Anyone ever dye clothes in the washer?

[skuttle]

I'm finally trying to get to work on our halloween costumes. I couldn't find the right color clothing, so I'm going to dye white clothing the right color. I've never dyed anything before, so I thought I'd see if anyone here had any tips before I possibly ruin our washer!
Thanks!!

 

[momof3disneyholics]

I've read on different washing machines that you are not suppose to dye clothes in there. I guess it is because the color might stay in there, then you run another load and your clothes are all the same color.
maybe try in a bucket, I have dyed some tshirts in a bucket before and they came out fine.
Hope it works out for you!

 

[skuttle]

Hmmm...I checked our washer and the little manual that came with it (I keep everything ) and it doesn't mention dying clothes. The dye packet said to use the washer for an even dye, but this is just for halloween costumes so I may just use a bucket so I don't ruin the washer or our "real" clothes.

 

[floridaminnie]

I've dyed my reads with shreaks of navy, but not on purpose. I did my darks before my reds. I don't do that anymore!

 

[Tiggeroo]

Yes I've done this and it is fine. But it will stain the inside of your washer, at least for awhile. You will need to run a load or two thru empty afterwards, make sure the water is coming out clear before you wash your clothes again.

 

[Serena]

I'm sure it's too late to do anything now, but Dharma Trading Company has a wonderful collection of stuff to use for dyeing, painting and assorted things for clothes.

I love to dye stuff and what they have is great.

 

[Lisa L from MI]

A few years ago, I had to dye a sweater and socks burnt orange for a halloween outfit. It worked fine. I believe I ran the washer a few time with just bleach in it. Nothing else after turned orange. My washer is 11 years old

 

[Claudia1]

I dye things all the time in my washer. If you are dyeing a dark color, add 1 C. of salt to the water.

Once the dye part is done, I leave the clothes in & use the rinse cycle 2 or 3 times, until the water is clear. After I remove the dyed clothes, I run a cyle with 1 C. of bleach. My washer is not stained at all.

I occasionally dye my blacks or navys that are a bit faded from wear or creases. It really brings thing back to life!

 

[jfulcer]

DW just dyed some canvas shoes yellow. she followed the directions on the dye and it worked great. She ran 2 loads of just bleach with hot water afterwards and there are no stains.

Good luck!

 

[poohandwendy]

WIERD that I stumbled across this thread!!!!!...I just dyed my husbands shirt yellow tonight. It was his favorite pale yellow button-down...somehow it ended up turning pink...I mean PINK...the last time I washed it. The strange thing was that it was in a 'whites' load and nothing else in the wash turned pink...or was originally red or pink. There was bleach in the load but I have used bleach with it before...strange

I used Rit Color Remover first (in the washer, hot wash/cold rinse), I added an old towel to keep the washer balanced. It turned a really ugly light tan. Blech...Then ran it through a regular (short) wash cycle and then dyed it in the machine per instructions. Unfortunately it turned out too yellow. So then I ran it through another washing cycle with 1/2 cup bleach added. Turned out perfect! (also, iut cleaned out the washer pretty well) All that water for a stupid shirt!! But it is his fav (soft, fits well, looks nice)...so I had to try....

good luck...follow the directions explicitly and you should be ok....

 

[skuttle]

Thanks everyone! Hopefully I'll be able to try it later today! All of your instructions sound just like the instructions on the box, so I guess I'll just follow that and see how it goes! I'll let y'all know.