dying clothes

Pleased to report that dying my joggers was a great sucess. Will but another packet this morning when out and do some more items. One pack only does up to 500gms so make sure that you weigh garments befor attempting. I found Dylon for the machine use in Home Bargins at 2.75 which was a great price as it was 4.75 in Wilko for the exact same thing!!!

You can revive dying clothes by dyeing them. Perhaps that's what the OP meant.

I buy black and indigo jeans a d I am fed up with them fading at the knees. Just never thought of dying them, can't wait to get started, I've two pairs of black to get going.

One of my friends is always dying clothes and very successfully. She loves certain colours and has phases of dying things to match. Turquoise and mustard shades are her favourites and she has created some interesting outfits .

You just can't help yourself, GabriellaG54, can you? (yes, as per your "instructions" on another thread, I've used your full name, for now...........)

I dyed a navy linen skirt which had got very faded, and in the same lot some M&S very light beige cotton trousers which had a stain that wouldn't come out - I dyed them both navy.

However although the fabric of the trousers was cotton, the stitching was all evidently polyester, so that stayed white.
Luckily the effect was such that it looked intentional, but it's something to be aware of.

I used Dylon's machine dye and was very pleased.

I once dyed some white (well, grey really!) towels a mauvy-lilac colour in the machine. I was very pleased with the initial result. The packet said to put them through a hot wash afterwards to remove excess dye. When I did that all the colour washed out again!

I have a 25 year old black hooded jacket that I have dyed at least 3 times. I occasionally do black T shirts or trousers to freshen them up. Dye's not cheap though so they have to be good enough to be worth it!

Can't wait to try it tomorrow.Will pick up the machine one when i going shopping in the morning. Thanks for all the advise everyone. Will let you know the outcome.

I've found dyes work fine. The only thing you may find is any polyester thread won't take the colour.

I've done it - absolutely THRILLED with results. Like having a new wardrobe. Only dyed the same colour they were already. Works brilliantly on black stuff.

Yes I've used the one in the machine for faded designer jeans (t k m...). To good effect, although sometimes the stitching doesn't 'take'. Gives things another lease of life!

I always do a couple of dark loads afterwards, just in case.

All the instructions are on the packet/drum Travels - couldn’t be easier. Most machine dyes will have the salt already in.

I re-dye my children’s school skirts and trousers every summer.

We use a big tub in the garden and the Dylon cold water dye. Works a treat. I often refresh my own t-shirts with the water after their bits are done. Only takes an hour!

I had several old white t shirts that I dyed olive green for gardening. Worked well and the stains on them are less noticeable.

Have recently thrown away 2 pairs of very faded black jeggings, wish I'd waited to read this post, never thought of dying them.

Re-dyeing cotton, or cotton-rich, clothing to the same colour shouldn't be a problem. Dylan's wash'n'dye or whatever they're calling it now is quite good - use it in a washing machine. If it were me doing it, I would wash the clothing well first, then put two packs of dye covered by 500g of salt into the drum of the machine and plonk the damp clothing on top, then run it at 60° (the instructions say 40° but I think hotter is better). When the cycle finished I would then re-wash the clothes at 90°, to clear as much loose dye from them as possible, and then run the machine on empty with a high fill programme and a squirt of bleach to get loose dye out of that too. My next wash with the machine would be all darks too, just in case.

The quality of the dying seems much higher than the commercial dyes the clothes arrive with; you should find they hold their colour for years. These sort of dyes require a chemical reaction with the salt to lodge them into the fibres and are too expensive for most clothing manufacturers to use.

Changing colour is much more problematic because just about all clothing is sewn with synthetic thread which is almost impossible to dye at home. If you were desperate though, it might be possible to use a colour matched permanent marker to go over the seams and top-stitching, though I don't think it would last more than a few washes without needing to be retouched. Obviously you can only do this if the original garment is paler than the desired colour.

If however you want to change dark navy blue to black, just go ahead - the stitching is very unlikely to show. I've done it many times.

I've done jeans successfully. Also was delighted doing dingy white t-shirts and undies with a pretty colour dye. Gives things a new lease of life.

It's a long time since I dyed anything but it was great when changing a colour scheme, say of towels in the bathroom. Dylon in the washing machine was very successful.

Dyeing

Thank you all, i will be purchasing some Dylon in black and will have a go. Nothing to loose really as can only wear them round the house at the moment and when popping to the local supermarket etc.

In 1983 I decided to to dye all my son's Harrington nappies and make them into hand towels.

Now, 40 years on and after pretty much daily use, I am down to the last one, now used as a duster.

I have dyed other items too, always in the washing machine and successfully but they do have to be washed separately from then on.

I bought two lovely deep turquoise night gowns and washed them with an old white one (in cold water) and the white nightie came out the most gorgeous pale sea green.

I use Dylon Washing Machine Dye to refresh black tee shirts and jeans now and then. Works very well and I run an empty hot wash afterwards to clean the machine. I have never had any problems doing this.

Today I dyed two pairs of black chinos anda pair of black jeggings, which were faded, but in good condition.
The chinos were my husband's favourites and he couldn't find similar ones, so I decided to dye them.
I used Dylon, paid £3.60 for it. Dyed them at 40 degrees and then cleaned out the machine on a 40 degree wash with some bleach.
They look really good and not a trace of dye in the machine. Success!

Yep, have successfully dyed black clothes! Used a Dylon product from Amazon.

Just follow the instructions, no problems.