
> result. Even if the result isn't quite perfect, it might be good enough for
> your intended use.
Yes, that's the ticket: "Good enough."
Besides, the women on the team will need something to laugh about. :-)
Thanks for the suggestions.
Aside to Slinky: What you describe sounds like perfect therapy for recovering
from this coming season's softball injuries! :-)
Pat Kight
> On Tue, 17 Aug 2004 22:16:20 GMT, "Caroline"
> <caroline1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Maybe I'll spend the extra coupla bucks for some tolerable color and experiment
>>with dying in the off-season.
>
>
> Dyeing is fun. Start with small stuff and experiment. Buy a white
> WOOL sweater at the thriftshop. Run it through the washer a couple of
> times to full (shrink) it. Then cut out potholders, which you can dye
> in the microwave with Wilton's icing colors, Easter Egg pills, or
> squeezy-bottle (expensive) food color.
A lot of young knitters are dying wool with unsweetened KoolAid (or
off-brand equivalent drink powder) - see
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html
It only works on animal fibers such as wool, however.
--
Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
Chris Jung
"Lou" <lpogoda...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:q5WdnYUXzec...@comcast.com...
>
> "Caroline" <caroline1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:FlsUc.4057$3O3....@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> > My softball team needs shirts. I would like a rose color. At the moment,
> I'm
> > thinking of buying white shirts with black numbers on the back and the
> team logo
> > on the front and dying them myself.
I've dyed clothing a few times with Rit and the results have been
satisfactory. In my very first attempt, I had found a great cotton sundress
on deep discount but it was beige. I'm a pale blond and beige just doesn't
look good on me. I used purple rit dye and did the large kettle method.
Clothing, dyed with rit dye, does look strongly colored right after being
dyed, however this is only transitory. My dress started out brilliant purple
and by a few washes settled to a pleasant muted purple. The color came out
even and I was very pleased. Since then I've done it about 4 or 5 more times
with equally satisfactory results. The key thing is that I don't expect
miracles such as bright vibrant colors. Sometimes the results can be
surprising as when there is a pattern woven into the fabric (sometimes the
pattern is accentuated, sometimes it is muted) or detail work done in thread
(sometimes the thread takes or resists the dye). I'm a go-with-the-flow
kind of person and have actually been very happy with the surprises.
I haven't dyed clothing in years but I'm planning on trying it again. I
recently found a nice vest, 50 linen/cotton. It fits me well and has nice
detail work. However it's beige and has a very slight yellowish stain on the
front. I've found in the past that if the stain is the same tonal value as
the surrounding fabric that dyeing can often hide it very well. Anyway, I
picked it up for 50 cents and will give dyeing a try. I need to do some
research at dharma to see what's the best way to dye linen/cotton blend.
As for tee-shirts, personally I wouldn't do it. I think it would be hard to
make all the shirts match and I bet there are tee shirts out there in the
color you want or close enough. If you are itching to try dyeing, I would do
my method and go to a thrift store, find some light colored clothing and
give it a try.
Chris (only the good dye Jung)
Caroline
> "Lou" <lpogoda...@comcast.net>
> I've dyed clothing a few times with Rit and the results have been
> satisfactory. In my very first attempt, I had found a great cotton sundress
> on deep discount but it was beige. I'm a pale blond and beige just doesn't
> look good on me. I used purple rit dye and did the large kettle method.
> Clothing, dyed with rit dye, does look strongly colored right after being
> dyed, however this is only transitory. My dress started out brilliant purple
> and by a few washes settled to a pleasant muted purple. The color came out
> even and I was very pleased. Since then I've done it about 4 or 5 more times
> with equally satisfactory results. The key thing is that I don't expect
> miracles such as bright vibrant colors. Sometimes the results can be
> surprising as when there is a pattern woven into the fabric (sometimes the
> pattern is accentuated, sometimes it is muted) or detail work done in thread
> (sometimes the thread takes or resists the dye). I'm a go-with-the-flow
> kind of person and have actually been very happy with the surprises.
>
> I haven't dyed clothing in years but I'm planning on trying it again. I
> recently found a nice vest, 50 linen/cotton. It fits me well and has nice
> detail work. However it's beige and has a very slight yellowish stain on the
> front. I've found in the past that if the stain is the same tonal value as
> the surrounding fabric that dyeing can often hide it very well. Anyway, I
> picked it up for 50 cents and will give dyeing a try. I need to do some
> research at dharma to see what's the best way to dye linen/cotton blend.
>
> As for tee-shirts, personally I wouldn't do it. I think it would be hard to
> make all the shirts match
Good point.
> and I bet there are tee shirts out there in the
> color you want or close enough. If you are itching to try dyeing, I would do
> my method and go to a thrift store, find some light colored clothing and
> give it a try.
>
> Chris (only the good dye Jung)
lol!
Thanks for your input.