Name: Lilian

Message: Hello Paula,

I'm from The Nethelands and have a question about dyeing two sweaters.

I have two sweaters, one in the colour grey and one in the colour off-white. The grey sweater I want to dye black and the off-white sweater I want to dye red. One sweater each weighs about 300 grams (european measuring for weight). 

The label says: 95 percent acryl and 5 percent elastan (I think that's spandex?). Wash at 30 degrees in the washing machine or by hand. It can be flat-ironed (the symbol is a flat-iron with one dot). Not for the tumble-dryer. It has the symbol 'P' with a circle around that letter, which I think it means that it can be chemically cleaned.

The grey sweater I washed once really well, then I've tried to dye it with ''Dylon Colorfast Textiledye'' in the colour black on 40 degrees Celsius in the washing machine. I followed all the instructions, but at the end of it, they grey sweater did not dye at all. Dylon is a brand in The Netherlands that is selled at the local drugstore and the whole country.

I really want to dye my two sweaters! What do I have to use? What would you advice me? Thank you very much in advance for your advice!

I'm afraid I have bad news for you, Lilian. Acrylic sweaters are not practical to dye. They must be cooked to at least 65°C or higher (that's 150°F!), in a cooking pot that will never be used for cooking again, using either disperse dye or basic dye. They cannot be dyed with any of the types of dye that are good for use on cotton, silk, or wool, but more importantly, they cannot be dyed at 30°C (or 86°F), the safe limit for washing your sweaters. 

The elastane in your sweaters, which is indeed the same stretchy material that is also called spandex or Lycra®, is heat-sensitive. Temperatures above 60°C are very damaging to elastane; temperatures above 30°C are apt to make the elastane in your sweaters lose its shape, which would ruin the look of the sweaters.

For more information on dyeing acrylic and on dyeing spandex, see: "Dyeing Acrylic with Basic Dye" and "How to Dye Spandex (also known as Lycra® or elastane)".

Dylon makes some very good dyes for use on natural fibers, with a different selection of dyes sold in many different countries, but none of them will work on any synthetic fibers other than nylon and rayon. (Nylon can be dyed like wool, and rayon can be dyed like cotton.) As you saw with your grey sweater, it just washes out of acrylic.

There is one remaining possible alternative, which is pigment dyeing your sweaters. In pigment dyeing, a binder is used to glue tiny particles of colored pigments to the fabric. You can pigment dye a garment by soaking it in a very thin high quality fabric paint and then heat-setting the paint as required. However, the results are not as smooth in color as true dyeing, and the paint shows wear relatively quickly. The result is an effect which is desirable in some cases, but not others.

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