Name: Cara
Message: Hi, I have read your page about dyeing polyester and realise that there seems to be many complications however I am still a little confused. I have a pink dress which seems to be 100% polyester which is the wrong colour. I want to dye it as I cant have a refund and I have nothing to lose. I see that it says to use a disperse dye but it seems that it takes extremely high temperatures to make polyester dye. Is there any way that it could be achieved in a washing machine which only reaches 90 degrees? I have no real knowledge of dying things so I'm sorry if this has already been answered! Many Thanks Cara 

No, you cannot overdye your pink polyester at washing machine temperatures, not even the 90°C achieved by some washing machines with their own heaters. You have to boil it in the disperse dye for an extended period of time, like an hour, using a carrier chemical to make up for the fact that even boiling temperatures are not quite high enough. This requires a non-aluminum dyepot large enough to allow the dress to move freely as it boils. I expect that the dyepot might cost more than the dress did.

You can tint polyester a pale brown by boiling it with coffee, but again there's that hour of boiling.

It would probably be best to sell the dress at a resale shop, or donate it to charity, and buy something else that is either the color you want or is made of a dyeable material such as 100% cotton.


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