Fabric Dye Guide

Having a blog makes people do crazy things like desperately needing the right shade of pink for napkins on an epic Christmas tablescape. Okay I may be exaggerating that last part, but my point is dying fabric is not something I would have attempted if I didn’t have a blog. However it’s insanely easy, so follow these steps and get to dying people…geez that sounds terrible.

One of the DIY projects for our tablescape was pink polka dotted napkins. I wanted to separate the posts about the dying and the polka dotting. I didn’t want a giant post, but mainly they are 2 completely different processes. You can dye fabric without polka dotting it, and you can polka dot fabric without dying it. Makes sense, right?

I dyed cotton napkins, but this can be used on any natural, washable fabric. Make sure you prewash your fabric before you begin. There are several methods when using dye, but I chose to dye in a bucket. I didn’t want to risk turning my washing machine or any pans permanently hot pink.

You’ll need:

• Half a bottle of Rit Dye diluted in 2 cups of hot water
• 3 gallons of hot water
• Gloves
• Fabric (wet your fabric and smooth out the creases)

Mix your diluted dye (half a bottle of Rit + 2 cups of hot water) in with your 3 gallons of hot water. I used hot tap water and 1 tea kettle full of boiling water to fill up my bucket.

Add your prewashed and wet fabric to the dye bath. Stir it (you are now a washing machine) for 10-30 minutes depending on the richness of color you want your fabric to be. I stirred for 10 minutes while I simultaneously texted and checked pinterest (#multitaskingbrag).

Rinse the fabric until the water is clear in this case the water isn’t pink any more. I have a stainless steel sink, so rinsing dye out wasn’t an issue. You are supposed to be able to do this in a white sink (if you dare) just make sure you clean it with bleach immediately. But honestly I wouldn’t risk it. Play it safe and rinse them outside. *Slight confession I did get some on our white cabinets and bleach wipes saved the day, so I guess it is possible.

Tada! Pink napkins for the win…or for the polka dotting.

Tips & Thoughts from Wills Casa trial & error:

• Some fabric takes the dye differently. I had 2 different brands of napkins – Target and World Market – the Target ones did not dye as well. Both were 100% cotton, so I am assuming it has to do with thread count. They did feel different. Luckily I bought different brands to experiment. (Another thing having a blog makes you do.)

• If your fabric is not as dark as you want it to be, dye it again. Repeat the same process from the beginning (new dye bath). Round 1 of napkins turned out 80’s hot pink, so I dyed them again. They came out perfect. Round 2 of napkins turned out right the first time. All of the napkins eventually were the same shade of pink. Remember I dyed extra…blog reasons.

• If you wash your fabric after you dye it, don’t wash it with any other piece of clothing. After it’s done, run your washing machine twice with nothing but vinegar and bleach. Then be safe and wash a mateless sock just to make sure there is no dye left. I have a front loading machine and after 2 vinegar/bleach cycles it was clean. Still play it safe with the sock thing. It would be a huge bummer to ruin your clothes because you had to have pink napkins needed to dye something. *Suggestion: Just wash them by hand in the sink. Way easier.

• If you put your fabric in the dryer, clean out your dryer with bleach and vinegar. I used bleach wipes followed by some vinegar on a towel.

• Clean your bucket and materials with bleach after you’re finished unless you don’t care about leaving dye residue in them.

• Your thread isn’t going to dye. It’s typically a synthetic fiber which means the dye won’t work. It didn’t bother me to have white thread on my bright napkins. I didn’t really notice. If someone does point it out, I’ll just explain that my napkins wanted to go for the True Religion look.

There you have it! I’ll share the polka dotting process with you tomorrow!