Let’s give a new color to older clothes

It often happens that once a cute top turned into a workout top, then into nightwear and finally a dusting cloth. But how about giving the old top a new life instead of putting it for dusting purpose? Let’s try giving it a fresh dye job at home.

1. Choose your fabric material

All fabrics material differs in texture and nature, which means some fabric, takes to dye better than others. A list to determine which clothing material can take the dye best:
• Cotton: the Best option to dye.
• Nylon or Rayon: These are synthetic in nature but are very porous which helps the material to take the dye well. Also, they won’t shrink.
• Silk: Silk dyes well, however, it tends to shrink, pull, and also its shine gets affected in the process.
• Linen: Linen also dyes well, however chances are there for a little bit of shrinkage.
• Wool: Wool can handle dye just fine, but excessive shrinking and pilling take place.
• Polyester and Acetate: These are the toughest fibers to dye, as they have to be treated over the boiling point of 280 degrees.

2. Wash your fabric before the dye job

Once you chose your fabric for a dye job, wash it. Before the dyeing process, it is recommended to put your garment into a washing machine, no need of any detergent. Just run through warm, gentle cycle mode in the washing machine. Then, hang it to dry and try it on to ensure that the garment fits as desired. Now you are good to go with the dyeing process.

3. Choose your dye

There are two methods for dye selection: One can either make it with natural ingredients or use something of a professional standard that’s already been pre-formulated for you. Here are a natural dye or plant-based ingredients options:

Orange: Carrot root, turmeric, onion
• Brown: Beetroot, coffee grinds, birch bark
• Pink: Cherries, bloodroot, strawberries
• Blue/Purple: Blueberries, indigo leaves, blackberries
• Red: Beets, pomegranate seeds

4. Let’s dye the garment

There are three different ways to dye the garments:

Washing machine method:
Wet the garment and put it in the washing machine. Take a cup, mix the dye with four cups of boiling hot water and stir well. In case of natural fabric such as linen or cotton, take another container to dissolve one cup of salt in four cups of boiling hot water. If the fabric is silk or nylon, mix a cup of white vinegar with two to four cups of hot water. Add a teaspoon of dish detergent to the container, remove the detergent cup from detergent tray, and pour your dye solution into the dispenser. Then, pour the salt or vinegar solution. Flush the dispenser thoroughly with four more cups of hot tap water. Then, wash it for 30 minutes on the hottest possible temperature.

• Stovetop method:
Take a pot and fill with enough water so that garment gets some space to move around in it. Then cover the pot and heat to just below boiling point. Follow the mixing process and the instruction on the box of dye. Then add the solution into the pot once the water begins to simmer. Then put the garment, and keep it at a low simmer. Carefully keep stirring slowly and continuously. It can hang out in the dye-water for about an hour; however, it depends on the type of fabric. Once it appears as per your desired color. Just keep in mind that the garment looks a little darker when wet. Then remove it from the pot and squeeze out excess dye.

• Sink or bucket method:
Fill a container/ bucket/sink with hot water of approximately 140ºF. Follow the instruction of mixing on the dye box, then add into the container/bucket/sink and mix well. Check the color with a paper towel for the right color of your choice. Wet the garment, and then add it to the dye bath. Keep stirring slowly and continuously for the first 10 minutes until the desired color is achieved. Then remove and squeeze out excess dye.

5. Rinse well

Finally, rinse the garment thoroughly until the water is clear. Keep in mind that the higher the temperature of the water you use when you’re rinsing, the more the color will adhere to the fabric. Therefore try and keep it as hot as possible for this part of the process.

6. Wash it again

Put your garment in the washing machine in warm water and mild detergent as a way to ensure the dye takes hold.

7. Hang dry

Once the second wash is over, hang it out to dry for best results.

Enjoy the entirely new and colorful clothes.