# dyeing nylon and poly cotton fabric? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dyeing-nylon-and-poly-cotton-fabric/351084 "2006-04-03T15:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![metonymic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@metonymic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metonymic)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dyeing-nylon-and-poly-cotton-fabric/351084/1 "2006-04-03T15:48:09Z")
I did some searching but wasn’t able to find anything on this subject, so please forgive me if it’s just that my search skills suck! There are two shirts I want to buy, one made of nylon and the other a poly cotton blend. They are only available in navy blue, so I was thinking of dyeing them black. Is this possible? How well would it work, and would it be permanent? I know absolutely nothing about dyeing fabric (obviously) – can anyone recommend a good place to start researching? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dyeing-nylon-and-poly-cotton-fabric/351084/2 "2006-04-03T18:06:52Z")
Nylon is nearly impossible for the home dyer. It just doesn’t pick up color. The problem with the poly/cotton blend is more complicated. Since it’s already sewn into a shirt, there is more than just fabric. There is thread and perhaps trim, and these things are most likely a different material. Differnet materials pick up and hold dye at different rates. So you may end up with a black shirt with blue thread lines. If you want to try it anyway, [Dharma Tranding Co.](http://www.dharmatrading.com/) has good products and good tutorials. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dyeing-nylon-and-poly-cotton-fabric/351084/3 "2006-04-03T21:10:13Z")
[My experience with Dylon in the washing machine.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=357487) ---
**Author:** ![metonymic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@metonymic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metonymic)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dyeing-nylon-and-poly-cotton-fabric/351084/4 "2006-04-04T16:23:30Z")
Hmm. Well I’m not sure now if I should take the chance dyeing the fabric… but I’ll do a little more reading and maybe chat with one of the people at Dharma Trading Co before I decide. thanks for your help, everyone! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dyeing-nylon-and-poly-cotton-fabric/351084/5 "2006-04-04T18:44:40Z")
[Here](http://www.ritdye.com/a.asp#select) is a fabric list from Rit Dye. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dyeing-nylon-and-poly-cotton-fabric/351084/6 "2006-04-04T21:32:37Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Nylon is nearly impossible for the home dyer. It just doesn’t pick up color. > . This is not totally true. It IS true that you cannot dye Nylon with a product intended for cotton (like RIT or Dylon). However, you CAN dye nylon easily, safely, and permanently with Kool-Aid. Kool-Aid is a non-toxic acid dye that works well on all animal protein fibers (wool, silk) as well as Nylon. Basic instructions can be found [here](http://www.knitty.com/issuefall02/FEATdyedwool.html) – although the article suggests that Kool-Aid does not work on synthetics they are only mostly right. Nylon is the only synthetic fabric that it does work on for reasons that are briefly explained [here](http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/FAQ/nylon.shtml) The bad news is, Kool-Aid doesn’t come in black. The good news is, many “black” dyes are merely extremely concentrated shades of blue or purple. “Grape” Kool-Aid is pretty blackish to begin with – I’d use, say 10-12 packets and see where it gets you.