Dyeing ventile

[Ogri the trog]

Anyone managed it?
My smock material turned up today, Stone colour - not going to argue as it was seconds quality and considerably cheaper than it should have been. Just wondering if dyeing it to a more subtle (olive green, forest green or field brown) colour is something to be attempted or should I just wait till its gets a good layer of forest duff over it.

TIA

Ogri the trog

 

[Shewie]

I don't see why not Pete, it's only cotton afterall

I did a DPM jacket for somebody ages ago which held out well enough afterwards, I can't remember what I used though ??

 

[Twodogs]

I think you may have problems due to the tightness of the weve .
give it a go .
Twodogs

 

[Ogri the trog]

After a search,
I found a thread where DPM had been dyed to a darker DPM. I can understand that a material such as DPM would cause problems because of the various hues as a start point - I'm starting with quite a light colour so I'm hopefull of some modicum of success.
It'll be a while yet before I get to that stage - lots of measureing, sweating and cutting then a bit of sewing and I'll see if the finished garment suits me before thinking about dyeing.

Thanks for the replies.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[shep]

I tried it and failed. I had a dark grey that I tried to lighten with dylon colour stripper - it went sort of mottled in places, but very uneven.

I then dyed it brown, the mottled areas took a little dye, but very little. Looks like crap, but thankfully they were just the trousers I made from leftovers from my jacket.

As above, the tightness of the weave means it doesn't take up properly. You may find yourself with a sort of camo-esque mottled look.

 

[tommy the cat]

I would say if you are going darker you should be fine. Dpm does work but you still see the pattern a little. As said just a cotton dye like dylon should do..... try a bit first!
D

 

[Simon H]

If you use the Dylon stuff, check that the thread used in the seems is cotton too, if it's polyester the dye won't take to it.

I dyed a pair of rip stop khaki 5.11 strides forest brown and have ended up with slightly pink thread around the seams

 

[foxtrot]

Dyeing Ventile is not recommended since the tight weave prevents even dispersion of the dye solution even after several dyeing sessions. Have you noticed that after washing a ventile garment that "whitish" streaks similar to wear patterns appear; this is due to partial washing out of the original dye which even during manufacture is difficult to apply evenly throughout the material.

 

[welshwoodsman]

i dyed my sand coloured ventile with dylon olive green dye years ago and it worked perfectly. as long as you've got no chemical waterproofer to affect it. only thing the zip stayed the same colour because it was nylon but it still looks cool.

 

[Colin.W]

I came across this the other day http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/hort/plntdyes.htm some of which I had known but there are lots more I'd not previously come across

 

[Ogri the trog]

It's starting to feel as though dyeing is going to be the least of my worries.
The material is that thick that it has knocked the timing out on my sewing machine - reset it three times today and reverted to hand sewing to keep a modicum of progress going. Man that is tough gear, bending needles, fraying the thread and had to buy a thimble (not that easy with hands this big) and sometime take to pliers to haul the needle through. It looks more "Gospel Choir" than "Bushcraft Smock" but its kinda taking shape slowly.

Cheers guys

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[bigbear]

Dyed a stone ventile smock dark green, used machine dylon, no problem.