Dyeing clothes questions

[taws6]

Hey,

I've got a few bits of clothing (wool, cotton and hessian) I'd like to dye green.

Personally I've never dyed anything before, but have a friend who said he dyed some bits years ago and it turned out quiet well.
He said he added the dye into the washing machein, then once dyed they need some type of 'proofing' to stop the dye from washing out.

One of the items I'd like to dye is a dpm jacket. Is the dye going to be able to cover camo effectively, and what type of dye and 'preserver' should I buy?

Any advise would be appreciated

Cheers
Paul

 

[Ogri the trog]

Hi Taws, have you been looking over my shoulder? I'm thinking of doing exactly the same thing - even the same colour.
The instruction slip that I got with a pack of Dylon, say that it is unlikely to cover DPM, it will change the colours but it won't cover the pattern.
My pack also says that the material and dyeing solution need to be heated to simmering - which might play havoc with the wool becoming felted and shrinking somewhat.
Something that I hadn;t appreciated was the amount of dye needed, it says one pack per every 8 oz of dry material weight - I'd need quite a few packs....

I might have a look at some natural dyes to see what sort of process is involved with those - either way, Toddy will no doubt post an answer soon and I'd trust her advice over mine!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[MrEd]

get some salt and washing machine dye from dylon and follow the instructions. the more you use the darker it gets. its unbelievably easy

 

[taws6]

Just wondered if I bleech the camo first before dyeing, will it degrade the fibers and properties of the material or not?

Wondering if a microfibre towel can be dyed too...?

 

[Dangerous Dan]

Much depends on the material. Wool requires a different type of dye to cotton - the exact details escape me but I'm sure someone can be more specific.

I have dyed one of those grey and yellow civil defence jackets a rather pleasant green. I bought one of the Dylon 'pre-wash' packs hoping to subdue the tones before dyeing with a regular Dylon wash in colour. Sadly the only thing that lightened up was a draw string so your mileage may vary. As other posters have said, dyeing DPM will not hide the pattern, just alter the colours.

As for fixer the Dylon packs state you need (iirc) around 500g of table salt.

 

[Bravo4]

It's been a while but I seem to remember that brown dye would "refresh" All the colors of US woodland camo in faded BDU's.

 

[hog]

Even black dye does not get rid of DPM paterns.