How to Dye Fabric GRAY

[Skaught]

So far, a little black turns it purple. I mean, really purple! ARG. I'm using liquid RIT black dye and white monk's cloth. I want a nice dark gray. Not purple!!!

Any suggestions? I have to special order the white monk's cloth and I only have one piece left.

Scott

 

[exoray]

So far, a little black turns it purple. I mean, really purple! ARG. I'm using liquid RIT black dye and white monk's cloth. I want a nice dark gray. Not purple!!!

Any suggestions? I have to special order the white monk's cloth and I only have one piece left.

Scott

Use gray dye Rit makes a pearl gray dye...

Short of that this site

http://www.ritdye.com/Color+Recipes.22.lasso

Suggest equal parts of black and royal blue to get a gray... Pay notice to the dilution factors (amount of water vs dye vs weight of fabric) that is why you are getting purple the black is too diluted in your dye bath...

 

[Darth Mule]

Use gray dye Rit makes a pearl gray dye...

Short of that this site

http://www.ritdye.com/Color+Recipes.22.lasso

Suggest equal parts of black and royal blue to get a gray... Pay notice to the dilution factors (amount of water vs dye vs weight of fabric) that is why you are getting purple the black is too diluted in your dye bath...

More specifically... The dilution only brings up the base of the black dye, which is red. So it's a combination of these two factors that make your dyebath turn purple. They do, as exoray said, make a pearl grey dye. However, you will only get about a medium grey out of the pearly grey. You want darker? Mix some black (about 1/2 the amount of the grey) into your dyebath. Now this is where it gets a little more complicated because you will get a purple tint to your dark grey. If you want to lose that you have to kill the red by adding a little of it's opposite into the bath. On the color wheel, green is opposite of red, so we want to add a little green (about 1/2 as much as the black). This knocks down the red in the black, giving you a nice neutral tint. So your bath looks something like 4 parts grey + 2 parts black + 1 part green. make sense?

Also, I recommend that when you mix these colors, you get a disposable container, large enough to hold about 4 cups of hot water and dissolve your dyes into that water. Once they are disolved, ad them to your dyebath. Mix well then do the same process with some plain salt (about 1/2 cup per pound of dry fabric). Now let it mix well in your bath. Now you are ready to add your fabric to the bath. Make sure you pre-wet the fabric before putting it in or you'll get it all blotchy.

And yes, this works in your washing machine. Just be sure to run a load of just bleach and water to clean it out before you try to do laundry in it.

Note this is specifically a tactic for RIT dye. All dye brands have their own quirks.

 

[bleyd]

Try here. I've been working on an Emperor costume and was dying my monk's cloth black and it got to a deep grey. Gandalf Grey. I used the Industrial black used in prisons from this site.

http://www.dharmatrading.com

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1765-AA.shtml?lnav=dyes.html

Be warned the stuff I used SAYS the color breaks down when washed but seeing I aint planning on throwing my costume into the wash anytime soon I'll be fine. It was really easy to work with and not that expensive. Hope this helps. Oh, it comes in a small bag as in the photo you just drop into your hot water and the bag melts. Very nice the dye doesn't get anywhere else.

 

[BeachWizard]

Not sure if you ever made any progress, but I ran across this link today...

How to dye fabric gray - Lovely Etc.