Name: Rhiannon
Message: Hi

I have just come across your site and wondered if you could help me with some advice.

I purchased a Gap Wrap Sweater from Ebay last week and the colour of the sweater in the photograph was more of a "leaf" green but when it arrived today it seems almost a fluorescent bright yellow/green - not my taste at all.

Therefore I was wondering if I could dye it the shade of green that I want?

It is 85% cotton and 15% cashmere

Washing instructions are: machine wash (cool/cold cycle) gentle.

Can it be done and what dyes do you recommend?

I was stymied by this question because I was thinking that the cashmere in the mixture would be damaged by the high pH required to dye the cotton, but then someone posted to the DyersLIST mailing list that they often use cold water dyes, such as Procion Mx dyes, for 15% wool/85% tencel blends, without damaging the wool.

For a solid color, you might use the washing machine dyeing instructions for cotton on "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?". The high pH will dye only the cotton, not the cashmere, bur dyeing 85% of a mixture is usually enough.

You must use a cool water dye in order to avoid shrinking the sweater. You can use Procion MX dye at room temperature.

To overdye a yellow-green in order to achieve a leaf green, I'd advise using a blueish green dye mixture. Here's a link to a possible example.

I don't recommend the use of all-purpose dye, because it requires very hot water, which would shrink the sweater.