Hi Penny,

No, really you cannot dye anything white. Because all dyes are transparent, the original color invariably shows through. Changing the color to white another way might be possible, though.

You may or may not be able to remove the dye that is responsible for the dress's green color. It is impossible to predict, since we don't know what dye the manufacturer used. I recommend that you try using Rit Color Remover, probably two boxes at once depending on the size of your washing machine, with the hottest water available. (I recommend this only if your dress is washable; if it is marked "dry clean only", it might not survive treatment.) An equally good product is Jcquard Color Remover; if you can't find either of these, look for Tintex Color Remover, Dylon Run away for Whites, or Carbona Color Run Remover. (See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".)

Boiling water on the stove will work better with Rit Color Remover than the hot tap water in a washing machine, but it's unlikely that you have a non-aluminum cooking pot large enough for your dress to move in freely, while immersed in the Rit Color Remover plus water, so that is impractical. Do not use an aluminum cooking pot with Rit Color Remover, because the high pH will react with the aluminum. You can use a stainless steel or enamel pot of at least twelve quarts' volume.

Since your dress is made of linen, you can alternatively try chlorine bleach in the washing machine. The hypochlorite in chlorine bleach will damage synthetic fibers, but it is usually safe for plant fibers such as cotton or linen. Some dyes will respond better to chlorine bleach than to Rit Color Remover, while some will be the other way around; some will respond well to both, and some will stubbornly retain their color no matter what you treat them with. If you try both Rit Color Remover and chlorine bleach, be sure to wash thoroughly between the two treatments; do not mix them.

Sometimes a dye will respond to Rit Color Remover or chlorine bleach by changing to a different color than white; you might end up with a beige, or an odd dull yellow. Other times you might get white, or no change at all. There's no way to know which color this dress will turn until you try it. After you remove the dye, if you don't like the color, you can always try dyeing the dress. For dyeing a linen dress, I recommend using a washing machine along with a fiber reactive dye such as Procion MX dye or, if you are in Europe or Australia, Dylon Machine Dye. I do not recommend the use of all-purpose dyes such as Rit or Tintex on linen.

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