Dying delicates

[town hall]

I have a lovely knit top in an unlovely shade of green. I want to dye it to a better green. I've checked the fibre content: it's a cotton/ linen blend, with viscose trim, all of which should be fine with the dye I'm using (Dylon machine dye). Buuut, the care label says it should be washed on a very gentle, wool-type cycle, whereas the dye box says it needs an ordinary 40-degree cycle.

Do you think I should go ahead and give the dye a go on the wool cycle? Or risk messing up the top on a normal cycle, maybe reducing the spin speed? Or just donate the top and save the dye for something else?

Cheers in advance for any superior dying knowledge you may be able to impart!
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[weezil]

I've never used Dylon or dyed in my washing machine before, but I have some ideas about why the directions are what they are:
1. the hot water is a necessary part of setting the dye
2. the agitation of a regular wash cycle will move the fabric around enough so that it dyes evenly

You'll probably need to keep the temperature hot so the dye sets. But you might be able to get away with using a less powerful agitation setting, as long as the fabric gets moved around enough to make the dye distribute evenly (you can assist this by gently moving it around yourself, with some kind of tool or with your hands in rubber gloves)

I can't say if going through a single cycle in hot water will ruin the top - I don't know if it'll shrink or something.
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[town hall]

Thanks, weezil. It's a front-loading washing machine, so I can't stick my hands in to poke the fabric about unfortunately! I guess I'd need to put it on a non-delicate cycle to ensure the drums moves sufficiently to distribute the dye; I have used Dylon before, on sturdier fabrics, with excellent results.

I think I will go for it - I've not got much to lose, especially as 40 degrees isn't really too hot a wash. They've formulated the dye so it can be used at forty because lots of garments' care labels say to wash at that temperature. When I first bought this type of dye years ago, it had to be washed in at sixty, which meant it was too risky on a lot of things.
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kittens are cute, but a full-grown cat can be cuter

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[IrmaVep]

Don't Dylon do a cold water dye series as well?

[town hall]

Yep, but I happen to already have this green dye just hanging around, so I thought I'd give it a bash. Also, my experience with using the cold water dylon to dye cords is that, if you go out in the rain, you end up with navy blue legs... perhaps they've improved since the 90s, though!
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kittens are cute, but a full-grown cat can be cuter

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[town hall]

In case anyone wanted to know, I dyed the shirt and it came out really well! I turned the spin cycle speed down so as not to wreck the fabric, but kept the temperature correct for the dye.

Only annoying thing is, because the thread keeping the shirt together is synthetic, it didn't dye. Although I anticipated this, it's a bit more contrasty than I expected. But it's ok.
_________________
kittens are cute, but a full-grown cat can be cuter

flickr!
twidder!