My Top Tips for Dyeing Clothing

Upcycling and creating your very own wardrobe full of unique clothing is awesome and one of the quickest, easiest and most dramatic transformation methods you can use is to simply re-colour your refashioning victim!

my top tips for dyeing clothing

Snag a box of fab fabric dye, follow my top tips for dyeing clothing and give your closet a (nearly) instant update!

top tips for dyeing clothing sweatshirt before

1. Ensure that the dye you have selected is the correct formulation and amount for the type and weight of the fabric you are colouring.

2. Dye & pigment technology is constantly improving and there’s now a dye for nearly every kind of material, hooray! Unfortunately there are still a few types of fabric that simply can’t be successfully dyed: 100% polyester, acrylic, acetate, waterproof/water resistant, spandex and metallic/lurex

3. On the advice of my grandma I always pour a cheap 500g box of salt directly onto the dry clothes or fabrics prior to adding the dye and water as it appears to help set the dye and keep the colours bright in the long run.

4. Whenever possible, use the dye specifically for use in the washing machine, it really makes the whole process a lot easier as once your dye load is done you can simply throw a load of dark colours in with the dyed items and wash normally. This also cleans any bits of dye that may remain in the machine.

5. Always separate your laundry: wash lights with lights & darks with darks to avoid any obvious dye-bleeding. In my experience light coloured items usually stop leaking dye after the first full laundry cycle and dark colours after a second washing.

my top dye tips sweatshirt after
I love how the polyester lace on the sweatshirt remained white – it’s a fab contrast with the snazzy new blue!

Now raid your closet and get your dye on!

+ get my quick fix for those too-short leggings right here!

Continue your passion for refashion with my  Confessions of a Refashionista e-book series:

4 Comments

  1. hannasaar says:

    I have never tried dying in the washing machine. I’m always afraid it won’t come out right, or if I only have one garment, it seems like a waste of water and electricity, but I really want to give it a try someday.

    1. I only dye single items if they’re big and bulky enough to be worth it, my dye loads are nearly as large as a normal wash load and I find that the colour is always uniform and even 😉 + it really is a lot easier and less messy than bucket or pot dyeing.

  2. I was just going to ask you how you let the lace remain white! Now I know!

    1. I actually assumed the whole sweatshirt was cotton and was expecting the lace to colour as well but that’s part of the fun & excitement of dyeing, you’re never quite sure how it’ll turn out (unless you’re 100% certain of the fabric content) 😀

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