My partner is going to a halloween party as the joker, he is going to buy the clothes form a charity shop and then dye them the correct colour, apart from white and cream what are the best colours to buy?

Dye is transparent, so the original color will always show through. To get black, you can start with any color at all; if you use enough black dye, and use the right type of dye, black will cover any color. No other color can do that. To get purple, start with white, cream, pink, or light or medium blue; don't try to overdye yellow or orange to get purple. To get green, start with white or yellow or blue; don't try to overdye pink, red, orange, brown, or purple to get green.

What's more important is to check the fiber content of the clothing carefully. There are many fabrics that cannot be dyed, unless you buy a special disperse dye that can be purchased only by mail-order, not in any local shop. The best fibers to dye are 100% cotton, silk, linen, or rayon. Fibers that are impossible to dye with locally-available dyes include polyester, acrylic, acetate, and olefin. It is also impossible to dye anything that is water-resistant, and it is impossible to dye anything that is not washable.


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[This answer was first posted, by me, on Yahoo answers, on September 29, 2008.]