dying 50/50 blends

I want to dye a shirt that’s 50% cotton and 50% polyester pink. I’ve been told to use a cold water dye but from what I read they are for natural fabrics only. What should I do?

I work in theater costume shops where we do a lot of dying. Here’s the scoop on dying polyester.

You can’t. I’m assuming that you’re looking at Rit or Deca or another commercially available dye that can be cooked on the stove or dumped in the washer. These are blends of several dyes, each one the same color but good for a different natural fiber (rayon is considered natural because it comes from wood.) To dye poly you need a different dye, and I believe, a heat set process. Theaters avoid synthetics, because it’s hard to get quality results.

But, good news…

Your shirt is 50% cotton, which will probably get you decent results. If you are going for true black, or bright primary colors you may not be happy. The dye will be only take on the part of the yarn or thread that is cotton and the shirt may come out lighter than the expected color. And, if the garment was stitched with 100% poly thread, you will still have white stitching on the inside. But if you want a medium shade or a pastel you won’t have too much trouble.

For best results…

Trim a little fabric out of a seam allowance or hem, pour a little dye into a cup of hot water and test before dying the whole garment.

Make sure your garment is totally wet before throwing it into the dye bath. This reduces the chance that the dye job will be splotchy. Don’t dye anything that hasn’t been preshrunk or washed at least once.

Follow the directions on the dye package closely.

Don’t be afraid to dye twice or mix colors to get what you want.

if i want a resalt of pink, should i try to dye the shirt red? or is there a actuall dye for the color pink?

There are actually several shades of pink dye. Don’t start with red and hope for pink. Murphy’s Law says the dye will take and you’ll look like a tomato. Start with the pink dye closest to the shade you want. If it comes out too light you can dye it again using hotter water (in a pot on the stove if necessary) and either a second pack of dye, or less water (less diluted dye bath). If it’s still too light, then you can switch to a darker dye color.