Name: Marlene Rostami
Message: I've tried tie dying fleece scarfs royal blue, but the dye didn't take. Can you help?

It is essential to match the type of dye you use to the fiber that you are dyeing. Cotton cannot be dyed with polyester dye, polyester cannot be dyed with cotton dye, and wool cannot be dyed with either cotton dye or polyester dye. If you apply the wrong type of dye, it simply does not attach to the fiber, and washes right out.

What kind of fleece were you dyeing? Wool fleece can be dyed easily with acid dye, and cotton fleece with fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye, but polyester fleece requires disperse dye. Disperse dye requires an hour of boiling, with a special carrier additive, in a cooking pot which is never again used for food (since the dye is not food-safe); few home dyers find it to be worth the effort. Alternatively, polyester dye can be applied as an iron-on, a much easier process, using designs you create with it, yourself, on paper. See "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".