Does RIT dye work on bleach stains?
A few weeks ago, I was doing the seasonal clothing switch with Sonia and Zoe, and Zoe tried on one of our black Limeapple dresses to see if it still fit her.
(It's the Gracie dress, which is on clearance right now. Not an affiliate link.)
It did fit her, but she got distracted while she had it on, and headed outside to help a neighbor move a small plastic pool.
Unfortunately, the pool had a little bit of chlorine in it (not water like they thought!) and Zoe got some splashed on her dress.
Bummer.
Since it's a really nice dress, I thought I'd like to try to save it.
I asked my Instagram followers about whether dye would work, and they had mixed thoughts about it.
I hated to give up on the dress without a fight, so I picked up a box of Rit dye at the craft store.
With a 40% off coupon, a box of dye costs almost nothing, which made this project feel totally worth a try to me.
I filled a bucket with 3 gallons of hot water, plus a cup of salt and a tablespoon of detergent, and then I added the dye, pre-dissolved in 2 cups of hot water.
I added the dress and stirred and stirred.
For good measure, I left it in there a while to soak.
When I took it out, I was super pleased because I couldn't see any orange stains at all, even after rinsing it in the sink.
Then I ran it through the washing machine.
Boo. There were the orange stains again.
They're darker than before, but definitely still orange.
Zoe and I tried using a black Sharpie, which darkened the streaks further. They're still visible, though.
Maybe if there were just a few tiny bleached spots, this would be a good solution. But for such a large area, the Sharpie just doesn't quite do the trick.
So, does Rit dye work on bleach stains?
I'm gonna go with no.
BUT.
I had a number of other faded black things that needed a refresh, so I also dyed a cardigan, a pair of my jeans, my kung fu pants, and a pair of black jeans.
And I'm pleased to say that they are all lovely and black again.
So, my package of dye was not a waste of money, and at least now I know I tried my best to rescue the Limeapple dress.
Luckily, Sonia owns a black Gracie dress in a larger size.
So, even though I couldn't fix this one, Zoe's got another one coming down the pike when she grows just a little taller.
I just love that you post both about things that work and things that don't. Thanks for sharing!
Totally. I think both are useful...it's nice to know what TO do and what NOT to do!
Black hair color, colors hair and fabric
I just got bleach on my favorite Guinness shirt I got while in Ireland. I'm going to give this a shot! Thank you!!
This sounds like a great idea, black hair dye. thanks for sharing:))
If you had tried some Soda Ash you might have had the Rit Dye work. It ensures color fastness in dyed products. It’s how they dye jeans.
Would you mind explaining the process with Ritz dye and soda ash? I just got bleach on my new black pants and I want to try the Ritz dye with the soda ash but not sure what the process is thank you
Hi Kristen!
I used to be a hairdresser, we onlu wore black in the salon and boy did we mess our clothes up a lot. We always used permenant markers to touch up, sometimes it stuck, sometimes it didn't when washed...Hope your girl gets a groth spurt! 🙂
Fabric paint? It does come in pens - similar to a Sharpie. Most craft stores carry them. Could be worth a try and if it also is not helpful, I bet your artistic girls would have some fun decorating/drawing on t-shirts or other fabrics and creating all sorts of wearable art!
I've never heard of those! I'll have to check next time I'm at the craft store (with a 40% off coupon on my phone, of course.)
I have the same spots on a black dress I am trying to get out. I tried the black marker and the fabric marker, neither worked. I'm still on a mission to find the answer.
@Kristen, I tried fabric paint on a navy blue T-shirt and it washed right out. I used different brands of fabric paint and they all washed out.
I once tried to dye my orange dressed, which also had some lighter blotches because of bleach. I got the dye from Target for about $3. It didn't work. I was super disappointed because I really liked the dress. I still wear the dress because the stain is small. But now I'm more careful with bleach.
I'm glad you could use the dye for other clothes as well.
