How to dye a polyester shirt?

Question

I was given a shirt that is 92% polyester and 8% spandex. I don't like the design on it, it's different shades of green with white and black also. I was wondering if it's possible for me to dye this shirt all black. How would I do it?

Answer 1

Just get some black fabric dye. When I stained my favorite white T-shirt in my art class, I just got fabric dye in a really pretty blue color, and it came out looking better than before! Hope that helps.

Answer 2

It is not possible to dye a polyester/spandex blend. Because polyester can be dyed only by boiling it for some time with disperse dye, while spandex must not be subjected to any high heat at all, it is necessary to dye these two fibers before they are combined into fabric. Ordinary dyes, such as the dyes you can buy at crafts stores, will not work at all on polyester.

The only way you can change the color of your polyester/spandex blend shirt is with fabric paint, instead of dye, but you can never get a smooth solid color with fabric paint. There will be darker and lighter regions, and the parts that started off lighter in color will inevitably remain at least a little lighter than the parts that were originally black.