dying curtains?

elfen

Could you do it in the washing machine with a wash-in dye?

annie123

I dyed my curtains in my WM, each curtain is.....goes off to measure....3 meters wide by 2 1/2 long.

I put one in the machine to see if it would fit and was surprised it did, just! they take up less space when wet.
I had nasty 'gold' coloured ones from a local pub when it closed down, but really thick velvet in very good condition, and put 1 black and 1 dark green washing machine dye in and kept my fingers crossed.

Came out a really rich dark green which is what I wanted, and then did the same with the other curtain.

The dyes arn't cheap but still a bargain for that amount of good quality fabric. Added thermal curtain lining after.

Did that about 12 years ago, and re dyed them last year as colour had faded a bit.

Remove the lining and try one in your machine it might just fit

Butterfly_Brain

I did my huge patio curtains in the bath using an old broom handle to swish them around.
have you thought about using natural dyes? A lot cheaper than the dylon ones.
Here are a few links
http://www.makingyourown.co.uk/how-make-your-own-natural-fabric-dyes.html
http://www.scottish-crafts.co.uk/projectpages/colouring%20projects.htm

jcr16

i've recently done some. oh boy it was a disaster. i did them in the bath as they were so big. the colour wash lovely while wet. but they didn't take evenly. and the instructions said rince until colour no longer run. well they were cream curtains i dye to a very very deep plum. by time they stopped running they were a dusky pink.

i've been told it cause i did in the bath. aparently if i'd done it in the washing machine it would of worked fine.

in my local harware store the dylon for machine wash was £4.95 each. so it still may cost you a fair amount to to, but you might get a much better result.

Dusty_Moth

Thank you for all the replies - they are really helpful. I might try taking one down and seeing if, without the lining it does go in. I will go have a read about natural dyes too.

I had a quick check to see how much a new pair of curtains would cost, and it's over £300 :eek: so I think I'll keep looking into this!

I wonder if it doesn't fit in the washing machine (which now it might possibly!) whether it would fit into one in a Laundrette machine? Is dying allowed in those?

Thank you so much for all your help! :beer:

LJM

they probably would fit but you would have to ask about dying them in there

Primrose

One option for a suitable dyeing container is those really large plastic storage boxes you get in Pound shops and other similar places. Using dye in a bath is not a good idea as you will need to leave the curtains in situ for a while and unless you can guarantee the plug is absolutely watertight the water will gradually seep away. If you can fold up the curtains neatly and tightly,and get a really large plastic/polythene storage box you should have enough room to dye one single curtain at a time.
I'm pretty sure you won't be allowed to dye in a laundrette. I seem to recall seeing notices in one that it was strictly forbidden for fear of tainting other clothing items.

tartantotty

Hello!

I have yellow curtains in my bedroom, and I am bored of them! I want to dye them but am unsure what would be the best method to use. They are 50% cotton, and 50% polyester.

Can anyone recommend what kind of dye to use? I am a bit rubbish at this kind of thing so the more straightforward (and cheap!) the better!

Thank you:)

lucylollipop

As far as I know, you'll have to use an acid based dye - like Dylon. Weigh the curtains, cos it's all done on a weight/dye ratio, then you can either get machine dye (throw it in the machine, turn it on, and you're done) or cold water dye (rinse, dye, rinse again - a little more time consuming, but i find the colours are brighter). Yellow shouldn't affect the over dye *too* much, but if it's a dark shade, you may want to stick to colours that yellow will blend well with - oranges, reds, greens etc.

I'm sure there's other ways, but those are the only one's I know!

luxor4t

I've dyed various things in the past & the 'hand' method strikes me as more successful, plus you don't have to spend ages cleaning the washing machine. Having said that, it does depend on the size of the curtains - the bigger they are, the more sense the washing machine makes!

Follow the instructs very carefully - if you use a machine & skimp the salt you are guaranteed to get an uneven dye, (in my case I could see the pattern from the machine interior dyed into the fabric.... my fault!)

I hope this will help:
http://www.dylon.co.uk/help.html