Anyone with fabric dying expertise?

I'm working on my halloween costume. I'm gonna be a generic looking super hero without looking like a mexican wrestler.

The fabric of my costume is going to need to be died dark blue. I don't know how to dye even the simplest of fabrics, and these ones i'm looking at are spandex/polyester/who knows what.

If anyone can give me advice or point me in the right direction let me know.

Here are the two possible tops that I'm looking at. They're football shirts, for wearing under your pads, but I'll be wanting to dye the white parts dark blue or blue and wearing them on the outside, possibly with a cape.

Nike Store. Nike Pro Combat Hyperstrong Compression Four-Pad Men's Football Shirt

Fabric: Body/pad back fabric: Dri-FIT 84% polyester/16% spandex. Mesh: Dri-FIT 90% polyester/10% spandex. Pad top fabric: 100% polyester. Pad: 55% polyethylene/45% ethylene vinyl acetate.


Nike Store. Nike Pro Combat Hyperstrong 5-Pad Men's Shirt

Fabric: Body: Dri-FIT 93% polyester/7% spandex. Padding: 100% ethylene vinyl acetate foam.

I'm leaning toward the second one.. but it'll be neither unless I can dye them a solid color.

If anyone has any other good source for a found item that could be used as a super hero costume I'd be happy to check that out too. Even though I want a generic super hero look, I want it to be cool looking.

Polyester is a byatch to dye. I'd say beyond the capabilities of most hobbyists. It requires a disperse dye and a constant high temperature. While RIT may give it some color, it won't be that intense of a color.

Nike does make other types of gear in a navy blue, you may want to look into those.

Id try superfan suits if youre going as a generic superhero.They can leave the hood off for you and theyre pretty reasonable.

Synthetic fabric is difficult to dye, but some companies offer specific ones that make it easier. Dharma Trading Co. Homepage has those, sells a great range of colors and provides instructions about how to do so. Just make sure you wear gloves. I didn't the last time and spent weeks scrubbing off red dye from my hands.

iDye Poly (which is sold through Dharma Trading but I've also seen it at JoAnn's) seems to work, though I'd test it beforehand to make sure it comes out the color you want--in my (limited, granted) experience it hasn't always come out the same as the color on the packet.

Be careful with "black" dyes, as they are often blends of several dyes that usually combine to black when used on natural fabrics. Each component in the blend may have different strength at dyeing.
For instance, several people have had problems using "black" Rit Dye on synthetic fabrics, getting results that are more brown than anything else.

I actually teach dyeing and distressing as a class from time to time, so I'm pretty handy with a dye vat. Everyone here has pretty much summed up the information that you need. My reccomendation is that you go with something else. Either a cotton lycra or a straight lycra/spandex. If you have never dyed before, Polyester is not the best thing to start with. It's like never hiking or mountainclimbing before and "here I come Mt. Everest!
Polyester is essentially plastic. To get it to take color you have to practically boil it for several hours.
Also, since you're dealing with a blend, you're going to get two different results on the fibers in the cloth. The spandex will soak up the color, while the polyester will repel it.
It's not an impossible job, but in the end you will spend far more time, money, and energy than if you had just bought something from one of the suggested suitmakers.

^ Seconding this. I have dyed synthetics, but it is a real pain -- and I wouldn't do it at all with extremely stretchy fabrics like Spandex. It can be very damaging to have them in the heat of a high-temperature dye bath for so long. At best, the fabric can lose elasticity; at worst, it can become brittle and shred apart. You're essentially boiling plastic at that point, and it starts to melt.

As a side note, ethylene vinyl acetate (the foam used to make the pads) is a thermoplastic material. That means when you heat it up, it takes the shape of whatever is putting pressure on it -- so once you put the shirt in a pot of hot water to dye it, you'd be completely destroying the shape of the padding. EVA starts softening at around 120-130 degrees F, and you'd have to use MUCH hotter water than that to dye synthetic fabric.

Short version: Buy a suit that's already in the right color, or have someone make it for you.


EDIT: If you absolutely have your heart set on using one of these, you could always try soft fabric paint. There are a few fabric spraypaints on the market; they stay flexible and don't crack like the old traditional slick paints. Might be worth a shot.