Is it possible to dye a brown cotton t-shirt black that has a printed design on it without dyeing the design as well?

Name: Lizzie

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Country or region: UK

Message: Is it possible to dye a brown cotton t-shirt black that has a printed design on it without dyeing the design as well?

It depends on what the design was printed with. Most screen-printed t-shirts look good after dyeing. What color is the printed design?

Check to see whether the ink in the printing includes plasticy white or light-colored areas, or just black. An opaque plastic-like white area, such as you're likely to have on a shirt that's already a dark color, will stay white after dyeing, though you should avoid using all-purpose dyes, some colors of which may be more likely to stain it. The black parts of the design will always stay black.

When there is a black screen-printed design on a light-colored t-shirt, often unprinted light areas form part of the design. In that case, you need to be careful to use only light colors of dye, in the area immediately behind the design, in order to maintain enough contrast to see the design. Not likely to be a problem in your case, since your shirt is already a rather dark color.

It's always best to use fiber reactive dyes for dyeing cotton t-shirts. The Procion MX fiber reactive dye in a good tie-dyeing kit, such as the Jacquard Tie Dye Kit, is ideal. If you can't find it in the local shops, a good UK source for ordering Procion MX dye is George Weil. Dylon Hand Dye and Dylon Machine Dye are also good choices for cotton, because they too contain fiber reactive dyes, though of a different type.

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Posted: Tuesday - October 04, 2011 at 07:07 AM

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Is it possible to dye a brown cotton t-shirt black that has a printed design on it without dyeing the design as well?

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