Name: Laura
Message: I did look all over your website before submitting this question. I found some answers but not all.  My garment is 55% silk and 45% nylon it is a cream colored "beachy" sweater, I would like to dye it jet black.  How would I go about this?  And are there a better dye to use than others since the garment is two different materials?  Thank you for your help.

The best dye to use to dye a silk/nylon blend black would be either an acid dye or a Lanaset dye. Both nylon and silk will dye at the same time under the same conditions as each other, with either one of these dyes.

To use the Lanaset dye, which gives very nice, deep blacks, you would first order it from PRO Chemical & Dye. (See my page of links to Sources for Dyeing Supplies.) You would mix the Lanaset Black dye with water and paint it onto your sweater, then wrap the sweater in plastic wrap and steam it for half an hour, or else you would fill a large non-aluminum cooking pot with water and this dye, and bring the sweater to a boil in the dye. Of course you should closely follow the instructions provided by the dye supplier; I'm just giving you a summary, to give you an idea of what it would be like. The full instructions are actually provided online, so you can go to their web site and study them before ever ordering the dye.

The same company also sells a number of different acid dyes, including One Shot dyes, Kiton Acid Dyes, and PRO WashFast Acid Dyes. Another recommended range of acid dyes is the Jacquard Acid Dyes, which can be purchased from various art suppliers including Dharma Trading Company. All of these dyes will work best when used by boiling your sweater in them. Jacquard also has instructions for using their acid dyes in the washing machine; this will not work as well as boiling, but has very significant advantages of convenience. There's a link to their recipe on my page on How to Dye Clothing or Fabric in the Washing machine. Unfortunately, a washing machine load will require 3 ounces of black Jacquard acid dye, which is six of the $3 bottles you can buy via Amazon; an eight-ounce jar of Jacquard acid black will cost you $10 at Dharma. Black always requires a lot more dye than any other color does.

All-purpose dye, such as Rit brand dye, will also work on silk or nylon, if you use the correct recipe (boiling the sweater for half an hour with dye and vinegar), if you use four times as much dye as the package instructions indicate - dyeing black always requires a lot of dye - but the color is less predictable. It is best to use special acid dyes, not the mixture that is contained in all-purpose dye. All-purpose dye is easier to buy, but is known for washing out gradually in the laundry. You will want to be very careful with washing your sweater if you dye it with all-purpose dye.

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