current tight dying mix ? ( updated)

[rajung]

getting ready to do another set of the on stage tights.
Has anything changed from the amount of dye to use, or the best mix?
Been a few years.
Last used 2 boxes of grey and a bit of purple.
Seen anywhere from 2 to 8 boxes of grey and a tbl spoon of purple.
Didn't know if by now there was a perfect mix agreed upon?
I did locate some Rit aubergine, would that be better than purple?
I am starting to think I may use 3 boxes grey and some of the aubergine.
Just an update, had to get this together pretty quick so I dyed the tights today.
3 boxes of the grey and 1/4 tsp aubergine.
Looks pretty good but don't have anything to compare to other than the set I did 2-3 years ago.
Still too wet to compare the two.

[batfan1705]

When I dyed my tights, I used the 8 boxes of grey and a teaspoon of purple. The colour result was very good but I did notice that a lot of the dye powder did not dissolve. If I were going to do it again I would probably only use 4 boxes of grey.

[rickrickrick]

The "formula" will vary depending on the method you use.

I used RIT powder dye, in Pearl Grey, and Aubergine powder (discontinued long ago).

If you use the stovetop method, as I did, in a large steel stock pot with a limited amount of very hot water (I used three gallons), you will need less dye. I only used two boxes grey, and 3/8 teaspoon of aubergine, and I got a very nice saturated color.

If you use a washing machine, that's a LOT of water - maybe as much as 40 gallons if you let it fill - so you'll need much more dye. That's when eight boxes of powder might make sense. Frankly, if you're using that much water, I suggest you use the liquid RIT instead - cheaper in the long run, and produces a more even color more easily. And it's easy to remember how much to use compared to the boxes - one bottle equals two boxes.

In the interest of full disclosure, I do NOT know what the expert Pantone-matched color is supposed to be. I just used a suggested ratio from a post I found on the old archived forum, and produced a color I was happy with. (My tights having been washed several times now, the color has definitely faded, and needs to be re-dyed.) Most people don't get their tights as dark as they need to be - we're so used to the washed-out old prints of the TV show, they look light to us. But watch the movie on bluray, and you can see that the grey is a pretty deep shade.

Hope something of that is useful.

Cheers!

RRR

[Scott Sebring]

Personally, I leave any blue out of it altogether anymore. Kept finding myself having to counteract it back in the day.

[Batfanman]

I'm about to do a test dye on some cotton shirts, etc. Pretty much have all the instruction but have seen some posts that talk about adding salt first. Is this necessary and if so, how much per pound of fabric should I add?

[rajung]

I didn't use any.
And if I recall correctly, many many posts ago, its not needed because of the material being used.
I am referring to the on stage dance wear tights.

[Chuck Williams]

Hey Guys, always use the same type of fabric in tests as in the finished product.

The dye reacts differently on different fabrics so you will not get an accurate gauge of the color if you don't use the same fabrics.

Cotton and nylon take the color very differently.
Even different types of nylon will get you two different colors.

Just wanted to let you know...
Chuck...

[Batfanman]

I found the gray and purple to be just a little lackluster. The blue adds a little "pop" to the in-person visual impact. But not too much blue.

Do you add the blue in addition to the purple or in place of?

EDIT: Follow-up question to my test dye: Color came out really good on my test garments; balanced tone on all pieces but somehow some bleach got onto one of the shirts leaving a small area with streaks. Would I have to strip out the color and re-dye or would running it through one more time w/ the Pearl Gray/Purple combo be ok without darkening it too much?

Thanks!

[rajung]

Curious as to why you think it was bleach?
The streak may be from not getting fully dyed on a white material.Just a thought.

[Batfanman]

The streaks have all the hallmarks of a bleach stain plus I had bleach on stand-by to clean the machine and I may have dripped some on the surface of the dryer.

[charlie]

Just ordered the bat tights,anyone out there willing to dye them? I'm terrified of screwing this up.. Need all the help I can get.. Thanks.

[Batfanman]

I was a bit nervous too but it really is easy. If you really want to feel more confident about the process, do a test with a cotton t-shirt first. Just follow the instructions on the RIT package.

Un-tangle the material every time you reset the wash cycle timer (on my machine, it was about every 10 minutes) to help ensure no areas are missed. Wear some of those latex gloves while handling to keep your hands clean. You can rinse them off while wearing them immediately after touching anything so you don't have to keep changing them - just have a raggy towel nearby to catch drips.

During prep, I used a mason jar to put the dye powder in and then added hot water and mixed it together before pouring into the pre-filled machine. Rinse out jar afterwards and you can use it again for same purpose with tights. I then added the garment in after activating the wash cycle for a just a bit to fully mix the entire dye bath.

Cleanup was really great - instructions call for using bleach and full cycle (extra-large load setting) hot wash and there was no dye residue on any of the tub parts. (This turned out to be the part I worried most about!)

[rickrickrick]

Rinse out jar afterwards and you can use it again for same purpose with tights.

I'm not sure what you mean here, Batfanman, but you should always dye your tights and leotard at the same time, to get consistent color. Even if you think you've got the exact same recipe, it will turn out different every time, thanks to slight variations in water temperature, atmospheric humidity, and machine cycle times.

Maybe you're not advocating dyeing things separately, but I just wanted to be sure - it's definitely a no-no.

RRR

[Batfanman]

I was referring to doing a test garment like a t-shirt prior to dyeing tights/leotard [together] so charlie can get the hang of it first. Sry if that wasn't clear.

[rickrickrick]

Gotcha.

But, just as a reminder, you will not get the same color on a test tshirt (or whatever) if it has a different fiber content from the tights. I.e., a cotton tshirt will not dye the same as supplex tights, so that will not be a good way to judge color results.

RRR