Last February, Lucky Magazine did a great DIY feature about using dye to give clothes a new lease on life, and ever since, I’ve been dying (ha!) to try it! But dyeing clothes is a little bit scary, even if the back of the box and website make it sound easy. Finally, I decided to give it a try with college girls in mind and I’m going to share my experience with all of you!

I’ve done some experimenting with techniques and kinds of fabric to help you decide if dyeing is right for you. Read on for all the tips!

Table of Contents

Methods of Dyeing Clothing

The Rit website and the packages agree that using a washing machine is the easiest way to dye fabric, however that is probably not the best option for most college students who are either using public washing machines or renting one along with their house or apartment.

Instead, another popular method, which is the one featured in this article, is the bucket method, which works best for smaller pieces. For step by step how-tos with other methods check out the Rit Dye website.

Dyeing Clothes: The Supplies

Make sure you have all of these things ready to go before you start. Believe me, you don’t want to get part of the way into the process before you realize something is missing.

Here’s what you need:

• Rit Dye (I used Rit Dye Wine 10 in powder form)
• A bucket to dye the clothes in
• Bleach cleaner (this one works well)
• Sponge or rag to clean up with
• Rubber gloves
• A stirring stick
• Clothes or fabric to dye
• A smaller disposable container to pre-dissolve the dye in
• A hot water source
• Detergent
• Salt (optional)
• A washing machine (to wash the already dyed clothes)

The Dyeing Process

These instructions will be more of a summary with some tips of my own thrown in. Do not attempt to dye anything without fully reading the instructions on the label of the dye you are using.