I had a pair of shorts from Ruche that I really loved, but the minty green color just wasn’t as wearable as I thought it would be, so there it lay, unused for months. Recently I decided to dye them black, to add new life to them and make them more wearable with other items. Here’s how to do it yourself!
Step one: Fill a bucket with very hot water; for the deepest color, use a water temperature of 140ºF/60ºC. For a pound of dry fabric (about 3 yards), use one package of Rit powder or 1/2 bottle of Rit liquid in 3 gallons of water.
Get your fabric dye. Dissolve powder dye thoroughly in 2 cups of very hot water first to avoid dye spotting. If dying darker material use double the amount of dye (2 packages of Rit powder or 1 bottle of Rit liquid) in 3 gallons of water.
Add 1 Tablespoon laundry detergent to all dye baths to help promote level dyeing.
The longer the garment is immersed in the dye bath, the deeper the resulting color. Items can remain in the dye bath up to 1 hour as long as the water remains hot. You’ll also have to make sure the item receives constant agitation or stirring.
When you remove clothes from dye bath, rinse in warm, then cool water until water runs clear. (Warm water helps to rinse off surface dye more effectively.)
Wash your fabric/clothes in warm water with mild detergent and then rinse thoroughly in cool water. Machine dry or hang dry.
I clearly didn’t follow ANY of my own instructions (I was on somewhat of a time crunch) so the shorts turned a lovely slate grey colour that I’m actually really happy with! Sometimes mistakes are the best things you can do!
later.
Alana
blazer: F21, tank: H&M, shoes: DIY zara
at 4:23 am
the grey actually looks really good, it’s more unique than black. nice post!
at 9:17 am
Thanks!!