The Tintex dye that is sold in North America is a hot water all-purpose dye, like Rit. It will not work in room-temperature water, nor in hot tap water. Fiber choice is important; you cannot successfully dye any fiber that is made of polyester, acrylic, or acetate, using Tintex or Rit dye.

Both Tintex Easy Fabric Dye and Rit All Purpose Tint And Dye are best applied by dissolving the dye in hot water in a cooking pot, adding the fabric, and heating the dye mixture to just under a boil, stirring constantly. The ideal temperature is a simmer, 190°F or 87°C. For very pale colors, you can take the fabric out after four minutes, but for bright or intense colors, you will get much better results by cooking the fiber in the dye for half an hour or longer. Use a cooking pot that is large enough for your garment to move freely when stirred, as otherwise you will get patchy, streaky, or tie-dyed results.

If you are dyeing a protein fiber, such as wool, angora, or silk, or if you are dyeing nylon, you will need to also add an acid to the dyebath. The manufacturers of Tintex suggest using 100 ml (7 tablespoons) of distilled white vinegar per gallon of water in the dyebath. Vinegar is neither necessary nor helpful when dyeing plant fibers such as cotton, linen, or rayon, and nothing can make all-purpose dyes work for synthetics such as polyester or acrylic, but vinegar does help in dyeing wool and nylon.

It is very important that you not use a good cooking pot to dye your clothes in! All clothing dyes, including Tintex and Rit, will contaminate food. You must never again reuse a dyeing pot for food, once you've used it to dye clothing. Also, do not use an aluminum pot, because it will react with the dyes and distort their colors. Use only a stainless-steel or enamel pot as your dyeing pot.

Even when you use heat correctly to dye with an all-purpose dye such as Tintex, the dye is going to bleed. Unlike superior dyes such as the Procion dyes used in all good tie-dye kits, Tintex and Rit dye will fade quickly, and will bleed in the laundry every time they are washed. Be careful to wash garments dyed with Rit or Tintex only by hand, in cold water, separately from other garments. Do not machine-wash clothing that has been dyed with all-purpose dye. If you want to be able to wash your clothes together without bleeding or fading, do not use all-purpose dye; instead, switch to a good fiber reactive dye.

There is one way to make clothing dyed with all-purpose dyes quit bleeding in the wash. The secret is not salt or vinegar, as people who know nothing about dyes often claim; neither of these will work, especially on cotton. The secret is to buy a commercial dye fixative. The best-known commercial dye fixative is called Retayne, but Rit has recently started to produce their own brand of Retayne, which is called Rit Dye Fixative. I have not yet seen it in stores. To buy Retayne, look at the web site for any good dye supplier, such as PRO Chemical & Dye or Dharma Trading Company.

In Australia, completely different dyes are sold under the name of Tintex. Tintex High Temp dyes should be used as explained above, but Tintex Low Temp Dyes are fiber reactive dyes, like Procion MX dyes, and can be used in room temperature water, without any need for cooking. Tintex Low Temp Dyes are much less prone to fading and bleeding than Tintex High Temp dyes.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)

This answer was also posted, by me, on Yahoo Answers, on September 27, 2008.