Hello crafty friend! So you want to learn how to dye clothes? I’m here to help. My name’s Amy, and I am a former surface design instructor at California Design College. I used to teach classes like Surface Design and Trend Forecasting to fashion design and fashion marketing majors. I also hold a degree in textile design, and I spent about a decade working in the textile industry. So you have come to the right place for instructions on how to dye clothes and fabric to get exactly the effect you want.

There are zillions of possible ways to dye clothes. The approach you take will depend on the fiber contents of the clothes you want to dye. You’ll need different dyes for cotton fabric than you will for wool, silk or polyester fabric.

I do not recommend dyeing polyester, acrylic or similar synthetic fabrics at home because the dyes for these fabrics tend to be highly toxic. In my opinion, it is really not worth the risks to your health considering that already-dyed polyester fabric is really inexpensive to buy. If you really have your heart set on crafting with polyester fabric, please do yourself a favor and just buy the color of polyester fabric you need.

Rit Dye Is Not the Best Possible Choice for Dyeing Clothes

You can use Rit Dye to dye clothes, but I don’t recommend it. I have dyed many garments with Rit Dye, myself, but that was before I learned better approaches for dyeing clothes. Rit is one of the easiest dyes to obtain, and it is also reasonably affordable to buy, so it is tempting to use. However, the big downside to Rit Dye is that the colors usually start out dull, and they progressively fade more and more with time. So if you’re aiming for a dull, washed out, faded look on your clothes, perhaps Rit Dye will be just what you want. But otherwise, if you’re hoping for bright, vibrant colors that don’t wash out or fade over time, you’re better off avoiding Rit Dyes and using better dyes for your clothes dyeing projects.

Fiber Reactive Dyes for Cotton Fabric

Fiber reactive dyes are easy to use, affordable to buy, and — in my opinion — a better long-term choice than Rit Dye. Fiber reactive dye colors tend to be bright, saturated and colorfast. This is what I recommend using on cotton fabrics.

Once you know which dye you want to use on your clothes, the rest is fairly straightforward if you want to dye a solid color. You just check the manufacturer’s instructions for how much dye to buy; buy the dyes you want; and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for dyeing the garment(s) you want to work with.

What to do next is less straightforward if you would like to try a more artistic project than just a solid-colored garment. That’s where surface design techniques come into play. I invite you to check out the following tutorials showing you some of the artistic ways you can dye your clothes:

Learn How to Tie Dye Your Clothes

Heart Tie Dye Pattern: How to Tie Dye a Heart T-Shirt (Free Instructions)

How To Tie Dye A Stripe

Spiral Tie Dye: Free Photo Tutorial and Instructions

So there you have it: Those are some of the most important introductory basics you need to know on the topic of how to dye clothes. I hope this information was helpful to you. The floor is open for comments; if you have questions or comments to share on the topic of dyeing clothes, feel free to leave a comment below. If you have questions, I’ll do my best to help.

Thanks so much for dropping by today. I appreciate your interest!

Posted By: Amy Solovay

This page was last updated on 5-25-2023.