Will It Dye?

Have you ever seen a really cute white or light colored top and thought, “I could tie dye that!”? Then you looked inside at the fabric content and wondered, “Can I really - would it work?”. Let’s dive into this topic and try to figure it out! For this blog I am going to discuss the types of fabric Procion MX Fiber Reactive Dyes will dye.

Procion MX Fiber Reactive Dyes are designed for cellulose fabrics. For example: cotton, linen, rayon, bamboo, tencel, hemp, silk and wool. According to Dharma Trading Company’s website they can also be used for wood, cane and rattan. Prochemical and Dye states that they can be used on the fibers already listed as well as ramie, viscose rayon, jute, basket reed, and paper. In other words - they work on a lot of natural fibers.

Since I mainly use the dyes for tie dyeing, I have only used them to dye cotton, rayon, linen and bamboo. Just recently I used them on a shirt that also contained viscose. From what I’ve read, the way the dyes are used for silk and wool is a little different than it is for regular tie dye. Dharma Trading Company has instructions on their website for dyeing silk and wool if you are interested in using them for that purpose.

So now that you know what WILL dye - let’s clear up what WON’T dye. In general, synthetic fibers won’t work with Fiber Reactive dyes. Some examples of synthetic fibers are: polyester, spandex, acetate, and nylon. Elastic that is sometimes used in socks doesn’t dye either.

It is very common to find items that are a combination of both natural and synthetic fibers. A lot of sweatshirts contain some polyester. So does that mean that they won’t dye? No, you can dye them. However, only the natural fibers will accept the dye - the synthetic ones won’t. In general, the higher the cotton content, the brighter the dye will be.

I’ve dyed several 50% cotton and 50% polyester items, but the dyes don’t turn out as bright and vibrant as they would on a 100% cotton item. They may also have a somewhat “fuzzy” look to them. I believe that is because the polyester fibers that aren’t dyed stand out against the dyed cotton fibers. I don’t usually dye items that contain less than 50% cotton, but that is a personal preference.