Can you try bleaching the whole dress and then dyeing it?
One of my girls suggested that, but I think the whole thing would just be orange, then. Black doesn't really go white with bleach.
And then once the fibers are bleached, they just don't take dye very well anymore. So weird...you'd think bleached fabric would still take dye!
I wonder if you could mix the dye with less water, so it is more concentrated, if it would work better. Even mix a good bit of the dye with a small amount of liquid then paint it on the spots with a small brush. I did with a pair of my navy blue scrub paints and it worked. I wet the garment first to keep it from having weird edges where I placed the concentrated dye. Maybe she could wear some kind of belt/sash or long sleeveless vest type flowy shirt over it. We layer clothes a lot at my house so I could see that working pretty well. Or even strategically placed patches of flowers, stars, etc.?
Before dying the dress, did you run it through the washer? Sometime the chlorine will leave a residues that block the fabric so to speak. Washing my help. Also, you can try concentrating the RIT dye...maybe a bit less water, and maybe soak it REALLY LONG...as a couple of days...also before washing, let the article completely dry for the fabric to set. Sorry I know this isn't written the best, but allergies are the worst now and I am not even sure if it is morning! Hope you can salvage the dress.
Yup, I washed it pretty promptly after it got bleached.
But I didn't try doing super concentrated dye. Hmm....
Why not sew an appliqué or ruffle of some sort over the spot to hide it?
Ooh, that's a good idea. Some fun iron-on patches might work too.
I have seen bleach tye dye effect being used on dark sweatshirts and t-shirts. Maybe you can embrace the bleach stain and make it part of the design.
Just a thought
@Michele, my son has bean doing this a lot, even to baseball caps and I have to admit, I really like it. I thought the same thing whenever I saw it didn’t work for her.
Dry erase marker! If you've ever accidentally dropped a dry erase marker on your clothes you know it is permanent dye like no other. Good thinking to use the RIT to darken faded pieces. I never thought of that.
@Amanda, would the dry erase come out, though, once you washed it?
@Stephanie, From experience with toddlers, it is incredibly difficult to get expo marker out of clothing. As long as the color matches, it would definitely work.
Is the dress cotton or synthetic? They're are two different types of RIT dye the regular is for natural fibers and doesn't work well on synthetic
Yeah, it's a cotton dress, so I bought the Rit that's for cotton. Still no luck!
My mother once bleach-spotted a solid colored tee-shirt of my daughter's with diluted bleach on a rag, trying to remove a stain. The stain came out, but so did some color. Regardless of whether her attempt on stain removal made sense or not :), she did salvage the shirt by blotting that rag all over it until ta-da, a "tie-dye" tee-shirt appeared, and my daughter wore if for the rest of that school year. I doubt you'd want to do that on a dress unless you feel really adventurous, but I have used paint markers to rescue some smaller bleach spots.
I've revived faded clothes with Rit before, and have changed white things to colored ones on a couple of occasions, when the need arose. If a white piece of clothing just isn't getting white anymore, get a little more wear out of it by making it another color.
This is so timely. I will be checking back. I like the fabric marker idea and I will try it, as a new pair of pants just made friends with a cloth someone used to bleach something!
I thought the dye would be more successful! Sorry it wasn't! Glad you were able to refresh some of your other clothes though. I think that by the time my black garments are faded they're also not in the best condition, so I've never thought of using dye to freshen them up.
Black shoe polish maybe?
Whoa. That would be a seriously hard-core solution to try!
Really? I thought it would be kind of easy, with the sponge tip applicator thing. And it definitely won't wash out!
Ok, maybe I'm thinking of something different...something with a greasier consistency, and more like hair paste? That's what I imagine with shoe polish!
They make a liquid shoe polish with a sponge applicator. That's a good idea!
Get agressive and give blue-jet-black haircolor a try. Go for the (cheapest) darkest black, brown-black won`t do the trick. Mix and apply, let it sit outdoors for a day or so. (the smell...)
