Replies

1. 
   Darlette | Jan 15, 2000 04:04pm | #1

   *
   Cotton is a natural fiber and will accept the dye readily. Polyester and acrylic are synthetic (man-made) fibers and do not accept dye easily, if at all. So when you have a blend of fibers---natural and synthetic---you should expect inconsistent results. For best results, dye a garment that is 100% cotton, 100% silk, or 100% some other natural fiber. HTH (hope this helps).

1. 
   carol_demarti | Feb 12, 2000 11:20pm | #2

   *After reading your message a few things come to mind. First are you straining your dye so that no undissolved particles make spots. Another thing that can cause spotting is if the garment has been worn before dying,any kind of perfume, body oil, etc will dye unevenly. For dealing with the polyester,acrylic challenge there are a few things.To stain the polyester as much as possible your dye bath has to be as hot as possible(if you are dying in a machine, try heating a big pot of water and dumping that into the machine while it's filling to increase the temp.) and a longer dying time is needed. Also I don't know what kind of dye you are using but you can try adding different dyes to try to stain the different fibers. I have had good luck with Aljo acetate,nylon dyes(they are in New York) and Jacquard acid dyes. Rit is a good union dye and will stain almost anything but these others can sometimes give you a darker more vibrant color. One more thing if I haven't yakked too much, if you are trying to dye a garment that's been worn try washing it with synthrapol and soda ash.Both of these things are available from the Dharma catalog. A good deep black is the hardest color to get and it also helps to know what the primary staining pigment is so you can add its complementary to darken it (green for red,orange for purple,etc.) Good Luck and hope I've helped.