You can use RIT on nylon easy. Use our search to find a white nylon style, I’ve even queued up the search terms just for you!  If you’re using RIT, it’s okay if it’s a fiber blend, since this dye is made to work on cotton and nylon blends. Just follow the directions on the package, or the DIY we shared with you earlier this year.  So plain ol’ black and white Ribbed Pinstripe Leggings plus some RIT in Sunshine Orange can become these Halloween-tastic orange and black leggings! The dye won’t make any difference to the black stripes, so I’m free to choose what colours I want.

What’s wonderful about dyeing socks and tights is that when you can’t find the exact colour you want for something, you can make it!

Now, there is a fiber-specific way you can dye nylon, and there’s even an option at your grocery store! Join me after the jump for more nylon transformation!

Nylon, like silk and wool, is best dyed with acid dyes. Don’t worry! They’re not super-villain acidic (though you should probably wear gloves any time you dye things). Acid dyes work best with “protein” fibers like nylon.  A great resource for acid dyes and dyeing in general is Dharma Trading company.  But if you’re just curious about trying out dyeing nylon, then just pop over to your local grocery store and pick up a couple packs of Kool-Aid.

Yep. Kool-Aid.

Kool-Aid dyeing nylon

Kool-Aid is very acidic and works great as a dye on wool and nylon. You might even remember dyeing your hair with it in middle school (or, at least, I do).  It doesn’t take much effort to dye something with Kool-Aid.  And though I’m going to show you the stovetop method, there’s a way to do it in the microwave too. Here’s what you’ll need to do it on the stove:

• What you’re dyeing—which sharp eyes will notice that’s what is pictured is not what I actually end up dyeing •
• A stainless steel or enamel pot or saucepan •
• Packs of unsweetened Kool-Aid in the colours you want •

Put enough water in your pot to cover what you’re dyeing. In this case, I’m dying the some Sheer Lace Top Stockings with Backseams, which don’t need much to cover them.  Add packets of Kool-Aid to your pot. There’s no math involved, just more packets mean more colour!  Stir to dissolve.

Now add what you are dyeing and put the pot on the stove! Heat it to almost boiling and then turn the heat off. Let it sit, covered, for about half an hour.

You’ll know that you’re done dyeing when the water is clear.  All the colour is now in what you’re dyeing!  Wait until it is cooled and rinse well with warm water.

And ta-da! The camera cannot convey how bright these truly are. You can also see that maybe I should have used a bigger pot, so the stockings weren’t so cramped. Giving them a stir or two would help too. These will be going back in the pot to even out the tone.

If you want to use your microwave, just dissolve your Kool-Aid into water in a microwave-safe container. Pop what you’re dyeing in and microwave for two minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes then microwave for another two minutes. And done! Just like with the stove top, you’ll know you’re done when the water is clear.

Now, are you ready for fancy acid dyes?

Acid dyeing nylon

Using acid dye is a little trickier than using RIT or Kool-Aid. The dye I’m using came from Dharma Trading Company, a great resource for dyeing.  This is what you’ll need:

• What you’re dyeing, in this case the Paris Fleur De Lis Pantyhose •
• A stainless steel or enamel pot or saucepan, one that is just for dyeing, not food •
• Acid dye •
• Something to stir with that won’t stain or won’t matter if you stain. Think non-reactive stuff like wood, stainless steel and plastic •
• Vinegar •

Fill a stainless steel pot with enough water to properly cover whatever you’re dying, then turn on the stove top and add your dye.

You want about 2-4% of dye to the weight of the thing you’re dyeing. In my case that is not much. Use your eyeballs and common sense and if it turns out to light, remember you can always dye it again! As an example, to dye a pound of fabric you need 1/3 to 2/3 an ounce of dye. How much is a pound of fabric? Well, two pairs of Long Cuffable Scrunchables come to just under a pound, so that’s a lot! I found that the amount I added was more than enough and I probably could have gone with less.

Now, with everything properly stirred, add the thing that you are dyeing! Make sure what it is nice and wet, so the dye will wick in better, though it starts taking colour SUPER fast!

Bring your pot to just under boiling (185-200°F). If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, then know that you don’t want it to get to a “roiling boil.” Keep your pot simmering, but don’t let it get more feisty than that. This page has a good visual reference to the difference between boiling and simmering.  Once it is simmering, add your vinegar! The proportions are about 1/4 cup vinegar to one pound of fabric. Try not to pour it directly on what you’re dyeing, use your stirrer to push it aside while you pour the vinegar in.

Keep your pot simmering, stirring regularly, for half an hour.  When that time is up turn off the heat and let everything cool before rinsing in warm water. You will see that the water in the pot is clear, because all that colour went into what you were dyeing!

Probably, these were everyone’s favourite dye transformation. So purple! And look how well they match the Tibetan Flower Crews in Fuchsia!

There is so much you can do once you get dyeing! And sometimes, you learn something interesting about fiber! These Fingerless Lace Gloves with Ruffles I dyed with Kool-Aid (the red) and acid dye (the purple). They say on the label that they’re 90% nylon, but only the lace on the cuff and the fingers took the dye! Which means the body of the gloves is probably polyester, which doesn’t take acid dye. The result is pretty though, so I wasn’t too pouty about it. We’ve made a note in the Fiber Content for these gloves and are currently seeking confirmation as to what exactly they’re made of.