Semipermanent colors are not recommended here, although I had "great" result with them too 😉
Could you please do an update on the Tubshroom? I'm waiting for your review before making my purchase.
I give it a big thumbs up. It does a great job of catching the hair, it's easy to clean, and it doesn't interfere with tub drainage at all!
I got mine in white: http://amzn.to/2qrlTho so it blends in very nicely...I wouldn't say it's unsightly in the slightest.
I'm imagining a big flower attached at the waist, shaped such that it sits over the stains.
I've been wondering this *exact* thing, so thank you for testing this out!! I have a pair of Victoria's Secret yoga pants that have a bleach stain on one of the legs. It's such a shame because they're nice pants, but I can't wear them anywhere outside of the house. Hmmm.
I use Sharpies. Not the best but a nice quick fix.
How about adding ruffles or backed lace over the stained areas? It looks like there are seams already there that would make a good place to add on to the dress. Or add an orange belt ribbon at the waist and make the bottom half a tye-dye look using more bleach? Or let her play mechanic in the dress and get engine grease/oil on it (just kidding on that one but it does make great black stains!).
I'm not sure how much into sewing you are, but my idea would be turning it into a top by removing the two sections with bleach on them, gathering the lower part, then attaching it to the upper part. That could be cute with leggings.
Can you add appliques or do some embroidery on the stains? And I would like to know if you have ever tried to dye other types of stains (grease/oil; chocolate or other foods, etc...) and what luck have you had? I have a couple of shirts/blouses that have spots I have been thinking of trying to dye over. Thanks!
I have not done black before, but this is a great idea for fading blacks. I have dyed jeans darker before, and it worked great (I googled, read a bunch of sites, and used a combo of black and navy dye).
Yes! Because if you use just blue, they turn a shade of purple. Been there and done that.
I've used Dylon (UK) and had mixed results on the same dress. Some went back to being completely black, some stayed. Then slightly more went black the next time I dyed it. Luck of the draw I guess.
I suggest sequins sewn on if you have not thrown it away yet. Or embroidery which is super in this year and really easy.
Although, having sat with a box of stuff that needed fixing, sometimes it is better mentally to let the thing go than have it silently condemn you from the corner of the room for months! Who am I kidding, years!
In this situation I'd just "go with it" and turn the piece into a tie-die, crumple, batik, or bleach splatter thing so the stain looks like it was meant to be there.
I like this idea. You might even be able to use lace as a stencil for bleach or fabric paint in the solid stripes of the dress to mirror the lace strips.
This was so helpful! I just got bleach on a pair of yoga pants and was thinking of trying to dye them. It's not like I'd be wearing them in public, but I still hate the idea of going anywhere in junky looking clothes. Guess they'll just be for cleaning days now. Thanks for the tip!
Kristen, can you tell me about how long the "refresh" lasts when you dye your black clothes? I've never done it before but have been thinking about it. I don't want to go to the trouble, though, if I'm not going to get a decent amount of extra wear out of the refreshed clothes. Also, can you dye items more than once? Thank you for your time, and sorry to hear about the dress :(. It looks really cute.
I can only speak from my own experience from my college days.... (a loooong time ago, lol)....I had a favorite pair of black (cotton) pants that I loved, and that fit perfectly. I refresh-dyed them more times than I can count, so yes, it can be done. It took maybe 5-6 washings, or maybe more (in cold water) for the re-dye to wash out. I wore those pants until they nearly fell apart!:-)
I'd agree. I've dyed clothes that lasted ages and you can redye, I've done it twice on one item and it's still fine.
The re-dye washed out in 5-6 washings?! That's like, almost immediately, right?
Yep, you can dye items more than once! I'm not entirely sure how long the dye lasts...there are so many variables, like how often you wear the item, how you laundry it, whether you dry it in the sunshine, etc. But I can say it lasts long enough to be totally worth the dollar or two a box of dye costs, especially if you really love the item you're saving.
