D for Dyeing

‘D’ is for dyeing.

It’s officially the age of the recessionista; women who will spend 50p or £1 on an item of clothing. Being a savvy spender is good news and the best thing about a bargain is that you can afford to customise it. The trick isn’t complicated Gok-style ripping up and sewing on (although that’s great if you’re up to the challenge) but in a simple craft – dyeing. Buy a plain white shirt at a clothes swap party for 50p and for a few pounds you can buy your favourite dye and make it your very own style.

It’s great around the home too. A dyeing fan recently boasted about buying a cheap second hand sofa with off cream covers. She dyed them China Blue and it now has pride of place in her living room. Now that’s what we call savvy!

The nice thing is that dyeing is simple. Oh, and remember to buy salt. There’s nothing more frustrating than getting home excited about a new colour only to find that you can’t do your dyeing that day!

Top tips:

Always read the instructions. The instructions on the dye packs are easy to follow but each step is important if you want to get an even, full colour.

Always wear rubber gloves, even when you’re using machine wash dyes. Dye on your skin comes out naturally but it’s better not to get it on there in the first place!

For machine wash dyes, you must be certain that your item can be washed at 40°C. If you’re not sure, then use hand wash dyes.

Machine wash dyes are suitable for linen, cotton and viscose. If these are mixed with a synthetic fibre, you will not get the full colour. It will be paler. Completely synthetic fabrics or fabrics with special finished do not take dye.

Hand use dyes are suitable for wool, silk and linen/cotton/viscose items that aren’t suitable for the washing machine.

Make sure you use the right amount of dye for the weight of fabric you’re dyeing – a packet of hand use dye is suitable for up to 250g of fabric and a pack of machine dye is suitable for up to 600g of fabric.

Check the DYLON website if you want to read the instructions before you buy http://www.dylon.co.uk/products/dyes/

If you’re full of dyeing enthusiasm, check out @dyetodye on Twitter or www.facebook.com/DYLONFabricDyes.

This post has been brought to you by Dylon and the letter D.