Name: jy
Message: Hi, i just received a college sweatshirt that is 80% cotton and 20% polyester. It is bubblegum pink and I wanted to dye it to a royal blue or hunter green. I have hardly dyed fabrics before and I really want to find a very easy way to dye the sweatshirt, without much mess, and with a process that will leave the sweatshirt easy to wash without the color fading. I would really appreciate if you could recommend the best way to dye the sweatshirt and with what materials, thank you!

This should be an easy project, if you buy some cool water fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye. This is the most permanent type of dye and will last through many washings, even if you wash in hot water, and will not endanger the rest of your laundry, even if you wash your brights with your whites. (You must first be sure to remove all excess dye left over from the dyeing process, before you try the latter trick.) Another advantage of this type of dye is that it can be used at room temperature, which makes it much, much easier than all-purpose dye, which must be simmered, with the sweatshirt, on the stove top, for best results.

Since dye is transparent, the starting color will inevitably be contained in the color you end up with. If you apply blue dye to pink, you can get a nice royal blue; however, if the pink is very bright, you may find that your result is closer to purple. Pink is a pale red, and red is the opposite or complementary color to green. If you dye this sweatshirt dark green, the pink will make it a little brownish in color. That will probably be just fine for a hunter green, though.

You will also need to acquire a few dye auxiliaries. If you choose to do washing machine dyeing, you will need something like twenty cups of non-iodized salt (from the grocery store), and soda ash, which you can get either from your dye supplier or a swimming pool supply store. Mail-order the fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, from one of the companies on my list of "Sources for Dyeing Supplies".

You can do your dyeing in a bucket, with constant stirring, or in a washing machine. Pro Chemical & Dye provides instructions for "Immersion Dyeing in the Home Washing Machine using PRO MX Reactive Dyes" and "Immersion Dyeing in the Home Washing Machine using Sabracron F Reactive Dyes"; Dharma Trading Company provides similar instructions for "The Vat (Washing Machine, Tub, Bucket) Dye Method". (I always omit the Calsolene Oil in the latter recipe because its warning label requires safety precautions that seem like too much trouble to me, and I get great results without it.)