community of dyers

There are not very many fluorescent dyes that stick to textile fibers. There's a handful that happen to work as acid dyes, and one that works as a direct dye, among the dyes you can find for sale. The direct dye that is fluorescent is included in Jacquard Products' iDye for natural fibers. There is one fluorescent reactive dye, which is yellow, a Remazol dye, but it can be obtained only directly from Dystar with a minimum order of 5 kilos. The two problems with fluorescent dyes is that most don't have any particular affinity for a textile fiber, and all are susceptible to light-fading.

Most fluorescent clothing you see, if it's a true fluorescent and not just a bright color, is pigment-dyed. That means that it's not dyed at all, but instead has been immersed in pigments plus a pigment binder—essentially coating with a fluorescent fabric paint. Pigment dyeing is not really dyeing, but it is almost like it. The pigments surround the outside of the clothing fibers, instead of penetrating through them, so they wear off much more quickly as the fabric gets worn.

Fluorescent fabric paints you can try this with include some of Dharma's Pigment Dyes fabric paints and some colors of Dye-Na-Flow fabric paint. You can try immersing your garment in the pigment dye, diluted according to the manufacturer's instructions (add no more than 1/4 as much water as Dye-Na-Flow paint; Dharma's pigment dyes have more binder in the so you can add more water, following the instructions). Or, you can dye your clothing with brilliant clear shades of Procion MX dyes, and then paint the design with appropriately diluted fluorescent fabric paint, to get both long-lasting color and the fluorescent effect.

Check out these older pages:

• How do you make a true fluorescent (UV-reacive) tie-dyed t-shirt?
• need a source for neon dye
• True fluorescent dyes and fabric paints