National Clothesline

The ability to restore fabrics, suedes and leathers gives the professional drycleaner an untapped market for not only making money but saving claims on damaged garments as well.

There are many common situations where dye loss and discolorations occur on fabrics, leathers and suedes. The items may be clothing apparel, blankets, carpet, gloves, furniture or car seat covers.

This can occur from staining during wear, chemical contact, a drycleaner’s attempt at stain removal or exposure.

The ability to apply dye to discolored and stained items turns an unusable item into a usable one.

Dye restoration is sometimes needed to cover set or oxidized staining. Sometimes dyes are even added to a white fabric to make it whiter.

The professional drycleaner has many different coloring aids at his disposal.

Unfortunately, there are no extensive instructions on using these coloring aids. There is a need to know how to properly apply these dyes and which fabrics, leathers or suedes the dyes can be used on.

Attempts can be made to dye or change the color of the entire item but the application of coloring to cover stains is not a simple operation.

Sometimes trial-and-error is necessary to obtain maximum results. The application of dyes also requires knowledge of color blending to obtain success. For example, I can apply different colors to a stain to match the background of the item.

I have written a manual on restoration of fabrics, suedes and leathers based on my long experience as a garment analyst and licensed drycleaning instructor.

I am now taking some excerpts from my manual so that the drycleaners can see what it is about. This is very exciting to me and others in the field because nothing has ever been written like this manual.

I was a consultant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and other museums as well as many curators across the country. My profession included the cleaning and restoration of old and dated artifacts.

I restored many American Indian and South American blankets and had opportunity to study the dye used to restore colors on some discolored areas. The dyes used were of vegetable origin and the blankets were woven with a wide variety of colors. It is interesting to note the acid nature of urine was used to set these dyes

Red onion skin and brown onion skin were used to give their respective colors. Juniper mistletoe and sage brush gave the yarns a brown and tan color.

Shades of brown were dyed using wild walnut bark, wild walnut shells and canaigre. Vegetable dyes today have been superseded by synthetic dyes, but vegetable dyes can still be used to restore color on fabrics. Bracken and heather yield a yellow color. Bilberries with cup moss and alum yield purple color and magenta is obtained from dandelions. Tea dyeing is used by many people to obtain an antique and off-white fabric.

I have encountered wedding gowns and veils that incorporated tea dyeing and have personally used the method for restoration. True Harris tweeds have their characteristic odor from the use of vegetable dyes. Madras is a cotton fabric from India characterized by bleeding vegetable dyes. The yellow color of mustard is attributed to the ingredient tumeric.

You can very often restore a discolored fabric by using common vegetable dyes. For example, I once had a tan tablecloth sent to my laboratory with a discolored area.

There are many common beverages that can duplicate a tan or brown color on a fabric. This includes coffee, tea and soft drinks. The intensity of the color can be increased or decreased by the concentration of the beverage used.

For example, I can dilute the concentration of coffee, tea or beverage by just adding water. The color of these beverages can also be intensified if I allow the beverage to oxidize on the fabric.

I can use heat to further oxidize the beverage. The example of a tannin substance oxidizing is cutting an apple in half and observing the brown oxidation which shows up later. Chemicals can also be used to deepen the intensity of color.

Alkalis such as ammonia applied to a tannin substance will deepen the color. Acetic acid can also be added to a tannin substance to lighten its color.

The proper way to apply localized dyeing using tannin substances is by applying with a q-tip or eye dropper. The color duplication can be very effective on natural fabrics but is not effective on thermoplastic fabrics including polyester, nylon and acrylic.

Mustard can be a common source for dye restoration in attempting to match a yellow color. Strawberries and cherries can be applied to a q-tip, giving a red color that may be needed for restoration.

Chocolate becomes a very effective source of matching a brown color. The color of chocolate combined with the oils makes an ideal source of dye application for all fabrics. The chocolate is applied with a q-tip on a local area.

The oils in the chocolate allow it to be absorbed by all fabrics, including natural, synthetic and thermoplastic. This can be effective for dye application to most suedes and leathers.

A poinsettia plant or rose bush will release a vivid red color that can be used to match and spot dye some fabrics. You can very easily rub a q-tip on the plant and then apply it to the fabric.

This color matching technique can be used with other flowers and plants of different colors. The advantage of using plants and flowers is that the color matching and affinity it has for fabrics is effective. This means that the color will remain on the surface of all fabrics including natural, synthetic and thermoplastic.