How to Dye Clothes Black? 10 Easy Methods

This article discusses how to use fiber-reactive dyes, acid dyes, and box dyes like Rit and Dylon to achieve a deep, dark, and vibrant black.

Do you want some inexpensive black jeans to go with your new goth wardrobe, or just some bold, black t-shirt updates? Do you need a nice dress to attend a funeral, perhaps? In either case, there are a few straightforward techniques you can learn to dye your clothes black!

Using a fabric dye made for the fibers your item is made from is the best way to dye clothes black. This article will teach you ten well-liked methods for dyeing black clothing with both commercial and homemade dyes.

How to Dye Clothes Black?

The procedures are straightforward and fairly easy to follow. To complete the task correctly, all you need to be able to do is read and follow instructions.

In the Washing Machine

Washing machine dyeing is the simplest method for dyeing black clothing. With this technique, you don’t have to carry around heavy, wet clothes or stand over a pot of boiling water!

The drawback of adding dye to your washing machine is the potential for staining the interior walls. The dye you used might bleed onto other items of clothing if you don’t wash your machine right away afterward.

Be sure to read the instructions on your dye packet because some fabrics won’t become colorfast unless you heat-set them using the stovetop method.

1. To clean your clothing, put it through a warm water, detergent cycle in the washer.
2. Next, put the damp garment aside and get the machine ready. If you have the option, use the warmest water you can and run the wash cycle for a long time.
3. To measure out the appropriate amount of dye for your garment, refer to the instructions on the dye packet.
4. Combine the dye with four cups of extremely hot water.
5. Four more cups of hot water should be added to one cup of table salt.
6. Start the wash cycle after adding the item.
7. Pour first the salt that has been dissolved in water, then the dye that has been dissolved in water, if your machine has a detergent chute. (If not, simply place these in the main basin before beginning the wash cycle.
8. After the cycle is finished, rinse the item and then wash it by itself in the washer with a mild detergent to ensure the color doesn’t fade.

Related: How to Dye Fabric With Acrylic Paint?

Over the Stovetop

The best method to permanently fix black dye into fabric is frequently high heat in a boiling dye bath. A good option for this is stovetop cooking!

Each type of dye will necessitate a minor modification to this procedure. For instance, disperse dyes frequently need additional chemicals, such as synthrapol.

However, the core concept remains the same. Set a large pot of water on the stovetop and heat it until it begins to boil. Along with the dye and possibly additional chemicals, the clothing is added.

Steeping times can vary depending on the dye you use and the fabric used for your garment. The garment and coloring agent both need to soak in the boiling water, though, and that is what is crucial.

Black Rit Dye

If you want to dye clothes a true black, the RIT company advises making several adjustments to the directions for their products. These modifications are available here!

Before you begin, look at the label on the clothing to determine the type of fabric it is made of. Cotton responds best to standard RIT dye. In addition, Rit DYEMore, a substitute product that can be used on polyester, is offered by the company.

Additionally, you can use this type of dye for the washing machine method or in a regular bucket of water. But as you’ll see, RIT advises using hot water for the best outcomes when using black dye.

1. However, you are not required to dry the item after washing it. Always use clean fabric when dyeing!
2. Find a very large pot that can easily hold your clothing in addition to several gallons of water. Put the pot on the stove over high heat with half a cup of water in it.
3. Until it starts to boil, heat the water. This will cause frothy bubbles to form on the water’s surface.
4. Read the directions on the package, but make this important modification: use twice as much dye as is suggested. This typically entails using a full bottle of dye for each article of clothing.
5. After adding the dye, add one cup of table salt to the water to dye a cotton garment black. Replace it with one cup of white vinegar if the fabric is silk or wool.
6. Add the garment next. It should be kept in hot water for at least 30 minutes while being frequently stirred with a long spoon.
7. Finally, RIT advises using an additional precaution known as a color stay fixative after the dyeing process is finished. The garment must be soaked in this solution before being washed in the washing machine.

Procion Dye

With cellulose fibers, Procion reactive dyes perform best and can chemically attach to the cloth without the use of heat. This kind of chemical coloring fixes inside the fibers of the fabric rather than just on the surface, creating a color that lasts longer!