Awesome! Thanks to all of you for your replies. Very helpful, and I think I'm going to give it a shot :).
Could you write a post on using Rit? I have several pairs of jeans that still fit, but are so faded! I'd love to be frugal and dye them, but I'm nervous about the process.
The Rit boxes come with multiple dying options...stovetop, using your washing machine, using a bucket, etc. I always go for the bucket option, and I follow the box directions to a T.
If you're dying jeans and you want them to be a blue color, use black dye, or they'll turn out a shade of purple. Or you can use a combo of dark blue and black, but I prefer to go with just black. It won't actually turn them black; they'll just turn a dark blue.
A friend of mine had on a gorgeous dress with little flowers appliqued to it in random places. When I commented on it, she told me that the randomness of the flowers had to do with the fact that she had splattered bleach on the dress and she had used iron-on appliques to cover the spots. I thought that was a very clever idea!
There are better dyes out there! RIT really isn't that great a dye (I've done quite a lot of work with dyes with my quilter grandmother). I'd try Tulip (most hobby stores carry it) and use the stovetop method, and be sure to set it with washing soda.
redoubles my commitment to no bleach in my house (I know this was chlorine from the pool...)
We've had some stained items over the years and have used RIT color remover with success. It actually takes all the color out of the fabric completely then you can re-dye to whatever color you want. Might be worth a try before you trash it.
I would be willing to use RIT color remover but it sounds like the original bleach stains will not take the new dye anyway.
I used Rit colors to tie-dye a shirt and sweatshirt and then used Rit Color Fixative, but when they were unwrapped, washed, and dried, I didn’t like the results. I used Rit Color Remover, but very little of the color came out, so I put them in the washer in a strong bleach solution, and the color did come out. I am glad I found this article, though, because I was just about to dye them again, and now I know that would not have worked!
As my great-gran would say, "It'll never be noticed on a galloping horse". Unless you're going out and she needs to be "presentable", it looks salvaged enough to be an every-day, hanging around the house dress.
Haha, that's a hilarious phrase! I've never heard it before.
You might want to try a 'real' dye on the dress - Rit isn't the best quality out there. Dharma Trading has fiber reactive dyes that work great on cottons. You would need the synthrapol, the dye and soda ash fixer which would come out around $12, plus shipping. Also you would need a bunch of non-iodized salt.
I found this online but haven't tried it yet:
Restoring the Color with Alcohol
1. Pour some rubbing alcohol on a cotton round.
2. Sponge the area around the stain with rubbing alcohol.
3. Rub the cotton round from the area just outside the stain towards the center of the stain. The alcohol will loosen the excess dyes in the fabric and allow you to redistribute it onto the stained spot.
I think you missed a step. I always heat set my colors. Dye fabric, allow to air dry, then tumble in a warm/hot dryer for at least 20 minutes. Then run it through the washer again.
If the color comes off on the inside of your washer or dryer, wash a load of OLD towels to clean it.
I've tried that but I have never had luck using markers, shoe polish but looked this up because I was also thinking of trying Rit dye. If I figure anything out I'll write back.
What about food coloring?
Can you get black food colouring???
Apparently, yes! https://amzn.to/2K4sYyO
I have a charcoal gray T-shirt that has a flower on it and something bleached it. Since it has flower on it dying it is not going to work. How would you suggest coloring the bleach spots? It has one long one and a couple of smaller ones. I really love this shirt so l am quite bummed that this happened.
Oh man, I'm not sure what to suggest! I didn't have luck covering the bleach stains on my daughter's dress.
Ok thank you.
Add more bleach spots to make the ones already there part of a design. I’m trying to come up with a design of my own, I have a favorite cardigan that has a bleach spill on the back and towards the neck/shoulder area.
I know your pssssttt is old but consider the fabric. Synthetic or natural? Natural fabric will take dye easily, but synthetic needs a special formula. You can use Rit original on natural and rayon, but need to use Rit DyeMore on polyester, spandex, etc.
