DIY How To, Tips & Tricks on using Dylon Clothing Dye

Dylon Before & After on a pair of faded gray Jeans.

I have a few faded clothing items I can't bear to part with because they still fit well and I keep telling myself that I'll refashion it somehow into something wearable.  I bought the dylon velvet black dye with the intention of dying some faded black jeans into a new and wearable pair again.  It was cheap (~$5) that I didn't have much to loose on a pair of jeans that would end up in the donation pile if the dying process didn't work out.  The dye has been sitting in my closet for the past few months because all I wore this winter was tights.  Now that the weather has started to warm up again, I will be wearing jeans & figured it was a good time to give this project a go.

See above for the before and after of the jeans I used for this project.  I used an old gray pair with weird fading on the thighs and calves that were possibly fashionable years ago.  I couldn't bear to put it in my donate pile of clothes because it still fit great.  I am very happy with how the results turned out and while the outcome isn't super black I actually like that it isn't a 100% black.  Looks like I paid lots of money for a nicely faded pair of jeans.  The outcome also isn't a 100% even because I started out with an un-uniform colour and that worked to my benefit because I like how it is faded in all the right areas.

Supplies used in this process

I followed the instructions on the packet.  It is fairly simple.  All you need is a big container, water, salt & something to stir with (not pictured here because I used my hand!).  I heated the pot of water to an almost boil, added the recommended amount of salt and plopped the jeans in stirring occasionally.  I think the packet said to do this for 2 hours but I basically let it sit in the pot of dye for the whole day stirring occasionally.  My rationale was the longer it sat in the dye, the darker it would get.  Wear gloves if you are using your hands or be prepared to have dyed hands that will take a few days to wash out!  I learned this the hard way.  I figured a good ol' scrubbing would get rid of the dye on my hands but it did not!

Dying workstation

Another pro tip:  Line the surface of where you are dying with some paper or in my case bags because you will splish & splash some dye!  I figured I was going to be so careful that I wouldn't cause any spills but no matter how careful I was, a few spots ended up on the surface here and there, hence me lining the surface with some bags.  When you finally decide to rinse the dye out, do it in a sink you don't care so much about because the dye will run & run & run.  It is washable if you do it right away but keep it in mind.  Also if your walls are fairly close to the sink, be careful because you might gets some drops on the walls!  What I did was rinse it out as much as I could in the sink and then put in in the washing machine with no detergent so the dye would completely rinse out.

Overall the process was super easy and I would do it again.  I also have not experienced any dye transfer to clothing which I was worried about.  If you read reviews on amazon, they say not to be overzealous with the amount you try to dye which was why I stuck with just a pair of jeans rather than a whole basket of clothes.  It isn't a huge brainer that the more you try to dye, the more diluted the dye becomes and the effect will not be quite what you are looking for.