Dying bras

[W-D Forties]

Does anyone know if you can dye bras? I have a white longline 'Doreen' that I'd love to dye peach to match some of my other underwear but I don't want to risk ruining it! I wasn't sure if you could dye that type of man made fabric. Has anyone done this before and how did it go?

 

[venusop]

It all just depends on the type of fabric that the bra is made of, and which dye brand you use. I know you can dye nylon using Rit, but not polyester. I believe there are available dyes for polyester though. if that bra is cotton or rayon or silk based it's also no problem. If it's a poly-blend you may be able to get away with it, but I don't think the color would be as intense

 

[scarlett]

I have tried it on a few without paying attention to the fabric content and the proper dye. I used rit dye and the results are okay. Due to the different textures and fabric on most bras, each part comes out a slightly different shade. The lace is usually lighter, the straps and waistbands come out darker. I've used dark colors and light colors with the same results. One vintage girdle that was mainly the same fabric all around did come out very nice in a light pink. Oh, if you dye a bra and it has adjustable shoulder straps, move them several times during the process so you don't have a white mark from the setting they were on during the dye process.

 

[Frk.W]

I do regular searches for vintage long line bras on Etsy and Ebay and come across a lot of dyed items there. It's an easy way of getting an idea of how it might turn out. In general, I think peach and other pale colours should work fine, but richer colours often don't look that great, in my opinion.

 

[W-D Forties]

I think I'll have a go when my current bra is getting a little long in the tooth. I want to go a fairly light peach so I'm hoping it will work reasonably well!

 

[Lady Day]

Its not really worth it.
You have to factor the heat of the water to the type of fabric (nylon will shrivel and melt) to the dye and the combinations of fabric used to construct the bra to the types of dye needed to dye it. You'll most likely need a dye for synthetic fabric and for natural fibers. iDye makes them both. I'd use that if you were going to do it, but then you'd also have to factor in the rubber/elastic/spandex and will it hold up to a really long hot soak?

Way too many factors for me at least.

 

[W-D Forties]

What I really want is a peach longline 'Doreen' to match my other undies! They just don't do enough colours!