Oh, Faux You Didn’t: How to Dye Almost Any Synthetic Material (Like a $13 Faux Sheepskin)

I’ve been known to dye pretty much anything that isn’t nailed down, but there’s one project I’ve been wanting to try for a while that I’m only just now getting around to. Why? Because I totally wasn’t sure that it would work.

I’ve dyed everything from napkins, to shoes, to baskets, even hangers. So what the heck was my DIY dyeing mountain that I was scared to summit?! A $13 faux sheepskin rug from Ikea. I know, I know…pretty anti-climatic. Why was I stressing over this?

In all honestly, I couldn’t tell ya. It was just one of those things that seemed simple, but I knew deep down it could be a total failure. ANYWAY, long story short, I finally rolled the dice on this thing a couple of weeks ago (remember that orange bucket mess on Snapchat?) and am sharing the tutorial today.

Since this Ikea rug is made of a synthetic material, you won’t be able to use a standard dye, but it’s still super easy! Pinkie promise.

FYI – It’s recommended that you use the stovetop method for synthetic materials, but I wanted to try it my tried and true way to see if it would work. And it did! So, that’s the way I’ll show you how to dye this puppy.

Materials:

• TEJN faux sheepskin mini rug from Ikea
• fabric dye that works with synthetic materials (I used Rit synthetic)
• large bucket
• rubber gloves
• dowel rod or similar to continue pushing rug into dye

Instructions:

1. Start by submerging the faux sheepskin in water. Then, wring out the excess water and set aside.

2. Pour a full bottle of synthetic fabric dye into a bucket filled with 3 gallons of hot water. The hottest water you can get (just from your sink is fine – as long as it is hot).

3. Stir the dye bath thoroughly with a dowel rod or large spoon.

4. Lower the rug into the dye bath, all the way, making sure that the rug is fully submerged in the dye. Keep the rug submerged in the dye bath for 60-90 minutes. And stir every few minutes with dowel rod to ensure that the dye adheres properly. This is a lot longer than I would normally keep items in a dye bath, but I found that in this case, it needed to be in for that length of time, with the bucket method that I used.

5. Remove the rug from the dye, as you squeeze out any remaining water/dye from the rug. Lay flat until dry. Heat set in the dryer and its ready to use.

NOTE: Running the rug through the dryer did change the texture of the rug a little bit (made it fluffier) and I kind of with I wouldn’t have done it. So, keep that in mind… If you like the texture of the rug when it air dries, you may want to just leave it as is, without heat setting.

Photography by Rachel Brewer and Amelia Tatnall
Concept and styling by Brittni Mehlhoff

Curious to know… Have you ever had a project that you put off starting for pretty much no reason at all? Really wondering if I’m a lone ranger on this one.

P.S. I just saw that Sweet Paul did an overdyed rug project with a regular rug, using a different method that looks pretty cool too, if you want to give that one a try.