Name: Larissa

Message: I read your website about dry clean only polyester - I am looking at dying something called "georgette polyester" - it is machine washable and I'm wanting to dye something that is periwinkle to navy blue. Is this something that is easily done since it is machine washable? What steps would I take? Any information you could give me would be very helpful.
Thank you

Yes, you can dye washable polyester, if you get the right kind of dye and boil them together. See "How to Dye Polyester" to learn how to dye polyester or acetate.

Polyester is not nearly as easy to dye as cotton. Dyeing cotton with fiber reactive dye is a breeze, but not so dyeing polyester with its own dye. You cannot dye polyester with any dye that works on natural fibers. Rit dye won't work, Procion dye won't work, and acid dyes won't work.

Polyester can be dyed a solid color only by boiling it for an hour with a special dye called disperse dye. You'll need a very large non-aluminum cooking pot (either stainless steel or enamel) to do the dyeing in, but you should never reuse a dyepot for food, so this is the biggest expense. You can order the disperse dye from PRO Chemical & Dye in the US (they also ship internationally), or Batik Oetoro in Australia. A new brand of polyester dye introduced in 2008 is Jacquard's "iDye Poly", which can be ordered from Dharma Trading Company in the Us, or Fibrecrafts in the UK.

You can also apply dye designs to polyester, using an iron or heat press. This is much more fun than dyeing polyester a solid color. The dye is available in the form of disperse dye crayons, which look surprisingly like ordinary wax crayons. (Don't let them get mixed up!) You color your designs on paper, then iron them onto your fabric. See "Iron-on Fabric Crayons for Synthetic Fibers" for examples and instructions.

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[Updated June 8, 2008.]