Name: Mia
Message: Hi
what a great website!
I have a lovely Helen Kaminski hat which has faded from black to a rather shabby grey.  Can I re-dye this?  It's 100% raffia and the Helen Kaminski shop suggested a fabric dye but couldn't suggest a brand.  Can you possibly advise me on how to re-dye this black?  Thanks so much, Kind regards Mia

Raffia, as a plant fiber, can be dyed with direct dyes or fiber reactive dyes. However, dyeing always requires a lot of water. The repeated rinsings necessary after dyeing would probably make your hat lose its shape, after which the hat will need to be reblocked.

If getting the hat reblocked is impractical, then you will want to use fabric paint, instead of dye, because less water is involved in the process. Some types of fabric paint, such as the slick or puffy paints you can find at the crafts store, would not be at all suitable for this. The best fabric paints will mimic fabric dye closely, with results that are difficult to feel on the fiber. Look for Dye-Na-Flow or Setacolor fabric paints. The Thread Studio is one Australian source for Setacolor fabric paints. For brands specific to your area, look for any thin fabric paint which is claimed to look like dye. 

Most fabric paints are supposed to be set by heat. Ironing a hat to heat set the fabric paint would be impractical, but you could use a heat gun (like a hair dryer without the blower). There is also a catalyst, Jacquard Airfix, which can be added to any acrylic fabric paint (such as Dye-Na-Flow or Lumiere) immediately before use, in place of heat setting. A more appealing alternative is to simply leave your fabric paint to set without allowing it to get wet. It has been reported by several different people that Setacolor fabric paint will set without heat if you leave it at room temperature without getting it wet for several weeks or one month. I don't know whether this is true for any other brand besides Setacolor, but if you plan to keep the hat dry in any case, it's worth a try.

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