Message: Hi your site is very helpful...i am looking to dye a machine washable poly rayon blend dress it is medium gray with a few bleach spots on the bottom i'm not picky about the color i can achieve i just love the garment. Do you have any insight to the best plan of attack? anything would be apprecitated. thanks in advance shannon

Try looking at my FAQ page on fixing clothing ruined by spattered bleach. It's difficult to overdye bleach-spotted clothing, because even after dyeing the spots will be lighter in color than the rest of the garment. Look for a fabric marker to color in the spots. If you can find a close enough match to the original color, you might not have to do anything more than fill in the spots. (Keep the marker, in case your repairs fade with time and washing.)

If the marker does not match closely enough, you might want to combine the marker treatment with garment dyeing, the darker the better. Unfortunately, poly/rayon, like poly/cotton, is difficult to dye. There is no dye that works on polyester that will also work on viscose rayon, or vice versa, and all polyester dyes require a lot of heat. You can't just use a dye that will color cotton and rayon, such as my favorite Procion dye, or even all-purpose dyes such as Rit or Tintex, because the polyester fibers will be left unchanged.

You can dye a polyester/rayon blend in a single step (in addition to using the marker to help fill in the spots) if you buy Jacquard's new "iDye" for cotton and rayon, and mix it with their new "iDye Poly" for polyester. You must have a very large non-aluminum cooking pot to boil the dyes in, because polyester cannot be dyed in merely hot water: it takes a lot of boiling, and a lot of stirring to make the color come out even. Unfortunately, it is not recommended that you reuse your dyepot for food afterwards, because textile dyes are not considered safe for use in food containers. This means you should make a significant investment in a very large stainless steel or enamel dyeing pot, which may cost more than just buying a new dress. I recommend hot water dyeing only for people who like to dye enough that they will be needing the pot for dyeing again in the future.

With luck you will be able to find a fabric marker, or even a "permanent" marker such as a Sharpie pen, that matches closely enough that you don't have to bother with dyeing a poly/rayon blend.

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