Dying question (not answered in the FAQ, promise)
Heaven's Trash
How effective is Rit dye in water that is merely hot from the tap and not
140F+, as recommended? I don't have a pot quite big enough to cook the
garment, and I don't think my landlord would appreciate me staining the
washing machine.
TheLorriedel
>How effective is Rit dye in water that is merely hot from the tap and not
>140F+, as recommended? I don't have a pot quite big enough to cook the
>garment, and I don't think my landlord would appreciate me staining the
>washing machine.
The dye is more colourfast if you follow the directions and use water at 140
degrees. You could boil water in several pots and kettles and pour it into an
empty trash can or the bath tub. Add enough hot water to submerge the object
you are dying. You can check the temperature of the water with a cooking
thermometer. Bleach will easily clean out he tub, if necessary finish with a
little cleanser. Be sure to wear gloves though, as the bleach and cleanser
will damage your hands. Have fun! I remember how happy I was the first time I
dyed some of my clothes.
Lorriedel
Rainbow Fright!
I've never had any luck with Rit dye before, and I always "cooked"
the garments. My guess is that it will work even less with water from
the tap that isn't as hot. I never tried the washing machine-
something about that always sounded risky to me. :P
There is another brand of fabric dye that I hear actually works,
perhaps someone else knows the name?
-R.F.
NightMist
wrote:
Procion MX, it's what I use by preference. I get it from:
I have never felt that Rit is all that. The liquid works better than
the powder IMHO.
How about heating your water before you add it?
Most kitchen buckets and even plastic totes will handle 140F water,
140F isn't really all that hot. I pour boiling water into my plastic
mop bucket with no problems at all. If you need a deep or vibrant
color (and who doesn't?) you will want to keep it hot for as long as
you can during the dying. You can also try shorting the water at the
begining and when it cools add a bit more very hot water while
stirring madly. Or you could just test how it might work if you did
it in your biggest pot with not enough water, using a T-shirt or
something for the test. Most of the time I double the dye when I am
using Rit, so trying it with half the water seems like a likely.
NightMist
--
My karma ran over my dogma
Ice Princess
> wrote:
> > I've never had any luck with Rit dye before, and I always "cooked"
> >the garments. My guess is that it will work even less with water from
> >the tap that isn't as hot. I never tried the washing machine-
> >something about that always sounded risky to me.
Yup. You need the hottest water you can reasonably get. If you don't
have a big enough pot, try going to a thrift store and looking for one
of those big turkey-roasting pans. You can put it over two burners--if
you get the heat way up and let it sit for several minutes before
putting the item in, the heat should spread through the whole pan. You
can also do the plastic tub or garbage can method NightMist suggests
(quoted below).
I do nearly all my dyeing in the washer, as I'm fortunate enough to have
one in my apartment. Immediately after the dye job is done I run it
through a full wash cycle with detergent and bleach, and nothing has
ever permanently stained.
NightMist wrote:
>
> I have never felt that Rit is all that. The liquid works better than
> the powder IMHO.
RIT has the advantage of being readily available, cheap, easy to use,
and you can see the colors in person. Procion (and the other dyes that
Dharma Trading offers) are a little more complex to use, cost more, and
have to be mail-ordered unles you happen to have a store in your town
that sells them. The range of colors is much wider and the intensity
and colorfastness are better. It's a tradeoff of convenience and cost
vs. quality.
I don't use RIT for significant changes in shade or in tone (e.g.,
taking something that was, say, yellow to a deep cool shade like purple)
and you will never get particularly good blacks with it, but it's ideal
if you want to "step up" a few shades (e.g, take a light purple to
darker purple), if you want to overdye something that has faded, and can
work all right going from white to a deeper color (but watch out for the
polyester thread that nearly all off-the-rack clothing is sewn with, it
won't take dye). Probably the most extreme example of what I've
achieved with RIT, I took this cream blouse and skirt:
http://www.ice-princess.net/mopey.jpg
to this shade of plum:
http://www.ice-princess.net/queen3.jpg
(but it took three separate dyebaths)--the blouse is silk, the skirt is
satin, probably acetate though it could be silk (I haven't tested the
fabric content).
If you use RIT on silk, make sure that you add a cup of vinegar to the
dyebath--silk responds better to dye if there's acid involved. RIT is
not the best for silk, it's not very colorfast, but you can get
acceptable results with it.
> How about heating your water before you add it?
> Most kitchen buckets and even plastic totes will handle 140F water,
> 140F isn't really all that hot. I pour boiling water into my plastic
> mop bucket with no problems at all. If you need a deep or vibrant
> color (and who doesn't?) you will want to keep it hot for as long as
> you can during the dying. You can also try shorting the water at the
> begining and when it cools add a bit more very hot water while
> stirring madly. Or you could just test how it might work if you did
> it in your biggest pot with not enough water, using a T-shirt or
> something for the test. Most of the time I double the dye when I am
> using Rit, so trying it with half the water seems like a likely.
I'd agree with all of this as well, though don't use plastic or aluminum
if you're using vinegar as described above. I also get very good
results if I do the hot water and agitation for a good long time (an
hour or more) and then let the item soak in the dyebath for several
hours (overnight or more; I once let a cotton knit top sit for several
days to get a really deep black).
Ice Princess
Rainbow Fright!
>
>... RIT has the advantage of being readily available, cheap, easy to
<snip>
> I'd agree with all of this as well, though don't use plastic or aluminum
> if you're using vinegar as described above. I also get very good
> results if I do the hot water and agitation for a good long time (an
> hour or more) and then let the item soak in the dyebath for several
> hours (overnight or more; I once let a cotton knit top sit for several
> days to get a really deep black).
>
>
> Ice Princess
Wow! I just have to say that the blouse came out wonderfully- I can't
believe you used Rit to get such a deep colour. I would think that
delicate fabric would actually be tougher to dye. You always have
great pictures!
-R.F.
Caro
> >How effective is Rit dye in water that is merely hot from the tap and not
> >140F+, as recommended? I don't have a pot quite big enough to cook the
> >garment, and I don't think my landlord would appreciate me staining the
> >washing machine.
I've actually had some very good luck with Rit and "cooking," and the
washing machine. I've done a lovely pearly grey on satin in my mom's
washing machine, with no damage to it whatsoever -- if I had, I
probably wouldn't be here telling the story. I've "cooked" all sorts
of things; noteably, I DID achieve a dark, true black -- and on white
satin. (The trick is use not much water, and a s***load of dye, and
cook it to death.) Just my $.02.
Cairo