Having Problems Dying Costume - Help? csharding?

[DarthVeach]

I have a Jack Sparrow frock coat I am trying to dye darker. It is the one that has been discussed in another thread since it was purchased from costumebase on Ebay. The description says the coat is made from linen, which thru my research should be easy to dye. I first tried a mixture of RIT dye and after I rinsed it and it dried, I noticed little change. Then tonight I experimented with "cold" water textile dye that you mix either hot or cold ( I used hot) and then mix in a soda ash to set the dye. After the final rinse...LITTLE OR NO CHANGE! What the heck is going on? It looks nice and dark when it's dying, but it doesn't seem like it's taking the color. I guess the simplest explanation would be that it's in fact not linen as he described.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on this? I'd like to get it darker, because other than that it's decent for my costume, but two tries with no luck, I'm getting discouraged.
csharding - I'd like your input if you have any since you own this coat, if you happen to know what it really is!

 

[Capn_Jack_Savvy]

I have a Jack Sparrow frock coat I am trying to dye darker. It is the one that has been discussed in another thread since it was purchased from costumebase on Ebay. The description says the coat is made from linen, which thru my research should be easy to dye. I first tried a mixture of RIT dye and after I rinsed it and it dried, I noticed little change. Then tonight I experimented with "cold" water textile dye that you mix either hot or cold ( I used hot) and then mix in a soda ash to set the dye. After the final rinse...LITTLE OR NO CHANGE! What the heck is going on? It looks nice and dark when it's dying, but it doesn't seem like it's taking the color. I guess the simplest explanation would be that it's in fact not linen as he described.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on this? I'd like to get it darker, because other than that it's decent for my costume, but two tries with no luck, I'm getting discouraged.
csharding - I'd like your input if you have any since you own this coat, if you happen to know what it really is!

Rit dye does really well on cotton/linen and no other types of material. The problem with this frock coat is that it is already coated with some type of material to help maintain the shape like starch. I would recommend washing it first to get all that substance out. Next try using a sponge and spot dye an area make it really dark. As RIT dye dries it will fade and after you wash it will fade a little again.

The other thing Rit Dye instructions recommends is using cold water and leaving the item completely submerged for an extended period of time. Be sure to not dilute the Rit Dye solution down too much.

I am getting ready to dye a darker brown frock coat that is made of cotton so I will post before and after pix as soon as I am done this weekend.