Rit All-Purpose Powder Dye, Pearl Gray

it did the job

*Jan. 17, 2017: They're starting to slightly fade, but only very slightly. Certainly not any more than a newly purchased pair.*Apr. 13, 2016: Still no issues with fading, they still look good.*Jan. 6, 2016: They still look good. I'll stress to wash them separately the first 3-5 times to avoid staining other clothes.I like how the jeans and shirts I dyed turned out. I should have taken a before picture, but I didn't plan on writing a review until after I finished. The jeans were very faded, almost white at the knees and some permanent dirt stains. I followed the instructions for the most part, but here's what I did, which allowed me to not have to use a cup of salt for each pair of jeans: 3 gallons of 150°F water in a bucket, mixed one cup of salt, 1 packet of navy blue and 1/2 packet of black. The instructions specify one packet per pound of fabric, since these jeans weigh 1.5 pounds, that's right on spec.I submerged the first pair of jeans in hot clean water first before placing into the dye solution as per Rit's instructions, but I didn't do that for the three subsequent pairs, I can't see any difference in the end result. I left the jeans in the dye for about 30 minutes each, mixing with gloved hands and sticks about every 10 minutes or so. Rit's instructions say to stir constantly for the first 20 minutes then occasionally for 10 minutes. I didn't do that, but the results were still very uniform. After I removed the first pair, I added another packet of navy blue and 1/2 packet of black and did the same for the third pair. I was worried that adding more dye to the existing dye not absorbed in the first pair of jeans would cause the second and third pair to be way darker, but that was not the case. For the fourth pair, I added nothing and the jeans came out very slightly lighter than the first three pairs. The fourth pair was also lined with flannel and weighed more.Consecutively, I dyed five faded black shirts (2.5 lbs). I used a bottle of liquid black combined with a 1/2 packet of black and dyed all five shirts at the same time with great results. The bottle of liquid is good for 2 lbs. of fabric.I find after reading others’ reviews that it’s important to keep the temperature of the solution to at least 140 degrees. I achieved that with my sous vide cooker in between pairs (immersed heating element with a circulator). Other methods I suggest would be a 4-5 gallon stock pot and a thermometer, or topping off with boiling water (which will dilute the salt and the dye, so may need to add more).After everything was dyed, I hung everything up outside for about 1/2 hour, then plunged the jeans then the shirts each into a 6 gallon bucket of clean water and rang them out. I then ran the jeans then shirts separately in a short cold water washing machine cycle and hung everything to dry. After wearing, I plan to put both the shirts and the jeans into their own laundry pile together and wash them all again by themselves to ensure the color has set.I forgot to add a squirt of dishwashing soap to the dye solution as Rit suggests. I imagine that would have further ensured penetration into the fabric by reducing the surface tension of the solution.Use rubber gloves. I did and I found out that one finger had a very small hole in it because that finger is now blue. I figured the two plastic buckets I used would be forever stained blue, but they weren’t.I’ll update in the future to report on how everything holds up to washing and wear.All in all, this represents over $300 of clothing when new, feels pretty good to be able to restore everything for about $15 worth of dye/salt and two hours of time (even less because I did other stuff while soaking and ignoring the 20 minute agitation)!

Great brown. Follow instructions. Rit never disappoints.

This dress I bought at a thrift store and once I got it home I found a couple of spots where the color had faded. I liked the design of the dress so I decided to try to dye it. The dress was originally a light sage green and after reading reviews on the sage green dye not covering well, I decided to go for a darker green in hopes it would dye lighter. Nope, I followed the stovetop directions and after leaving it in the water for 5 minutes, I got scared about how dark it was and rinsed it out. The dress looks black now, with sage green lace (since apparently the lace did not hold the dye color). I still may wear it, but it’s a far cry from its original look. The dye did cover well on the cotton portion of the dress. The lace and a lining underneath remained lighter due to their fabric not holding the color.

Really works and have always loved this brand

The color is great and the product is easy to use, if only a bit messy. Make sure hands are completely dry before opening the bag because a little of the powder goes a long way if it gets on damp hands. Impossible to remove in a hurry and transfers to everything you touch. Stage your dying operation to avoid as much movement as possible. Add the powder to the water and mix thoroughly well before any clothing or other items are added. The powder tends to be somewhat clumpy at first and takes a few minutes to completely dissolve. I discovered this on my first teeshirt dying attempt. You could see where the clumps settled on clothing as they appeared as darker spots on the material surface. Lesson learned. I recommend using a color-fast additive for better color retention.

Thank you

I heated the water up as directed (on the stove) and poured the hot water into a bucket. I used 3 packets of this Black Rit Dye in about 3 gallons of water to try and spruce up a few "slightly" faded black work shirts. I added salt as directed and stirred everything well. After submerging the shirts in the bucket of hot water, dye and salt, I stirred well for almost an hour. I left the shirts in the bucket of dye over night to make sure the dye settled into the fabrics threads sufficiently. The next day, I removed the shirts from the bucket of black dye and rinsed thoroughly as directed. I then washed the newly dyed shirts in the washing machine on cold and gentle. I must say that i was COMPLETELY DISAPPOINTED in the results I achieved. I spent HOURS stirring and preparing this dye and washing and ringing repeatedly. I wasted my time and money try to make a slightly faded shirt look new with the SAME color as the original shirt color. I was not trying to change the color of the polo style shirts at all. I just wanted to spruce them up and this product COMPLETELY DISAPPOINTED ME and failed after i followed the directions perfectly and I even watched a few instructional videos online. THIS WAS A WASTE OF MONEY AND MY TIME...... You have been warned !