For more dye fun, here’s a great tutorial on tie-dyeing nylon tights, though we do have those ready made in a great cotton blend and lots of colours!

For more reference on dyeing protein fibers like nylon and wool, these two articles on Knitty are great jumping-off points. They refer to wool blends mostly, but the same techniques work on nylon:

• Kool-Aid Dyeing at Knitty •
• Using Acid Dyes at Knitty •

If you take the plunge into a vat of colour, share your results with us on Facebook! We love seeing when folks get creative with their socks. Until then, may your experiments all be as beautiful as you are!

Even if you’re not ready for learning the scientific ins and outs of fancy dyes, you can expand your techniques and start playing around with ways to add colour.  I’ve got two simple approaches to show you.  The easiest (and my favourite) creates something between marbling and tie-dye.  Called “low water immersion” or “scrunch” dyeing, it’s always a beautiful surprise to see how it turns out which, for me, is part of the fun.

All you’ll need for this technique are:

• Dye •
• What you’re dying (the unevenly dyed sock half from last week for me!) •
• A container not too much bigger than what you’re dyeing, remember plastic will stain! •
(to see what would work best, scrunch up your sock and try fitting it into various jars and containers)
• A container to mix your dye in •

Not shown:

• Very hot water (like for brewing tea) •
• Optional: vinyl or rubber gloves to keep dye off your hands •

Not that many things, is it?  Join me after the jump for the simple run-down and one more easy way to play with dye!

Get what you’re dyeing wet, just like before, so the dye is absorbed more easily.  Then take your socks and roll or scrunch it up into a container that just fits it.  This glass and jelly jar seem to do for me.  There is no precise way to do this (and that’s why trying things out with a Dyer’s Batch Crafty Bundle is perfect!).  How you shove or roll the sock into the container affects the final result.

Ready your dye, use the same amount of dye as normal (about a quarter package of RIT powder for a single long sock), but far less water.  You only want to add the dye to about as much hot water as can fit in the container you’ve shoved the socks into.  It’s perfectly fine to just guess.

Pour dye over your shoved, scrunched sock.

Set it aside and wait for two hours.

Remove your sock from the container and rinse in warm then cool water until the water runs clear.  This is the exciting part, getting to see where the dye got to and what patterns it made!  When you’re done, gently hand wash and let your creation dry!  No two attempts will be exactly the same, though you can get them pretty similar.  On the top is the one from the example, which I rolled (and if I’d rolled tighter, there would have been a better fade of pattern).  On the bottom is one I just scrunched into the container willy-nilly.

Now, if you’re ready for a slightly more involved dyeing process, let’s dry ombre dyeing!  Darker at one end and pastel at the other, ombre colour is fun and fashionable.

You’ll need:

• Dye •
• What you’re dyeing (thinner, non-ribbed styles work best, like O Basics)  •
• A tub, bowl or bucket (remember, if it’s plastic, it will stain!) •
• A container to pre-mix your dye in •
• An area by a sink to work in (this gets a little messy) •

Not shown:

• Very hot water (like for brewing tea) •
• Optional: vinyl or rubber gloves to keep dye off your hands •
• Optional: something to agitate/poke your sock with while it is in the dye (I use a stirring stick) •

Get what you’re dyeing wet and roll about two-thirds of it up. Set aside.

Remembering the quarter-box of RIT dye to one long sock (though you’ll need less for dyeing shorter and thinner socks like the O Basics and O Chevrons), dissolve your dye in some of the hot water in a separate container.  Once you’ve done that, add it to the rest of the water in the container you’ll be dyeing in.  Mix well!

Take your silly, partly rolled-up sock and dunk the unrolled end into your dye bath.  Softly move it back and forth to agitate it for about ten minutes.

You’ll notice that the dye starts to wick up the sock some.  This is fine! It helps smooth out the transition between sections.

Now, unroll about another third of your sock into the dye bath.  Agitate gently for about five minutes.

Here’s where you’ll probably want gloves.  Unroll your sock completely and use your hands to dip the top third of the sock into the dye, just long enough to reach a nice pastel shade.

Remove the sock from the dye and rinse it out in warm water, letting the water hit the lighter areas first (so the dye travels down to the darker section).  Make the water gradually colder and rinse until the water runs clear.  When you’re done, gently hand wash and let it dry.

The result is a pretty gradient of colour!  You can (and should!) experiment until you get the look you like the most.  Try two colours (just do the same process with another colour, starting at the other end!), start from the middle, go wild!

One quick note before I let you go, below is a snap of how the terry-lined feet of styles like the Ribbed M Stockings and Skater Stripes dye.  Styles that are terry-lined most of the way up, like the Dreamy Striped Tubes, will take the dye in the same way.  They’re totally dyeable, but the higher acrylic content in this part of the sock won’t get as dark as the rest.

