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DIY Projects, Dyeing · March 15, 2022

Can You Dye Polyester And Spandex | Beneficial Tips for DIY Project

Polyester and spandex are both man-made fabrics and dyeing these two when blended together is a catch 22. If you want to customize your program dresses with a dye color and the fabric you have is polyester or spandex, you better buy a customized dress of your choice from any online or local store. Otherwise, you can cross out dyeing polyester and spandex from your bucket list. 

can you dye polyester and spandex

Simply put, the blend of polyester and spandex can never be dyed no matter what formula you try. But the only possible way to dye polyester and spandex is to dye separately. In this article, we will be exploring more of it.

Can You Dye Polyester And Spandex – Necessary Steps One by One

95% Polyester And 5% Spandex- Why Can’t We Dye It?

Polyester requires 200 degrees Fahrenheit heat to be dyed. You will have to boil the fabric for almost an hour in the dispersed type of dye. It is a kind of fabric that is hydrophobic and cannot be dyed with water-soluble dye due to its inability to absorb water like natural fiber. On the other hand, spandex is extremely intolerant to heat. Therefore, if you put the fabric that has only 1% of spandex, even for one minute, the spandex will be damaged in no time which will spoil the whole fabric. So there is no possibility left for dyeing the blend of polyester and spandex. 

The only thing you can do with the polyester and spandex blend, in order to recolor it, is to use fiber painting.

How To Dye Polyester?

Dying polyester at home is not a difficult thing to do. If you know the process of it, dyeing 100% polyester is just a piece of cake. You can dye polyester by using dispersed dye. If we were to name a popular brand that sells dispersed dye, it would be Rit. Dispersed dye is a fine powder solution that is not water-soluble. It only opens up when it is contacted with heat. You can easily find it on Amazon.

Polyester is made from a polymer that is actually extracted from petroleum. It can be referred to as plastic as it is made from plastic fibers made out of polymer. For this synthetic composition, dyeing polyester requires extreme heat so that heat can open up the fiber and infiltrate the pigments. 

Let’s see how you can dye polyester at home.

  • First, measure the water according to the weight of the garment item you will be dyeing.
  • Start boiling the water at 200 degrees F.
  • Put the dispersed dye into the water and stir it. Read the user manual or manufacturer instructions on the bottle for the exact amount of dye needed for the water.
  • When it starts boiling into the water, put your clothes and keep them for at least 30 minutes in the boiling hot dye bath.  Keep stirring to cover all the areas of the item to be colored perfectly.
  • After boiling the clothes into the heated colorant mixture, rinse them with cold water.
  • Finally, air-dry the clothes after putting them into the washing machine in a few warm wash cycles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Does Polyester Never Bleed Color?

Polyester is colored by enduring an excessive amount of heat of almost 280 degrees F. Due to the mechanism, the color of polyester is heat-set into the fiber, making it last longer.

What’s The Perfect Temperature For Dyeing Spandex?

The highest temperature used for industrial dyeing is 60 degrees C (140 degrees F.). But it is inadvisable for home dyeing projects.

Conclusion

Almost 90% of the clothes contain polyester or spandex. So there is no escape when you want to dye your clothes. Polyester and spandex both are different in terms of their composition and resilience to dye color. Both of the materials will react differently when you dye them. In this article, we have briefly pointed out how polyester and spandex will react when you dye them together or separately.

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