Has anybody over-dyed mercerized cotton?

[SheCrochets]

I have a big batch of mercerized cotton and I am not crazy about the colorway. If I could dye it, it would be perfect for a summer tank or tee. But I know mercerized cotton is cotton that has been treated with chemicals, so I am not sure if it can be dyed again?

 

Any words of wisdom or advice would be much appreciated!

 

PS And I already know that kool-aid dying is not an option (since it is not an animal fiber).

 

Thanks!

[Ilah]

I have successfully dyed mercerized cotton thread. I used the porcion dyes. I ordered my dyes through the mail, but I think that the dye kits I have seen is some craft stores for tye dyeing would work because it is the same type of dye. It is messier than dyeing wool because the dye does not exhaust and you have to rinse quite a bit. Another thing to be aware of is the the cloth or yarn will be much lighter than when you first take it out of the dyebath, because some of the color rinses away. This makes it difficult to get the color you want. In my first dye attempt I was trying for bright orange, but wound up with peach.

[Ilah]

I just realized I forgot to talk about overdying. In strong colors, such as bright green and bright red, the dye did not take. I have had good look over-dyeing pastel colors and gray. I have had some nice results overdyeing that is white with several shades of the same color. For example overdying white/shades of pink yarn with blue will get yarn that is blue with different shades of purple.

 

I would recommend doing a test length of yarn before dyeing everything.

[SheCrochets]

Wow, thank you so much for the information! It is very encouraging, because the yarn I have is in pastel pink/gray/green, so it sounds like I might be able to dye it a darker color. Do you remember where you bought the dye online, by the way?

 

Thanks sooo much!