What dyes should I use to dye a vest corset made of rayon with nylon and spandex?

Name: Cindy

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Country or region: United States

Message: I looked through the questions but I did not see this direct question. What dyes should I use to dye a vest corset 60% Rayon 37% Nylon 3% Spandex.

Your best choice would be a cool water fiber reactive dye, specifically Procion MX dye. You can buy three basic colors of this type of dye in a local crafts store in the form of a good tie-dyeing kit, or you can order any of a hundred different colors online from dye retailers such as PRO Chemical & Dye in Massachusetts, or Dharma Trading Company in California.

The great advantage of this choice of dye is that, since it does not require hot water, you don't have to worry about damaging the spandex. Check the care instructions on the label inside your garment: it will almost certainly say to wash it in cool water, since hot water is damaging to spandex. In addition, Procion MX dye is exceptionally long-lasting, as it is very resistant to fading in the wash.

Procion MX dye, when used with soda ash or washing soda to set the dye, will color the rayon, but not the nylon or spandex. Since your corset contains 60% rayon, you can aim for a pale to a medium color. Dyeing only 60% of the fiber in a blended garment will not produce the darkest colors; a bright red dye will end up a deep pink, while black dye will produce a dark gray. Paler colors and medium-intensity colors are easy to obtain. You can use Procion MX dyes in a large amount of water to dye a solid color, or you can mix them with a small amount of water and apply them directly to the fabric, if you want a multi-colored or tie-dyed effect. Cool water dyes are very versatile.

Another alternative is to use two kinds of dyes: acid dyes to color the nylon (and possibly the spandex), plus either direct dyes or fiber reactive dyes for the rayon. All-purpose dye contains both acid dye and direct dye, mixed together, so it can be used to dye nylon and rayon to more-or-less the same color at the same time. Unfortunately, all-purpose dye is a hot water dye and works best in water that is hotter than spandex likes; it is also inclined to run badly in the wash, so it fades much more quickly than fiber reactive dyes. To use all-purpoose dye on your corset, mix it with the hottest water the care instructions will allow. You will need to add salt to aid the direct dye in coloring the rayon fibers, and vinegar to aid the acid dye in coloring the nylon fibers. In future, after dyeing anything with all-purpose dye, always hand-wash the garment separately, since the color may run onto anything else you wash at the same time.

To avoid uneven or splotchy coloring, wash the corset thoroughly, in the hottest water it can tolerate, before dyeing, and stir continually throughout the dyeing process. There's always a small possibility, when you dye any commercially-made garment that is not labeled by the seller as PFD ("Prepared For Dyeing"), that there may be invisible stains or finishes that will repel dye; that's a risk you have to take.

It's very likely that all of the stitching in your corset was made with polyester thread, which will not take the dye, but instead will remain the original color. The same is true of any polyester trim or lace; some laces are made of polyester, while others are made of nylon, but it's rare to see the content of any trim material even mentioned on the label, even for garments that seem to be half trim. It's something to think about when choosing colors for the more dyeable elements in your corset.

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What dyes should I use to dye a vest corset made of rayon with nylon and spandex?

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