Can I dye DPM Army Surplus?

[mrstorey]

I've got a pair of camo trousers and a matching jacket (see here for pic). I love them, but the DPM effect is a little overpowering.

I'd like to dye them, but they seem to be made of a sort of synthetic/cotton mix (not sure of the composition, exactly).

Has anyone out there tried and succeeded, or am I wasting my time?

Hints, tips and pointers all gratefully received.

Michael.

 

[BushTucker]

You can dye them but it will still show the cammo, I did mine and all it did was darken slightly the over powering colours.

 

[maddave]

You can dye them but it will still show the cammo, I did mine and all it did was darken slightly the over powering colours.

Like BT says. I dyed a smock black and in daylight it still has a rumour of the pattern.. Sort of a ghost cammo..... Looks well enough to go down the pub in though without getting called Rambo LOL

 

[Snufkin]

Dylon do a colour stripper that you can use prior to dyeing to lighten the fabric. I'm not sure if it would work on DPM fabric, and it probably wouldn't remove all of the pattern but it might help if you wanted to do it a colour other than black.

 

[mrstorey]

Perfect. That's what I hoped to hear. Maddave, you put it perfectly - a ghost of a pattern is fine - it's the Rambo factor I'm hoping to avoid

So, for both the top and the trews, do you think I can risk just using one pack of Dylon machine wash, or do you think I'll need two?

 

[w00dsmoke]

It may be quite hard to get the proper dye. I've been trying to get "black" dye for ages, but so far all the suppliers are stocking Dylon wash in "velvet black" which dyes most fabrics a dark grey as opposed to black. Even on ebay folk are supplying velvet black and using old pictures of the real dylon "black".

For dying cammo it will make a huge difference.

WS

 

[mrstorey]

Cheers for the heads up. I'll keep my eyes peeled - if I find some, I'll give you a shout.

 

[Snufkin]

I think you need one pack of dye for every 250g of fabric.

 

[maddave]

Perfect. That's what I hoped to hear. Maddave, you put it perfectly - a ghost of a pattern is fine - it's the Rambo factor I'm hoping to avoid

So, for both the top and the trews, do you think I can risk just using one pack of Dylon machine wash, or do you think I'll need two?

Use two to be on the safe side I used one but that was just for 1 jacket so if you're doing the pants as well I'd double up

D

 

[Mirius]

Don't bother with the Dylon colour stripper - it has no effect at all!

I'm going with a dark brown. It was a last minute change of mind from olive green in the shop because it should look less military. I'll hopefully find out how it works later.

 

[redandshane]

I bought some Dark Brown as well after reading this thread
tonight I dye
bit worried I might like look some wierd Brownie though

 

[Mirius]

Having dyed mine Woodland Brown, now it looks just like wet DPM, lol. While it still looks like DPM close up, at a distance it's not so obvious which is what I wanted.

 

[Jacko]

Hi guys, once you have done this would it be possible to see some photos as I have some stuff to have a go at, and brown was one of the colours I was going to use?
Fingers crossed for you folks!!
Cheers,

 

[spamel]

Don't but the temperate gear, buy the desert gear. You'll be able to dye it much more closely to what you want.

 

[Mirius]

Very hard to get my camera to get the colours anything like what they really are. In fact the one on the right is slightly darker than it appears in the photo. Probably needs daylight because the camera flash just washed out the colours.

 

[mrstorey]

Ha ha. I'll get my night goggles! Seriously, I think you're right - you might need a little added daylight to do the dye job justice

Very hard to get my camera to get the colours anything like what they really are. In fact the one on the right is slightly darker than it appears in the photo. Probably needs daylight because the camera flash just washed out the colours.

 

[mrstorey]

Cheers for the advice. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear it over the sound of my stable door slamming shut :-(

Don't but the temperate gear, buy the desert gear. You'll be able to dye it much more closely to what you want.

 

[mrstorey]

Dyed using woodland brown. Result similar to Mirius' - it's toned down the lighter colours, leaving just a muddy-looking pattern, which is much better. Used one pack (I didn't want to waste two packs in case it didn't work) and am relatively satisfied - I think two would have given me the results I wanted. On the other hand, the stitching didn't take the dye, so maybe it's a good job the fabric isn't any darker...

 

[mortalmerlin]

I wonder why everyone has such pathological hatred of what is a good colour to begin with?