Name: Allison

Message: I am interested in dyeing cotton lace (doily size) in different colours. Is this possible?

Cotton is probably the easiest kind of lace to dye. (Rayon lace is dyed exactly the same as cotton.) There is no need to boil or steam the dye, in order to set it, if you use cool water fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes. These are the type of dyes used in all good tie-dye kits, and they are also available by mail-order in an incredible range of premixed colors. See "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

You'll have your choice of application methods. You can use the tie-dye method, presoaking the cotton lace in soda ash and then squirting, painting, or spraying on the dyes. (See "How to Hand Dye".) If you do not add a thickener to the dyes, the colors will run together like watercolors. If you want the dye to stay where you paint it, like oil paints, you can thicken it with sodium alginate or Superclear. (See "Sodium alginate, Superclear, and other dye thickeners".)

Alternatively, for different effects, you can use fabric paint or fabric markers. Fabric paints allow you to use metallic or pearlescent colors; these give a great effect when used on top of Procion dye (which has been allowed to set and then washed). Fabric markers contain a kind of fabric paint and allow very fine detail. (See "Fabric Paints: a different way to color fibers".)

If you were working with synthetic fiber lace, your choice of dyes would be completely different, though the same fabric paints could be used. Nylon lace is best dyed with acid dyes, which can be used by immersing the lace with the dye and an acid in a pot of simmering water, or can be painted on, allowed to dry, and then set by steaming over boiling water, in a covered pot, much as you would steam vegetables. (See "How to Dye Nylon".) Polyester lace can be dyed only with a special dye called disperse dye, which can be applied by boiling the lace in the dye for at least half an hour, or by making transfer designs on paper and then ironing them onto the polyester. (see "Dyeing Polyester with Disperse Dyes".)

I do not recommend the use of all-purpose dyes, such as Rit or Tintex, for any of the above fibers. (See "All Purpose Dyes".) The only time I recommend their use is when you want to dye a fiber blend, such as cotton with nylon, so that both fibers pick up more or less the same color at the same time. If you do use all-purpose dye for any reason, be sure to set the dye by applying a product called Retayne, or the new Rit brand of this product, which is called Rit Dye Fixative (I have not yet seen this product in stores); see "Commercial Dye Fixatives". Do not use all-purpose dyes on polyester blends, because it cannot dye polyester at all.

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