I finally dyed something! I’ve wanted dye some fabric for the past few years, but it kind of seemed like more work than I was up for. And in the past, I could usually find fabric that was already the color I wanted it to be.
Since moving to Portugal, I’ve been given some linen fabric that I didn’t really like the color of, and my husband had a little washing mishap, so it was the perfect opportunity to try it out! I forgot to take a before picture, but I was able to find at least one picture of both things before dyeing them.
A few months ago, I helped my friend Pauline go through her very large pattern and fabric stash, and I got this light pink linen that was beautiful fabric, but not a color that was going to work for me. So, it got put in the “maybe I’ll dye it” pile.
It was around the same time when my husband washed one of his shirts that I made, with a red shirt, and made his once gray stripes a light pink. He wasn’t thrilled about it (neither was I), so it also went into the possible dye pile with my pink fabric.
Through this process, I learned that it’s not as easy to find dye here in Portugal. I thought maybe it would be at a big store here called Leroy Merlin because it’s like Home Depot, or at other large shopping centers, but couldn’t find it anywhere.
So, I went the Amazon route and bought some Rit dye in the color ‘wine’. I did look into getting Dylon machine dye, but they didn’t have any colors that I wanted. I thought I was buying the liquid dye, but when it arrived, I realized I had bought the powder. Which was okay since I was only dyeing two things, but I was a little annoyed since I would have liked the liquid better.
Dye is much more expensive here, because the powder Rit dye I used is 5 USD on Amazon in the US, compared to 13 EUR through Amazon Spain. It’s even less if you’re buying the liquid dye (in the US) and it supposedly dyes more fabric.
If you have the option, go for the liquid version. The powder comes in a paper bag, and it easily gets on things and can make a mess. I also didn’t mix mine very well after adding it to hot water, so that might be why it came out less saturated (more hot pink than wine colored).
I followed the instructions online of how to dye the fabric in my washing machine because I don’t have a large pot or container. I know that kind of freaks people out to put a bunch of dye in your machine, but I’ve seen other people do it, and it doesn’t seem to go badly.
I followed the instructions as exact as possible, and at the end they tell you how to clean your machine. Running bleach through the machine did clean out most of it, along with cleaning around the silicone in front (since I have a front loader) and pulling the detergent tray out to clean it and around where it gets inserted. I washed a few towels that came out dye free, and then I washed my kids’ clothes after that since I’m less worried about ruining their clothes. Haha.
I wish I would have had the ColorStay Dye Fixative, but it’s also very expensive here, so it wasn’t a high priority for me. I’ll just make sure to wash these together in cold water in the future and hopefully the color won’t fade too much.
It’s kind of a bummer, because if I were in the US, this would be so much cheaper and more accessible (more options at Walmart and Amazon). Since it’s more expensive and there are less options here, I don’t think it’s something I’ll be doing again very soon.
This was a fun experiment/experience, and it did work well. My husband and I are happy with the results, and my husband is excited to wear his shirt again. I don’t have very much of the linen fabric, so I think it may become a woven tank or tee in the future. I think it would be fun to wear these together in the future for a date or something.
Have you dyed anything before? Are you nervous about dyeing fabric in the washer?
Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to answer any of them! Thank you so much for reading my blog today. xoxo
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