- January 30th, 2013, 4:45 pm#432704Ok so I am doing the dye job on a new pair of suits tonight and thought it would be a good idea to create a modified version of the Tru Spec dyeing process for High Efficiency Washers.
1.) Wash suit twice with 1 cup of bleach each time, hot/cold cotton cycle and be sure to disable any electronic temperature control to get the highest temperature possible. Machine Dry with a Fabric Softener sheet both times. (MODIFIED STEP)
2.) Wash again, hot/cold cotton cycle, with 2 cups bleach. Again make sure to disable any electronic temperature control to get the highest temperature possible. Do not dry.(At this point the flight suit will be a gnarly shade of brown) (MODIFIED STEP)
3.) Using a large tub or sink wash, suit with 2 packets RIT color remover with Hot water. Put the suit into washing machine on a Rinse and Spin Cycle. Machine Dry with a Fabric Softener sheet. (The RIT color remover will leave the flight suit a semi patchy grey. This step is one of the most important as the cotton fibers will literally almost be white while the poly fibers will remain a grey close to what we want. I’d be willing to bet real money that step one here can be removed as step 2 will be with 2 cups of bleach which will beat the shit out of the fabric enough to take dye. Once you wash it again with the color remover the base grey it will be should be perfect) (MODIFIED STEP)
4.) Dye with 1 cup (237 mL) Royal Blue liquid RIT, 1/4 cup (59 mL) Kelly Green liquid RIT, and 1 cup of salt in a sink full of hot water for 15 minutes. Make sure to agitate it frequently and don’t let air bubbles in the flight suit just sit. Push them down, move the suit around to keep the color consistent
5.) Pull out, rinse until the water runs clear. (I recommend using your washing machine for this as hand wringing out dye is a pain in the ass in your sink. Use a plastic bin to transport it from sink to washer to avoid blue dye all over your house)
6.) Add a little more hot water to the dye bath, and let the suit soak for another 15 minutes.
7.) Pull out, Rinse well until the water runs clear. (or run it through the rinse cycle in your washing machine)
8.) Wash again with light detergent cold cycle
9.) Machine Dry with fabric softener
Beyond the 3rd step the process remains unchanged. I hope this helps anyone out there.
EDIT TO ADD
Make sure to wash that suit normally then inside out. I came home from a Con this weekend and from my elbow to my fingers I had a Blu tint to my skin. My GF freaked, she thought I was having heart problems.
"I don't think a man know what he actually can do until he's challenged. I do think a man has missed a deep feeling of satisfaction if he has never created something, or at least completed something with his own two hands." - Dick Proenneke