Name: magda

Message: I have tried to dye my clothes a few times in huge pot on the oven and every time I got the same result: mix of shades instead of even colour. Now I want to dye new 100% cotton beige dress with printed rosy flowers to red dark colour and I do not know how to die so I get evenly coloured thing. These rosy flowers are darker than the "background". When I dye the dress will I get dark red dress with darker flowers? It does not matter as much as having "the background" evenly coloured, not unwatchable mix of bright and deep shades. To achieve it should I dye it in washing machine or rather in bath tube? Should I agittate it while dying? Please, help me.

Since dye is transparent, your flowers will always end up a little darker than the background, no matter what dye you use.

The washing machine will be much easier to use than the bathtub, at least if you get the right type of dye. (Do not use all-purpose dye!)

When your clothes come out mottled, instead of a single solid shade, the major causes are not using enough water in the dyebath, and not agitating enough. When you want a single solid shade in your results, you should use at least 10 liters (2.5 gallons) for every pound of fabric, and you should stir almost constantly. ProChem provides an excellent set of instructions for immersion dyeing in a bucket.
These instructions are for the use of Procion MX dye, or similar fiber reactive dyes such as Cibacron F or Drimarene K. These dyes can be used at room temperature, as long as that is 70 degrees or above (21 C). It is much easier to find a bucket that is large enough, than it is to find a cooking pot that is large enough. Also, enormous cooking pots are extremely expensive, unless they are made of aluminum, which is not suitable for dyeing. Five-gallon plastic buckets are inexpensive and readily available, since they are commonly used by restaurants and other businesses.

You realize, I hope, that you should never again use a cooking pot for food, after using it to dye in. There is no textile dye that is safe for human consumption. The sole exception is food coloring, which can be used to dye wool, but will not dye cotton.

It is important to choose the right type of dye for your fiber. All-purpose dyes require hot water to do a good job of dyeing. This hot water is likely to cause shrinkage when you are dyeing whole garments, and, for best results, it requires the use of cooking pots larger than most people possess. You will get far better results, with far less trouble, if you use a cool water fiber reactive dye. In European countries, cool water fiber reactive dye is often readily available under the brand names Dylon Cold Water Dye and Dylon Machine Dye. In the US, most stores carry only all-purpose dye. Instead of buying all-purpose dye, you should mail-order some fiber reactive dye. Good brands of fiber reactive dye include Procion MX (also sold under the names Pro MX Reactive Dyes, Dharma Fiber Reactive Dyes, and Procion MX dyes), Cibacron F (also called Sabracron F), and Drimarene K dyes.

Dyeing in the washing machine is the easiest way to produce solid colors. I think that this would be the best thing for you to do. You can see links to different sets of instructions for washing machine dyeing with Procion MX fiber reactive dye under "How can I dye clothing or fabric in the washing machine?".

Another very important factor is preparation of your fabric. You must be able to prewash the garment to remove all dirt, sizing, and anything else that might block the dye from reaching the fiber. Permanent-press and stain-resistant finishes make it impossible to dye evenly, but they can be removed only with hazardous chemicals such as muriatic acid, not a procedure I can recommend for you. Occasionally, different parts of a commercial garment will dye darker or lighter than other parts; there is nothing much that can be done to prevent this, except for buying PFD ("prepared for dyeing") garments, or dyeing fabric from a single bolt of fabric and using that to sew an entire garment.