Come Dye With Me

by - 09:00

When I noticed recently that my most-worn white shirt had got a bit stained and yellow under the arms, I decided to experiment with dying it to give it a new lease of life. I chose a medium-pale shade of blue fabric dye (Dylon China Blue) as I wear a lot of blue and thought that would work really well in my wardrobe. I was a bit worried that the blue dye might just cause the yellow stains to turn green, but in the end I figured for the sake of the £3.50 or so that I'd paid for the dye, I wouldn't worry about it if it didn't work. This is the white shirt in question, which I've worn in a number of outfit posts (there's another example here).

Yellow Flowers 
The process of dying the shirt was very easy just following the instructions on the packet. I didn't take photos during the dying process (it was literally just me stirring it in water and salt for a long time) but here is the shirt immediately after, when it was still wet:

Shirt

Shirt

As you can see, the dye came out nice and even all over, but although the dye didn't turn the yellow patches green it also didn't actually cover them. Once the shirt was dry, the blue colour lightened to its final shade, which is very pretty and perfect for what I was looking for. 

Shirt

Sadly with the patches remaining under the arms I don't think it's really any more wearable now it's dyed than it was before I dyed it. However, I might see about removing the arms or something if I get around to it.

Here is what the blouse looks like on, in some horribly awkward photos my brother took for me:

Blue blouse

Blue blouse

Blue blouse

Overall I'm definitely likely to try dying my own clothes again, even though I know that the dye might not always cover any staining. Honestly for around £3.50 it's not much to lose if it doesn't work, and if it does work then I'm prolonging the life of some of my clothing and creating less damage to the environment in the process.

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2 comments

  1. Great paired with that skirt, complementary colours. Nice!

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  2. look on line for the recipe for removing underarm yellowing with peroxide and baking soda. I used this on a white shirt with a print and it turned out perfectly and did not harm the vintage fabric. I had to let it set for several hours and applied several times.

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