How do you lock dye into fabric?

Question

I am making some cushions for my new caravan and have dyed the material black but i have washed them twice after dyeing and the coulour is still transfering when i rub it. is there anything i can put into the washing machine with it to lock the dye in?

i bought the wash and dye stuff from dylon so that already had the salt in it.

thanks

Answer 1

Salt...put a pound in the machine and wash them.

Answer 2

Hi, I don't think there's much u can do now apart from do the whole process again, but this time add more salt..Salt holds the dye & makes it permanent in the materiel, so i don't think what came with ur dye was quite sufficient....

Answer 3

rinse in very cold water with 2 cups of vinegar added... let soak.

Answer 4

What fiber is the cushion cover fabric made of? Dye will not stay in permanently unless you match the dye to the fiber content correctly. If your fabric is made of polyester or acrylic, no type of Dylon dye will stay in, no matter what you do to try to set the color. Adding salt or vinegar is totally pointless; it's a common suggestion from people who don't know much about dyes, but it won't work at all.

To keep the wrong type of dye from rubbing off when dry, after you've used it by mistake, you need to remove as much of the dye as possible, by soaking and washing it in HOT water (at least 140°F or 60°C). After removing all loose dye, you can try to find a better dye for your fiber, one that will stay permanently.

If your cushion covers are made of cotton, then Dylon dye should work well. If they are made of wool, you will need to buy an acid dye to use. If they are made of acrylic or polyester, you will have to mail-order special polyester dye, which is called disperse dye. It might be cheaper and easier to just buy some more fabric of the color you want, and use it to recover the cushions.

If you have used an all-purpose dye, such as Dylon Multi-Purpose dye, which is similar to Rit all-purpose dye, then there is a special dye fixative that you will need to apply. It can be mail-ordered from a good dye supplier. One brand name of this stuff is Retayne. It is far more effective than any other fixative. However, Dylon Machine Dye, Dylon Hand Dye, and Dylon Permanent Dye all bond well to cotton and do not need any commercial dye fixative; they will work fine if you just follow the directions. There will always be some excess unattached dye, which has to be removed by washing in hot water. After that, there will be no further problem with the dye rubbing off, if you used it on a dyeable fiber such as cotton.

If your cushions are not labeled properly, so that you cannot tell what they are made of, there is still a way to find out what the fiber is. Snip off a tiny bit of the fabric from an inside seam where it won't show, and, holding the fabric with metal tweezers or pliers or something, burn it over an ashtray or other fireproof surface. If the fiber smells like burning hair, it is wool or silk. If it burns well, smells like burning leaves or paper, and leaves an easily crumpled ash, then it is cotton, rayon, or another plant fiber. If the fiber melts as it burns, then it's synthetic; a smell of burning plastic or celery indicates nylon,  a smell of asphault indicates undyeable olefin, a smell of burning meat indicates hard-to-dye acrylic, and a sweetish smell indicates hard-to-dye polyester. See the link to the fiber identification burn chart below.