How to Dye Synthetic Material
I've dyed everything from napkins, to shoes, to baskets, even hangers. So what 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 and am sharing the tutorial today.
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
Submerge the rug in water.
- Start by submerging the faux sheepskin in water. Then, wring out the excess water and set aside.
Create the dye bath.
- 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).
Stir dye bath.
- Stir the dye bath thoroughly with a dowel rod or large spoon.
Submerge the rug in the dye.
- 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.
Squeeze water out, lay flat, and heat set.
- 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.
Notes
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.