1. Weigh your clothing as a starting point. Make a note of the garment’s gram weight.
2. To clean the item, use your washing machine. It may be washed with other items of clothing in the same load. Don’t dry it out; make sure to take it out of the dryer moist.
3. It will then be time to set up the dye bath. You will need to do some math to accomplish this because you need two liters of water for every 100 grams of weight that your clothing measurement represents. The amount of water needed for your tub or basin will be six liters if your pair of jeans weighs 300 grams.
4. Along with the color, the water must also be salted.
5. To this mixture, gently add your wet clothing. A 30-minute soak is recommended.
6. Then, you must include a fixer, another crucial component. Usually, this will be included with the dye, but if you’d prefer, you can also buy soda ash and use it instead.
7. Prior to adding it to the mixture, the fixer needs to be weighed and stirred into a small cup of hot water.
8. Spend 45 minutes letting the dye bath sit.
9. Make sure there is no color left on the clothing after a thorough rinsing in cold water.
10. To make sure the color has completely adhered to the fabric, wash the item by itself in your washing machine with hot water.

Disperse Dye

Disperse dyes can only be used on polyester because they do not dissolve in water, making them useless for dyeing natural fabrics. This artificial dye can color polyester clothing and is also used in t-shirt sublimation printing.

You will need to use a modified stovetop method because dispersing dyes typically requires a lot of heat during the processing. The only way to successfully dye polyester clothing black at home is through this method, which is a little riskier and messier than using your washing machine.

1. Your polyester clothing needs to be washed first. Consider including half a teaspoon of soda ash and synthrapol for the best outcomes. Although most dye manufacturers advise using synthrapol, some dye brands omit the soda ash.
2. You should probably use 6 teaspoons of the dye to get a strong black.
3. If your dye is powdered, dissolve it in a cup of boiling water, then allow the mixture to cool. Once it has cooled, pass it through a nylon stocking or a fine sieve. You can omit this step if the item is liquid.
4. In some cases, your dye will come with a separate “dye carrier” product. That needs to be dissolved in a second cup of boiling water before being allowed to cool.
5. The dye bath can now be started since your ingredients are prepared.
6. Put a large metal pot on the stovetop and fill it with two gallons of water.
7. In the boiling water, add one more half a teaspoon of synthrapol. White vinegar, eleven teaspoons, is added. The dye and dye carrier should then be added.
8. Fill the pot with your polyester item that has been prewashed but is damp.
9. Turn on the heat and slowly and continuously stir the water as you bring it to a boil.
10. You can reduce the heat to low after the water reaches a rolling boil and let the dye bath simmer for 45 minutes. At this point, you only need to stir occasionally.
11. Start a second big pot of water on your stove in the last few minutes of the dyebath soak. This is required for a rinse in boiling water. At least 180°F should be reached by this water.
12. Carefully move the garment from the dye bath to the pot of fresh, hot water using tongs.
13. Pour the dye bath out carefully, wash the pot in your sink, and then get it ready for the last wash.
14. Heat fresh water to 160°F in preparation for the post-dyeing wash. Syndrapol should be added in a half teaspoon.
15. Place the item in this final wash and soak it for ten minutes in hot water while occasionally stirring.
16. Finally, rinse the garment in your sink with running water! Lay it out to dry, preferably outside.

Hair Dye

Here’s the thing: black clothing, like pants, can be dyed using hair dye. However, hair dye frequently costs much more than fabric dye. Additionally, since you can select specific products for every specific type of fabric, fabric dyes are more effective than hair colors.

Even if you don’t have any black hair dye on hand, you should still try this method! It’s quite easy.

1. Utilize a stovetop to create a simmering dye bath. Warm up a pot of water to accomplish this.
2. Prior to incorporating the hair dye, make sure the water is well-combined.
3. The garment is next added. It should simmer for at least an hour. Once the heat has been turned off, you can leave the dye bath alone for the evening.
4. Rinse the item in cold water to see if the color is still there. If it did, be cautious when you wash it in your washing machine for the first time by itself.

Related: How To Get Hair Dye Out Of Clothes?

With Coffee

You can follow our simple, step-by-step instructions to dye your clothes with coffee dye. Prepare for work by dyeing your clothing.

1. Grab your preferred outfit and dunk it in the big pot of coffee dye since your coffee is already dry and ready. Make sure the dye has completely covered every inch of the clothing.
2. Make sure the clothing is completely submerged, then leave it to sit for 30 minutes. Turn on the stove, let the coffee dye boil once more, and let the cloth sit for an hour if the color still seems too light.
3. The clothing ought to now be left in the pot. Since coffee is not colorfast, we must add another ingredient to our coffee dye to make sure it sets.
4. The dye should be combined with two tablespoons of soda ash or vinegar. Before combining everything with a spoon, you might want to move the cloth to one side of the pot and pour the newly added ingredient on the other. Before taking it out of the pot, let it sit for 20 minutes.
5. Rinsing the cloth with cold water is the next step. You can do it in a sizable basin or in the kitchen sink’s running water. Just make sure that you’ve covered every surface and that the water from the cloth is clean.
6. Lastly, allow the cloth to air dry. Either let it air dry on a rack or use a dryer. In order to further set the color of the cloth if you plan to dry it, you can first place it inside a pillowcase or cloth bag.

