Thread: Dyeing body stockings with acid dyes?

I have a Sugar Petals body stocking I'd like to dye. I know that the best path is to use acid dyes, I have stove-top dyed with acid dyes before, and I have a fine collection of different colors at hand - so no need to talk me out of Rit; I am a hardcore Jacquard convert already ;-) However, given that the fabric contains spandex, which suffers from too much heat, I am a bit worried. What is a good temperature to maintain? Is the length of the process the same as for regular silk dyeing? And, is there some general wisdom of how the colors tend to come out? (Since I try to get at least a slight match to a costume, it would be good to know if there tends to be a shift towards red or blue or some such? or if the colors come out paler than on silk?)

What is a good temperature to maintain?
I'm afraid I didn't use a thermometer. I did keep it below a boil but hot enough to dissolve the dye. Call the Jacquard company and they will be happy to help. They gave me great advice when I did the same thing.

Is the length of the process the same as for regular silk dyeing?
Pretty much but the Jacquard rep I talked to suggested checking the color occasionally until it looked like I wanted it to. The silk I dyed at the same time ended up pretty close to the same color.

And, is there some general wisdom of how the colors tend to come out?
The Jacquard dye is pretty color true. The only difference I saw was my spandex was slightly darker then the silk.

Best of luck!

I did some body stockings on the stove top with Rit dye.

I kept the water at a low boil the whole time, and the spandex came out fine - it wasn't harmed at all by the temperature.

Thanks so much! That is useful for the project, I very much appreciate it. Sounds as if it is more straight forward than what I expected. Now I just have to have a magic touch to get the color kinda right (which between an iridescent dark blue great loop and a unique peacock silk skirt is not a guaranteed-success project). I'll share my success or failure :-)

I heat my acid dyes on the stove until there is some steam swirling off the surface but the solution isn't quite simmering yet. I haven't dyed a body stocking, but I've dyed nylon Lycra.

The Lycra is actually quite durable with respect to heat-- much more so than rubber. And you will probably not need to have it in the dyebath longer than 10 mins or so.

I haven't noticed shifts on nylon but I have found that sometimes it doesnt dye as dark as silk.