Anyone use black RIT dye before?

[Snoozan]

I bought some black RIT dye to 'refresh' some black jeans. Can I soak them in the washer without tstaining the plastic 'paddles' inside the washer? Or is soaking them in the sink a better idea? That method says I need to keep stirring for 30-60 minutes! Not sure I have that much free time to stand around. Any suggestions on best method?

 

[lynxstch]

I used it a long time ago..it does tend to stain the washer paddles..but after I finished dying the pants, I filled the washer with hot water, added detergent and clorox and let it sit for 15 min, then ran it thru a regular cycle and all was white again

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

I've used dark dye for some shirts recently,

I sugguest doing it at the laundry mat, plan on brining enough quaters for 3 or 4 washes.

one load for dying, one load for washing the excess dye out of the clothes, one empty load afterwares with bleach to wash out any reamining dye.

If you do it at home, and you have the plastic white paddles, it will for sure stain the plastic.

The other choice, which we have used several times, is a 5 gallon bucket.
Lowes/HomeDepot has them for $3-4, FireHouse Subs sells there buckets for $2, and I *think* Jimmy Johns sells sometimes.

Even though it's dark dye, make sure you use HOT HOT HOT water. I've used the hottest tab and even add a pot of boiling water to make it as hot as possible,

 

[HannaBelle]

I have used it before. I soaked a couple of pairs of faded black jeans for 2 days in a 5 gallon bucket. I would stir occasionally. I did not end up with streaks or splotches and they came out very nice, but the faded significantly after 5 or 6 washes.

I have not done it again, I did not think it was worth the effort!

 

[Handbag Lady]

Whenever I used that dye, I would use a large plastic garbage bag and do it in the large laundry sink at my mom's house. Everything was contained, and I just poked a hole in the bottom to drain so that nothing else would get stained.

 

[Deb in IA]

I used it for DS's gray cargo pants - his school changed the dress code and only navy, kahki, or black colors are allowed.

(I told him to just tell them the gray pants were just faded black ones, but that didn't work . . . )

I used the "cook them on the stove" method.

You should have seen the look on my family's face when I told them, "Hey look at what we are having for dinner!"

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

aaahhhhhhh, yes, we too have used the "cook on the stove" method and I swear by it.

The hotter you can keep the water the better the dye will adhere.

We set up our Coleman Camp stove. We boil the water and reduce to the lowest setting, just right before a simmer can break.

 

[lizbaby007]

Warning- If you are using RIT to dye fabric Black (especially if it is synthetic) you most likely will get a purplish gray color.

My brother (fashion design school) had a heck of a time dying fabric gray and black using RIT. He ended up adding Yellow to the Black box and it corrected it to a truer black tint.

Granted he started with white fabric. It might be different if your fabric is already colored.

 

[Imzadi]

I use Setacolor (brand) fabric paints for my fabric painting & dyeing jobs. It is what professional textile/fabric painters & quilters who want their quilts to be archival use. It is also what we usually use in most textile design classes. It works in a bucket COLD. Or can be painted it on. I did that when my expensive black Gap pants faded. NO cooking on the stove.

You can get opaque Black Lake color, which will really be nice, or the transparent black as jeans usually are woven with a mix of threads and not just solid color black.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/2067-AA.shtml?lnav=paints.html
They are out of the large bottle, but you can get a couple of the 9oz bottles. That should be sufficient.

Or if you have a Dick Blick art store near you, they carry it.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/pebeo-setacolor/?clickTracking=true


Rit dye, is a very generic "all fabric" dye. But, what that means is that they add a LITTLE bit of different kinds of dyes into one bottle to work for all the different kinds of fabrics it says it works on. In order to get a good coverage, you actually need a FEW bottles, to get enough of the one dye that actually works on your specific fabric. And yes, you have to cook it for an hour. Even then, Rit is NOT a long lasting, permanent dye. It fades or bleeds quickly out. That is why professional fabric dyers (that you see at craft fairs) do not use it.

 

[Imzadi]

I have used it before. I soaked a couple of pairs of faded black jeans for 2 days in a 5 gallon bucket. I would stir occasionally. I did not end up with streaks or splotches and they came out very nice, but the faded significantly after 5 or 6 washes.

I have not done it again, I did not think it was worth the effort!

Yep! That's Rit dye and what I explained in my last post above. Not worth the effort. No longevity. Not a single professional (or good hobbiest) fabric designer would use Rit for items they sell on Etsy or at craft fairs.

The only reason it is used in Project Runway is because it is sold at the Mood Store -- who sells bolts of fabric for sewers, not textile surface designers, who truly paint & dye fabrics for a living. And the projects in Project Runway are worn ONCE. No washing.


If the OP wants a list of blogs of real fabric designers who use the Setacolor paints I can give her about 20 blog links that I read consistently.

Here is one:

Jane Dunnewold, who wrote the book Art Cloth, recommends it in her book & blog. she created an Art Cloth Challenge to her students & book readers. They all created art cloths, from blank white cloth and used Setacolor to create most of these art cloths:

http://artclothchallenge.blogspot.com/

Of course you can just dunk or paint your pants in ONE solid color. Machine wash the pants - NO fabric softener - and while still damp, use a soft brush to lay on the color. Lay FLAT to dry, so there is no weird streaking or running. Turn over a few times to dry evenly. When you are sure no color will run, hang to dry. After completely dry, heatset with an iron or a few minutes. Done!

 

[HannaBelle]

Imzadi, thanks for all the info. I might try to dye those capris again with a higher quality dye. I have tried doing some dip dyed shirts and was never happy with the results using the Rit. Maybe I will experiment again!