Oh and the bleach spots are on the T-shirt thankfully not the flower because the flower is more than one colour
I tried clear alcohol, but maybe because l do not have a cotton wool ball it did not work. I am hesitant to try covering it with a permanent marker because of trying to find a close colour match. Especially on the one long spot.
I just called an art supply store because l figured that they would have various shades of gray permanent marker, but they did not. They suggested that l try an office supply store. But then l called the art supply store back asking about fabric paint. Instead an oil based marker was recommended. She said bring the shirt in instead of a photo of it for color matching purposes. So l figure why not give it a try?
From RIT:
All-Purpose Dye for spot dying.
Cover work area with plastic table cover and have paper towels handy to protect against any possible spills.
Wearing rubber gloves, pour 2 tablespoons of well-shaken Rit All-Purpose Dye into 1/2 cup of very hot tap water. The water should ideally be 140ºF. If your tap water is not hot enough, heat water on the stove and add it to the cup. If you are using a color formula, mix dyes in a separate container and then transfer 2 tablespoons of the dye mix into 1/2 cup of hot water.
Stir well.
Dip a small corner of a piece of clean cloth into the hot dye, gently squeezing out the excess. Rub the area where you wish to apply the dye. For extremely small areas, you can use a cotton swab to apply the dye.
Allow the dye to set for 20 minutes.
To further set the dye, use a hot steam iron. Sandwich the treated area between two clean cloths or paper towels, then press.
To enhance the color and reduce color bleeding, use Rit ColorStay Dye Fixative immediately after dyeing and before washing, following these instructions.
Wash in warm water with a mild detergent, rinse and dry.
If the correction comes out too light, repeat the spot dyeing process.
If the dress is polyester (more than 60% I think) then you should try Rit Dye More for polyester rather than the little boxes which are for cotton. I picked a bottle up for around $3-4 at Joann Fabric after using a 40% off coupon.
Also, the Tulip fabric markers work really well for small spots.
Not all fabrics can be dyed. Also you shouldn't have washed the dress after dying it. It's best to let it completely dry. If you must wash it once it's dry (like if it was dirty, otherwise there's no need), then hand wash it. Fabric dye needs to cure, and really soak into the fibers. But again, not all fabrics can be dyed. So check the fabric online first.
Wish I had read about the dry erase marker before I tried the fabric paint pen. It covered, but looks awful. I tried dying it twice before I used the paint pen. I had two pair of pants, so the second one I bought both the liquid and the powder. I spot treated the bleach stain with the liquid on a wetted stain, and then added the liquid to the dissolved powder in a very strong dye bath. Let it set in the bucket for hours, and rinsed in cold water. Then in the washer without soap, and ironed the damp garment. It turned out pretty well. Going to do the first pair again without spotting, maybe the paint will blend in a little. Oh well, it will always be a pair to use cleaning house and yard work.
Do you think that if you continued to dye the dress repeatedly, it would have worked? Or left it in the dye for an extended amount of time? Also, I am told that with bleached clothes, it is worth a shot to use color remover (not bleach) on the entire garment in the wash before attempting to dye.
I have yet to try though. My silly guy friend put a load of darks in the wash after doing 2 loads of bleached items. I had told him yesterday that the machine wasn't doing a good job of rinsing.. and today I told him that I always put my bleached load on two rinses. 😉
Hello!
Thanks for this story. I have wondered if I could bleach a pair of light colored pants and then dye them a different color. Apparently, not.
However, on covering a bleach stain: I painted a scene from "Where the Wild Things Are" onto the whole pocket of a pair of cargo pants that had bleach stains. Dye may not civer bleach stains but paint does. Color-matching paint to the original material color won't worj either due to the aging fade of the material and paint dries darker than its wet color.
That is a very creative fix!
