Advice - fabric dyes?

Projects
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Hi @textilestechs and all the wonderful textiles folks!

Looking for some advice for a little project - looking to dye some canvas shoes (they are white, want them to be black) and wonder if ppl had a favourite brand of dye for beginners? The goal is deep, long-lasting colour!

Thanks so much

Laura x

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not a tech but… I’ve used rit dye to dye some white converse pink years ago and the color is still going strong! I don’t know if they have that brand here but it’s just basic fabric dye.

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Rit or dylon, note: you will typically have white stitches if you use dylon, though there are dyes which can dye polyester with rit and such

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Thank you so much!!

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Thank you so much!!

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Dylon for the fabric, and Rit dye for the stitching and plastic parts. This is because Dylon dye is specific for cottons and wont work on synthetics, where as Rit dye tends to be for synthetics. (make sure you check on the packaging what fabric type your chosen dye is for)

Please note if your soles are white, the rit dye will dye them also. But i’ve dyed plenty of pairs of white shoes black before and it always looks really cool overdyed black with white stitching and detail.

Youre going to need a fair amount of Dylon, don’t bother getting the smaller pack, itll just make your shoes slightely grey. Also make sure your shoes are thoroughly cleaned first, and get them wet before bathing in the dye (warm water) - If you want an even coverage of dye youll need even more dye and water to allow even circulation, if you put it in a cramped spce (like a bucket) itll dye un evenly because o where theyre contacting eachother etc, however I also thinks that looks really cool!

Finally, Make sure you wear gloves because dye does not come out and you will have dyed fingers for a few days (its also pretty nasty to your skin)

Enjoy! Dying is super fun and satisfing

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Thanks so much! Dylon did the trick and now I have light-ish black shoes which I actually quite like… will have a go to see what I do about the stitches although the effect ende up looking quite nice. Thanks so so much for your tips!!!