Natural Ingredients

One of the most widely used natural black dyes is derived from walnuts. You must find a walnut tree nearby and get permission to gather a bag full of the nuts that have fallen from the tree; you cannot use the kind from the supermarket instead.

Although it can be used on cotton or plant-based fabrics, walnut dye frequently performs best on textiles made of animal fibers.

1. Crack the walnut shells with a hammer or nutcrackers. Then place it all in a sizable mesh bag.
2. Place the bag in a large pot and add water to cover the walnuts.
3. A burner is used to bring the water in the saucepan to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and simmer the water for an hour.
5. To get rid of any last bits of shell, let the water cool down before filtering it through muslin or cheesecloth.
6. After adding the dye back to the pot and bringing it to a boil, add your clothing. Continue simmering it for 30 more minutes.

Household Items

Making dye from everyday items like screws and nails is one of the most daring ways to redye your clothes! In order to balance out the iron in this method, you will also need a lot of acorns.

1. You must first locate about a cup of old, rusted nails, screws, nuts, or bolts.
2. In a glass jar with a secure lid, combine the nails, two cups of water, and one cup of white vinegar.
3. Allow the nail jar to stand outside for two weeks. At that point, it ought to appear yellow or orange.
4. Pour the “nail water” into a basin large enough to fit your garment.
5. A large pot should be filled with five pounds of acorns and enough water to cover them. For one hour, simmer this over low heat.
6. The garment will now be soaked in the acorns and the nail polish, back and forth, until it is the desired shade of dark.
7. 45 minutes should pass while your item is in the acorn water.
8. To move the wet item from the acorn water to the nail water, use tongs. Ten minutes should be given for the garment to soak in the rusty nail water.
9. Once your clothing appears dark enough, rinse it in cold water and let it air dry.

Iris Roots

If you want to naturally dye your clothes black, you can make a black dye from iris roots.

1. Put the fabric you want to dye in a pot with 1 part vinegar and 4 parts water.
2. Throughout the hour-long simmering process, stirring occasionally.
3. The last of the vinegar should then be removed by giving it a brief rinse in a sink of cool water.
4. Iris roots and water should be combined in a different pot at a 1:1 ratio. Boil the dye for an hour while adding the wet fabric.
5. If you want the fabric to be a deep black, leave it in the dye all night.
6. Before putting your cloth in the dryer or hanging it outside to dry, wash it in cool water with mild detergent.

Will the Black Dye Be Permanent?

All of your dye projects would be permanent, wash-fast, and have a long, vibrant life in an ideal world, but occasionally problems do arise. Acid and fiber-reactive dyes both chemically bond to the fibers they are intended to dye, leaving your fabric with a permanent color.

Even the most vibrant dyes will fade over time with routine washing and wearing, so the term “permanent” in this context is still ambiguous. To extend the life of your dyed clothing, store it out of direct sunlight and wash it in cold water.

When washing a garment that has been dyed with one of these dyes for the first time, you might notice some color leaking through, but most often this happens when the post-dye washout wasn’t thorough enough.

Make sure to keep washing the dye out until the water is clear. As a result, there will be less chance that something that has just been dyed might unintentionally stain something else that it is washed with.

Can You Dye Any Fabric Black?

As long as you use the proper dye for the fabric, you can dye any fabric black.

Fabrics made of cellulose, such as cotton and linen, frequently take dye the best. Wool and other protein-based fabrics hold color beautifully, but acid dyes are required for this to happen. However, if you use disperse dyes and boiling water, you can successfully dye black synthetic fabrics like polyester.

Check the label on an item to see what fabric it is made of before attempting to dye it.

To see if there are any warnings, you should also check. Only dry cleaning is permitted for some clothing because it cannot withstand heat or exposure to water. It’s possible that the dyeing process will ruin these delicate garments.

Wrapping Up: Dyeing Clothes Black

We hope you find these 10 methods for dyeing black clothing useful. Clothes can be colored in numerous ways, including by soaking them in strong coffee or by using high-tech synthetic dyes and hot water!

Selecting the proper coloring agent before you start is crucial because different types of fabrics respond best to different types of dye. The simplest fabrics to dye are those made of plants, like cotton, while the hardest fabrics to dye black are those made of synthetic materials, like polyester.

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