best dye?

[jiorji]

hello

i've never tie dyed before but i got this sudden urge to play with colour.

I'd like to know which dyes are best. Most durable and have the best colour intensity.

ALso, if I want to remove colour, with bleach, which bleach do i get?
 
thanks

[pburch]

Which dye is best depends on what fiber you are dyeing. If you're dyeing cotton or rayon or another plant fiber, the best dye to use is a cool water fiber reactive dye, and the most popular of these is Procion MX dye. The dyes you don't want, because they fade quickly and are more difficult to use, are the direct dyes and the all-purpose dyes.

If you are dyeing wool or nylon, the best dye is Lanaset dye. Good alternatives for these fibers include other acid dyes.

If you are dyeing polyester, the only type of dye that works is disperse dye.

There are many different chemicals that can be used to remove dye. (See "What chemicals can be used to remove dye?".) Some dyes are best removed with oxidative discharge chemicals such as chlorine bleach (hypochlorite), some dyes are best removed with reductive discharges such as Rit Color Remover or Jacquard Discharge Paste, and some dyes will not discharge no matter what you do to them. The brand of hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) you use does not matter, unless you want a bleach pen that contains thickened bleach gel, but it is important to always neutralize the damaging effects of hypochlorite afterwards. There is no need to neutralize reductive-type discharge chemicals.

You might want to look at my list of Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World.

Paula

[jiorji]

yeah it'll probably cotton

what about Dylon and Rit?? are those good??.....or tintex.

Do I need soda ash for Proceion ?

[pburch]

Rit and Tintex are both all-purpose dyes, too fade-prone to be worth using at all. If you want the best dyes, don't use these. See "About All Purpose Dyes". (In Australia there is also a cold-water brand of Tintex which is fine, but the Tintex in North America is the fast-fading all-purpose type.) You can correct the washfastness problem with Retayne, but then you'll have more problems with light fading. It's better to use a high quality dye such as Procion MX dye.

Dylon makes a variety of dyes. Some of their dyes, such as Dylon Cold Dye, Dylon Permanent Dye, and Dylon Machine Dye, are fiber reactive dyes. They last well but are not very suitable for mixing your own colors. Dylon also makes Dylon Multi Purpose Dyes, which are just another short-lived all-purpose dye. Tie dyers invariably (so far) prefer dyes that are labeled Procion to dyes that are labeled with the brand name Dylon. See "About Fiber Reactive Dyes".

If you use Procion dyes, yes, you do need to follow a good recipe, which will include soda ash. If you don't follow a good recipe, don't expect the dye to work. It's easy to use, far less trouble than using boiling water, which all-purpose dyes require instead. For recipes for Procion dye, see "How to Dye" on my site and "How to make a tie-dyed t-shirt" on the Tie-dye Wiki.

Paula