Paula Burch's All About Hand Dyeing
Overview Fiber Reactive Dyes Direct Dyes All-Purpose Dyes Acid Dyes      Food Coloring      Lanaset Dye      Acid Levelling (Kiton) Natural Dyes Vat Dyes Disperse Dyes Basic Dyes Naphthol Dyes Fabric Paints
Index How to Dye with
    Fiber Reactive Dye
How to Tie Dye How to Batik Low Water
    Immersion
Dip Dyeing Washing Machine
    Dyeing
How to Tie Dye
    with Kool-Aid®
How to Tie Dye with
     All Purpose Dye
How to Dye and
    Paint Fabric
    with Light
Index Batik Mandalas &
    Peace Signs
Watercolor Rainbow
    Drip-dyes
Fabric Painting
  and Printing
Fabric Markers Tie Dyeing Sprinkle dyeing Spray Dyeing LWI dyeing
The Dye Forum Book Reviews Find A Custom Dyer Blog of Questions
     & Answers
Search Contact me Link here About This Site
Where to Buy
    Dye & Supplies
Mailing Lists Other Galleries Other Informative
    Sites
Additional Links
Index General Dye
    Questions
Fixing Dye Synthetic Fibers Color Choice Dye Auxiliaries Safety Procion Dyes Acid Dyes Problems Tying Miscellaneous
Procion MX Dyes Jacquard Acid Dyes Other Dyeing
    Supplies
Fabric Paints, Dyes,
    Books, and DVDs

You are here: Home > All About Hand Dyeing > About Dyes

What fiber are you dyeing?

Are you dyeing cotton? If so, you are dyeing cellulose. Cellulose is the main structural molecule found in plants.

Are you dyeing an animal fiber, such as silk or wool? All animal fibers are made of protein. Silk can also be dyed with the same dyes and recipes used for cellulose.

Are you dyeing a synthetic fiber? Nylon can be dyed like protein fibers, but other synthetics can be dyed only with special dyes that are unsuitable for use on plant or animal fibers.






About the Dyes

Your choice of dye depends directly on what kind of fabric you are using. You'll get bad results if you use a wool dye on cotton, or a cotton dye recipe on wool, or either on polyester.

Dyes for Cellulose Fibers

These are your choices if you want to dye a t-shirt. Cellulose fibers include cotton, linen, rayon, hemp, ramie, and tencel.

Dyes for Protein Fibers

Protein fibers include all fibers made by animals: wool, angora, mohair, cashmere, as well as silk. Silk is the only non-hair animal fiber, and can be dyed like wool or like cellulose fibers, above. The high-pH recipes used for most cellulose dyes will ruin animal hair fibers.

Dyes that can be used for protein fibers include the following: Also see Dyes for Protein Fibers.

'Soy Silk' is a new plant fiber, but, because it is made from soybean protein, reportedly as a byproduct of the tofu industry, it should be dyed like animal fibers, instead.

Dyes for Synthetic Fibers

Polyester

Polyester requires the use of disperse dyes. See Disperse Dye for Polyester.

Nylon

Surprisingly, nylon, which is a truly synthetic fiber, happens to dye quite well with the same acid dyes that work on wool and other animal fibers, in addition to dyes that work on polyester. For more information on dyes for nylon, see Dyes for Protein Fibers. You'll want to test a swatch before committing yourself to the project, as nylons vary. Nylon can also be colored with a type of fabric paint called 'Pigment dye'.

Acetate

Acetate, also known as rayon acetate, requires the use of disperse dye. (The other type of rayon, which is a cellulose fiber, is also known as viscose rayon.)

Acrylic

Acrylic fiber can be dyed with disperse dyes or with basic dyes. See Dyeing Acrylic with Basic Dye.

Ingeo

Ingeo is the trademark for a new synthetic fiber, polylactic acid (PLA), made from corn. It is dyed like polyester, using disperse dyes, though it is evidently somewhat less washfast.

Polypropylene

Polypropylene (Herculon, Olefin) is dyed while still in liquid form, before it is extruded into a fiber. It cannot be dyed at home.

Dyeing blends

Most cotton/polyester blends are best dyed as for cotton, using fiber reactive dyes, leaving the polyester undyed. Cotton/nylon blends may be dyed with all-purpose dye, or by successive dyeing with a fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX, first with soda ash at room temperature to dye the cotton, then in hot water with vinegar to dye the nylon.

Fabric Paints

Pigments that are not naturally attracted to fibers may be mixed with a gluelike binder to attach them to the fiber. "Pigment dyes" are not dyes at all, but a type of fabric paint. See the Fabric Paints page.

Dye Comparison Charts (from the FAQ section of this website):

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Overview Fiber Reactive Dyes Direct Dyes All-Purpose Dyes Acid Dyes      Food Coloring      Lanaset Dye      Acid Levelling (Kiton) Natural Dyes Vat Dyes Disperse Dyes Basic Dyes Naphthol Dyes Fabric Paints
Index How to Dye with
    Fiber Reactive Dye
How to Tie Dye How to Batik Low Water
    Immersion
Dip Dyeing Washing Machine
    Dyeing
How to Tie Dye
    with Kool-Aid®
How to Tie Dye with
     All Purpose Dye
How to Dye and
    Paint Fabric
    with Light
Index Batik Mandalas &
    Peace Signs
Watercolor Rainbow
    Drip-dyes
Fabric Painting
  and Printing
Fabric Markers Tie Dyeing Sprinkle dyeing Spray Dyeing LWI dyeing
The Dye Forum Book Reviews Find A Custom Dyer Blog of Questions
     & Answers
Search Contact me Link here About This Site
Where to Buy
    Dye & Supplies
Mailing Lists Other Galleries Other Informative
    Sites
Additional Links
Index General Dye
    Questions
Fixing Dye Synthetic Fibers Color Choice Dye Auxiliaries Safety Procion Dyes Acid Dyes Problems Tying Miscellaneous
Procion MX Dyes Jacquard Acid Dyes Other Dyeing
    Supplies
Fabric Paints, Dyes,
    Books, and DVDs

All of the pages on this site are copyright © 1998-2008 Paula E. Burch, Ph.D.
Page created: July 25, 1999
Last updated: January 18, 2006
Downloaded: Friday, May 09, 2008