Rit DyeMore Liquid Dye, Graphite, 7-Ounce

I have been trying to re-color my fading 20 year old 100% Nylon Goretex jacket I love, sadly you can't buy this type jacket any longer with same quality and function.I tried the regular Rit dye at 180°- 190° it did not take at all. So I practiced on other nylon items ( I have tested many color/combos previously with USGI colors) and through watching and learning about other dyes I ended up on Rit Dyemore and the "just below boiling" recommended. I was worried the 200°+ would damage the garment. I have successfully dyed other items with nylon and cotton but this 100% nylon was different. The only thing I screwed up was the color mix to get an emerald green color. I was so caught up on getting it done since it was taking me longer than I had time for, from getting water to temp and the smell getting to my wife (first time I did this inside with dyemore due to weather) I poured in the whole bottle of graphite @#$%#. So this was Dyemore 50/Peacock Green and 50/Graphite. Pretty much a total waste of the green you can see the green a bit in the sun. We have not seen the sun for days so the picture is with artificial LED lighting.Heating up the 3 gallons of water took some time even on med high in a large water bath canner I bought specifically for this to set up on a turkey fryer base with propane tank outside. The problem is, I live in a very windy area and picking relatively calm days are few and far between with the open flame. I do set up wind blocks that help.A soon as I dropped it in the water after washing the jacket it started taking on a dark black color, so limiting the time in the mix would not have helped the darkness of the end product IMHO. So I went a full 30 min stirring constantly at no lower than 200°. I had an old oven thermometer I placed in the water and I let it get up to 210° so when I put in the cold jacket in it would not go below 200 and it worked great. Took out and washed 2X's and set out to air dry on porch. I think I could have pulled it out much sooner the leftover amount of dye for the other pieces proved this. I did put aluminum foil around the stove area to limit stain from the dye and cardboard on the tile/grout floor, glad I did.I would add, I like to use up all the dye so I did a USGI UCP pants, 85 rayon, 25 para- Aramid,10 nylon and a blouse/jacket 65 poly/35 cotton(put in first) and there was quite a bit of dye left to color them. I did not want to add the Goretex pants because I was afraid they would most likely not come out the same color. Since this worked I have to decide if I want to try and remove the dark color and try again or do the same to the pants. But I worry the 200° multiple times might degrade the material further. I applied water proofing for Goretex and they are shedding water great.Picture: left, original color of Gortex . 2nd left Gortex jacket with Dyemore. 3rd USGI pants Para-Aramid blend. 4th USGI UP blouse/jacket poly cotton blend after washing and drying

It worked fine for dying my cotton and polyester wool blend sweatshirt. If you follow the directions it seems to work very well. I think I could have died a couple of more things in the same water and had good results.I have not washed this item since I dyed it, but I noticed that the charcoal gray color is fading after a few months. At this rate I think it will take two or three years for it to wear out enough that I would want to re-dye it.

**NOT ALL FABRICS ARE THE SAME: WHAT WORKED FOR ME MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU**My fabric is a nylon/spandex blend (unsure of percentages), intended for use in swimsuits, dancewear, etc. Fabric started out a moderate gray; I wanted it black. Fabric had a black matte foil imprint of reptile scales, but that didn't seem to affect the dye process: scale pattern neither lost nor gained color. Contrary to the color on the bottle, pure Graphite dyed it BLUE! What finally worked for me to get a true black:Per 10g of fabric, use: 1 cup water, 1 1/2 tsp Graphite dye, 1 tsp Apricot Orange dye, and a drop of dish soap.(Or, for just under a pound of fabric, use: 2 gallons + 2 cups water, 1 1/2 bottles of Graphite dye, 1 bottle Apricot Orange dye, and a little less than 1 tsp of dish soap. I think I calculated that right...)Heat the water over the stove until it's just under boiling. Add dye and dishsoap, stir, add fabric. Let sit--just under boiling--for 20 minutes, stirring *at least* every few minutes. Pull out fabric, rinse under hot water, then warm, then cold; water should run clear. Then handwash with soap, rinse, and line dry. I didn't use any Dye Fixative; I don't know how well the color will hold up in the long run, but so far the color is holding with handwashing.What did NOT work:I originally tried pure Graphite dye, following the package directions exactly: a ratio of 2 lbs of fabric to 3 gallons to 1/2 bottle dye. Fabric came out a brilliant teal color. Then I tried tripling the dye concentration, still pure Graphite: that turned it navy blue. Leaving the fabric in longer didn't seem to have any effect: I saw no difference between 20, 30, and 45 minutes, and only a slight difference at 60; dye concentration is MUCH more important than time. (Bottle does note that nylon dyes quickly.)

I purchased these as a set of 3 items. I received: 1 Pack of Rit DyeMore 7 Oz. Synthetic Liquid Fiber Dye - Graphite; Pack of 1 Rit Dye, 8 Fl Oz of #88150 All Purpose Liquid Dye - Black; Rit Dye RIT COLORSTAY, 8 fl oz, ClearI followed instruction for the pairs of pants that were made with synthetic fibers. I boiled on the stove as instructed. Mixing the DyeMore Graphite into the water and added clothes.When I was finished with the stove, I dumped the whole of the hot water into the washer and started to combine in my natural fiber pants and added the other bottle of Rit All Purpose.After the first rinse I filled the machine with hot water and added the Rit ColorStay. It really brightened and refreshed my black denim jeans.