Hey there! So, something I’ve learned from being a colorist is that if you’re going to cover something that’s been stripped of color you have to set the base tone in it. So since it came out orange, I would try to counteract it with the opposing color on the color wheel, which would be blue. Once combined it would set a deep brown that the black dye would be able to mask rather than a tinted deep orange. This applies to hair, fabrics and painting majority of the time. When in doubt, always refer to a color wheel and do your best! Nothing is in fixable
Well first of all, with black and other dark colors, you don’t have to die the whole garment. You can spot die only the bleach spots. And secondly, it seems like you didn’t let it soak long enough. To change the bleach spots (being the dramatic color contrast that it is) you need to let that rit die soak in for like 30 - 45 minutes. You should go ahead and take that whole story down and trash it, because you screwed the pooch.
On the contrary, I did the same method as the writer, but let it soak for 3 hours and the small stains did not come out. No need to screw any pooches today
You did it with the wrong one I had a T shirts an pants with Clorox and I did it with the liquid RIT and it work for me but they all have been 100% cotton too,
I had the same experience except with sofa cushion covers and let them marinate in RIT dark grey dye for 3 days and it didn’t change the bleach stains at all
I had a similar issue with a favorite LBD though it involved Comet cleanser & scrubbing a bathtub (should have changed). The discoloration was bad enough I decided to research tie die processes & ended up knotting & knotting & knotting it with several different widths of yarn. Then I dipped it in watered down bleach.
I know have a gorgeous blooming toe died dress that several people have asked where I got it (HEH).
I have not been able to turn a fave black top black again with RIT so I may try the tie die again.
Exactly the same thing happened to me with a black shirt. I read you can try Rit again but this time use a brush to apply the solution directly on the spots. I am trying that again today.
Let us know how it goes!
I stepped in bleach at work in my nice black slacks and it left stains on the bottom. I rushed home, and painted the stains with a baking soda and water paste. Left it to dry and brushed the powder off later. This neutralized the bleach and prevented it from continuing to damage the fabric. I tried the rubbing alcohol on the outside pushing dye over the stain, but it didn’t work for the size of the stains I had. Then I tried sharpie. It all washed out. Then I went all out! I bought a Rit Dying kit. I soaked the bottom of the pants in a tye dye soda ash mixture. Then I soaked it in dye and boiled water. Twice the amount of dye called for, added the salt, the vinegar, and dish soap. Stirred it for an hour, double the time called for. Then soaked it in the Rit after dye stuff. Rinsed it out, washed with warm water and detergent in my tub. Now it’s hanging to dry. It looks like it worked! And the pants may be a darker black that they were before but oh well lol. Anyway wanted to share to help others out who stumble across this article. I think neutralizing the bleach with the baking soda pasta was a key player here, as well as the soda ash, and doubling the product called for with the Rit jet black dye kit- following the instructions and using every extra thing they mentioned (vinegar, salt, etc.)
I tried on a dark navy cotton sweater...left to soak for hours. Didn't work. Same experience, came out of washer still with orange stains.
8 Years late to this post, but this happened to me and I managed to fix them perfectly! The garment it question was a pair of dark emerald green corduroy pants from A&E that I loved and couldn't replace.
Rit Dye Remover amazingly took out ALL the color so my bleach stains turned invisible. I've learned that the Rit Dye instructions are very conservative. Heat is important, I did mine the stovetop method, kept the water at a consistent 200 degrees, used two bottles of dye, and let my pants soak for 3 hours.
Do any of you do any beading? Hand sewing a patch over the spot, or putting some pretty beads or even an embroidery design is a cute way to cover up those stains
What might work is to use color remover (also by Rit) first, then wash really well, then try the dye. Don’t use unless the item is going to be thrown out. I’ve done this a bunch of times and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
Be careful with Rit. I tried it and found that it not only didn’t work, but it rinsed off the spot easily and could have stained a car seat fabric or other item if I didn’t test and wash before using.