Help on Dyeing Sofa Covers PLZ!!!! Need sorted before XMAS.

Sweet_Sugar_1984

Hello, I am in need of some advice please.


I recently purchased these sofa covers from Tesco to go over my badly deteriorating leather sofa:


http://www.tesco.com/direct/rachel-easyfit-cover-wine-small-sofa/222-8136.prd?skuId=222-8136&pageLevel=sku&sc_cmp=ppc_sh-_-sh-_-bg-_-222-8136&gclid=CK2Bx_Ts4MkCFYOfGwodvJ8J5w&gclsrc=aw.ds


I bought the wine coloured ones for a two seater and a three seater sofa. They are lovely and fit beautifully over my sofas. However, there is a problem, the colour doesn't match the d!cor in my room, which is black and plum.


I would ideally like to dye the covers so that they turn black or purple, but I have never done this before and I'm in need of some advice.


I rang the Dylon customer advice line and they said that I would be better off using a black dye and this will turn the covers into a purple. They said there is no way the covers can be turned black as they are polycotton and so full coverage will never be achieved.

The covers also say dry clean only on them, but I cut a patch out of it today and ran it through the machine and it came out fine.


Is it too risky to be dyeing this type of fabric?
Is there any way I could patch test the dye before using on both the covers?
Would it be best to try it out on one cover first and then do it on the other if it works? I want both covers to be the same shade once they have been dyed.


I bought the black Dylon machine dye today, but I am so scared to use it. I really want the covers sorted before xmas as we have guests coming but I don't want to risk ruining the covers, as I really can't afford another set.


Any advice would be appreciated.

Sweet_Sugar_1984

Also, please note that the covers weigh about 3kg in total and I have purchased 6 x 350g packets of the dye.

Wonderhamster

The main risk is that you may use the dye and have not a lot to show for it, because only the cotton in the polycotton will take on the new colour.

Sweet_Sugar_1984

Thank you for your reply. I'm not sure of the exact cotton content so that doesn't help.


Anyway, I washed the covers today on a 40 degree wash and they seem to have survived well. So the next step will be dyeing them.


If something does go horribly wrong, or the colour turns out horrible is there anything I can do to take the die out?

Grenage

Removing dye is a bit of a lost cause to be honest.

My other half dyed the sofa covers and due to the weight of the fabric, it came out like a tie-dye! We kept it that way, because I really liked the effect.

Word of warning: I wash my white karate uniform twice a week, and it became peppered with small blobs of dye. I ended up removing and scrubbing the seal, and the odd blob still appeared!

teddysmum

You could have a look at Dunelm Mill's throws, which come in a wide range of colours. Lots of cheapie chains like B&M,Home Bargains and Wilko stock them, too.

Sweet_Sugar_1984

Thanks so much for your replies.


I have decided to cut a big patch out of the back of the sofa cover and I've put it in the machine with the dye and some other black garments that had faded.


This way I will get to see if the cover will take any colour or not.


It's going through the machine as we speak, so I will report back later.