You can see that the terry loops take dye well though (and they would have taken it better if I’d turned the sock inside out).  So that is something to keep in mind if you wear your terry inside out (which I do!).

There’s a wonderful world of fun ways to dye socks out there and we’d love if you share the results of your experiments with Crafty Bundles on our Facebook!  And if you like dyed stuff but don’t want the hassle, we have tonnes of gorgeous tie dye offerings ourselves!

Well, the logical thing to do is offer a white and off-white option of the Crafty Bundle, the Dyer’s Batch!  You still get five assorted socks, but they’re in easy-to-dye shades (and, since they’re all Dream Stockings and Dreamer Socks, easy to dye fibers too!).  What I’m especially excited about is that the Dyer’s Batch gives folks a chance to play with dyeing socks without the worry that they’ll ruin a favourite pair.  And, if the dye job turns out, it’s easy to whip them into something fun like arm warmers or any of the cool DIY sock ideas we’re pinning to Pinterest!

If you’ve never dyed socks before, don’t stress, it is super easy!  We’ll walk you through the basics, so you have the foundation to play to your heart’s content.

For just straight up dyeing cotton blends like the socks in our Crafty Bundles, something easy to get and use like RIT Dye works pretty well, especially if you’re just learning.  The common complaint with RIT is that you can’t get strong, vivid colour from it, so keep that in mind.  The RIT Dye site has lots of great tips and techniques that are worth checking out, no matter what dye you’re using.

You’ll need:

• A glass or plastic bowl or bucket that will easily hold what you’re dyeing •
(remember! Dye will stain plastic, so don’t use your favourite mixing bowl if it is plastic)
• Dye •
• What you’re dyeing! •
• Something to stir with •

Not shown here, because I am a space case:

• A smaller glass or plastic container to pre-mix your dye in •
• Hot water, think “as hot as tea”—doesn’t have to be boiling •
• Optional: gloves so you don’t stain your hands•

Once you’ve gathered your gear, meet me after the jump for the how-to!

Proportion is key with dyeing.  RIT recommends 1 package of their powder and 3 gallons of hot water to one pound of fabric.  But how much is a pound of fabric?  Well, some of our heaviest socks are the Long Cuffable Scrunchables and they weigh in around 8 ounces.

With 16 ounces to a pound, you’ll want to use just a half package and 1-1.5 gallons of water if you’re dyeing just one pair of longer socks, on average.  I’m just dyeing a single sock here (a Ribbed M Stocking in Natural), so I’ll halve that again.

Before you do anything, get your socks thoroughly wet.  This will help the dye wick into the fibers and you’ll get a less patchy finish.

Mix your dye and a little hot water in the small container. Put your socks in the larger bowl with the rest of the hot water.  Mixing the dye separately avoids clumps of un-dissolved dye making dark marks on your socks. For example purposes, I’ve cut my sock in half, to show you two dyeing methods.

Add the diluted dye to the bowl with the socks, stirring well. You can see that there are specks of undissolved dye, so get right in there and mix it up so nothing makes a permanent speck on what you’re dyeing.

Now, there are two schools of thought for the next step.  You can stir and agitate your socks for 10-30 minutes (depending on how pastel or vibrant you want the colour), or you can put something on top of what you’re dyeing to weigh it down and let it sit there for two hours untouched.  The result will be patchier, but if you’re going to be adding more dye or embellishment to it later, it doesn’t matter as much. Socks tend to be a mix of fibers and although dyes like RIT are made to work with fiber blends, the thickness of the sock and the mix of fibers can make it a little more difficult to get an even dye job with.

If you’re just leaving it be, put something on top of what you’re dyeing so that it doesn’t float up.  A small plate works.

The bowl on the left I’m agitating and the bowl on the right I’m leaving be.  Remember, what you’re dyeing will look darker when wet and in the dye than the finished colour will be.  So if you’re trying to go dark, go a little longer than you think it needs.

Below are snaps at 5, 10 and 15 minutes in the dye bath.  There is a subtle difference, but how much of that sticks really does depend on how long what you’re dyeing has been saturated.

I want these to be about middle-vibrant, so I only agitated for twenty minutes.  One they’d done their time in the dye bath, however long it is, rinse in warm water, gradually adding cooler water, until the rinse water runs clear.

On the left is the agitated sock (ha!) and the right is the one that just sat in dye.  This is why, if you want an even dye job, you have to agitate, as annoying as it is:

If you’re trying to dye pastel shades or are only going for a single colour evenly dispersed, the agitation method will work best, because you can better keep track of how much dye is taking hold.  If you’re going to dye another colour on top of this one, then the patchier result of just letting it sit in dye may work for you.

Give your freshly dyed sock a quick handwash and let it dry, either on the line or in the dryer.  Once it is dry it’s ready to be turned into whatever your imagination demands!

There are a million variations for the dyeing process and we’ll go over some fun ones next week (including my favourite way to cover up a patchy dye job like the sock on the right!).  Until then— if you’ve picked up a regular Crafty Bundle or a Dyer’s Batch, or if you’ve taken the plunge and dyed a pair of socks on your own, please share it here or on our Facebook!