Dyeing Chambray Shirts

[johnH123]

Anyone have any experience trying to dye a chambray shirt? I'm thinking specifically of doing it to a red chambray I have that is a bit too much on the pink side for my liking. It was a present so I figured I'd experiment with it. I'd like to bring it a shade or two darker and preferably keeping the 'texture' to the fabric.

 

[Gus]

I doubt it will look right. The quality of chambray that is so appealing is the weave of off white and colored threads (blues, reds, etc.). Dying will make it look too solid.

 

[notwithit]

I don't know, I think it would just be like an overdye, since that's what you're doing. The material would still have the texture, you just wouldn't have the variation in color. My understanding is that you don't want to use RIT or anything like that. You're better off with a dye like Procion MX: http://www.amazon.com/Jacquard-Proci...d_sim_dbs_ac_1 I might experiment with (i.e., probably ruin) a couple of t-shirts to see if I can get them to turn out, then give it a try with a hoodie that I want to turn burgundy.

 

[PaulYAY]

I tried bleaching a brownish/gray chambray and it came out piss colored with brown threads

I've dyed several uniqlo shirts and even when the thread color contrast wasn't that bad, the color achieved by the RIT dye was.

 

[Fycus]

I remember seeing on a thread somewhere that a guy hated the color of his red chambray (too pink), so he stained it using black tea or coffee or something. The end result was pretty impressive, but I don't know how long the stain would actually last, and how you could make the color change permanent.

 

[johnH123]

^^^ I was hoping to do that, I remember some dude was selling a red chambray he had overdyed in B&S.

 

[zissou]

That dude was me!

Yeah, just make a nice big pot (like, stew pot) of hot tea and let it soak for a while. Be sure to stir it, lift it, dunk it, etc, to get a nice even dyeing. It toned down the color of mine pretty nicely.

 

[ALEN003]

Originally Posted by zissou

That dude was me!

Yeah, just make a nice big pot (like, stew pot) of hot tea and let it soak for a while. Be sure to stir it, lift it, dunk it, etc, to get a nice even dyeing. It toned down the color of mine pretty nicely.

That sounds interesting, I wanna see pics.

 

[zissou]

I don't have the photos anymore. It basically made the white weft yarns look unbleached, and the red warp yarns just a little darker. I was happy with the result.

 

[johnH123]

Originally Posted by zissou

I don't have the photos anymore. It basically made the white weft yarns look unbleached, and the red warp yarns just a little darker. I was happy with the result.
How much tea did you use (weak or fairly strong)? Also, how hot was the water? I'll probably give this a try, although if I ruin the shirt the gf will kill me.