Changing colors

Yesterday I finally did one of those things that has been on my to-do list for almost two years and it feels so good! Do you have any tasks like that that you procrastinate about forever? Well, I finally got it done! What was it???

I took the color out of two dresses that I really like but hated the color of them. The first one was this light mauve dress that I've only worn once - at Becca's shower in 2018. I got the dress at the Siena market in Italy and really like it but the color was really dull and didn't do anything for me. I felt really drab in it.

I could have sold it or given it away, but first I decided to try changing the color. I got the Rit Color Remover on Amazon (I think you can get it at Walmart and fabric stores, too) thinking I would take all the color out and have a nice white dress. This Color Remover works on 100% cotton and 100% linen but not on polyester or combination fabrics. This dress is labeled as 100% cotton, so I gave it a try. Here it is wet before... the pink color when wet isn't too bad, but...

I

I used the stove-top method with my turkey roasting pan. I filled it with water and brought it to about 200 degrees and added a packet of the color remover...

Hmmm, when I added the dress, it turned a funny shade of bright lavender and the lace at the bottom turned an orangy pink...

I stirred it for about ten minutes until I could tell it wasn't going to change anymore. I definitely wasn't going to have a white dress!

I then washed the dress, and voila! I have a pretty new pale pink dress! The two types of lace in it are different colors but I think it's ok and could look like it was meant to be that way. I definitely would wear this now!

The second dress was one that I bought for a great price at Zara in Italy with the plan to dye it another color from the start. This tan, mustardy color is really bad on me, so I planned to dye it black. It is 100% linen and loose and flowy and looks like something you'd wander an Italian market in!

I added it to the water in my pan with a fresh packet of the Color Remover, and it immediately turned bright orange! I knew that if it went terribly bad, I could still dye it black.

It got lighter and lighter as I stirred...

Here are the two dresses in the sink before I washed them in the machine... a nice pink and a nice pale peach!!

Here is the tan linen dress - I love it now! It came out great and I love the color.

I hope this inspires you to bring new life to a garment that you don't like! I'm so happy with the results, even if I didn't end up with two white dresses!

I hope you are well at home and getting some jobs crossed off your lists! Love, Debby xoxo

Comments

[Claudia Landoni]

bravissima! non ho mai usato questa tecnica, io semmai compero chiaro e faccio diventare nero, viola o color denim!

[Deb J]

That’s the kind of dresses I like but they are sure hard to find. Next time I will remember I can do this to them. Way to go!