What Is Garment Dye?

How is clothing garment dyed?

Garment dyeing colours clothing after it has been cut and sewn, rather than at the fibre, yarn or fabric stage. Cotton Incorporated describes it as practised “for many years, both commercially and as a home procedure”.

In outline, commercial production runs like this:

1. Prepare the fabric. The cloth is cleaned and relaxed before cutting, which gives a clean surface for dye and more consistent sizing. Chemical finishes such as resins and some softeners generally interfere with garment dyeing.
2. Cut and sew. The garments are made up uncoloured. Cotton Incorporated recommends 100% cotton or corespun cotton/polyester sewing thread, so that the thread dyes to nearly the same shade as the garment.
3. Turn and load. Turning garments inside out before dyeing best preserves their appearance. Rotary drum machines have become the more common equipment; paddle machines are sometimes preferred for pieces that need gentler handling, such as a sweater.
4. Dye and dry. The batch is coloured with a dye class chosen for the fibre and shade, then dried.

In Cotton Incorporated’s trials on cotton garments, direct, fibre-reactive, sulphur and vat dyes were all used, and indigo had a separate procedure. The bulletin covers garments from lightweight knits to heavy twill bottom weights.

Because colour goes on last, makers can dye short runs, adding fashion shades to basic ones, and use the method for “rapid response to consumer demand”.

What does garment dyeing do to a piece of clothing?

Garment dyeing can give cotton clothes a worn look, can shrink them, and colours each component a little differently. Cotton Incorporated links the interest in the method to a fashion trend for a wrinkled or worn appearance in casual clothing, and calls garment dyeing 100% cotton “a way to easily achieve this look”.

Shrinkage

Garments can shrink in the dye bath itself. In one Cotton Incorporated study, knit shirts made from fabric not finished for shrinkage control shrank about 22% in length during garment dyeing. Trousers made from mechanically pre-shrunk twill shrank under 2% in length.

Shade differences

Cotton Incorporated states that “some shade differences will occur between the different components”. When a blended pocketing fabric is dyed for cotton only, the cotton portion takes the dye and the overall shade does not match the garment. Mercerised thread dyes slightly darker, which can be used for effect.

Trims and linings

Delicate trims may be damaged during dyeing, and some blended interlinings pill and mat. With nylon or polyester zips, the only problem encountered was dye acceptance; plastic buttons usually present none.

How is garment dye tested?

Garment dye has no fineness grade like a fibre; it is assessed with laboratory tests for colourfastness and shrinkage. Cotton Incorporated’s bulletin uses these measures:

In the study, wet crocking rated class 3 or better, except for the sulphur dyes and one vat navy, which rated 2–3. The shrinkage test on undyed garments also accurately predicted shrinkage of 100% cotton garments during garment dyeing.

Does “garment dyed” appear on a clothing label?

Not as a legal requirement: under US law a textile label must list the fibre content, country of origin and the identity of the manufacturer or another responsible business, and the dyeing method is not among them.

The care label is governed by a separate US rule, the Care Labeling Rule (16 CFR Part 423). If washing one item could harm another washed with it, the label must carry a warning. For a garment that is not colourfast, the FTC gives “Wash with like colors” or “Wash separately” as examples.

Garment dye vs piece dye vs pigment dye

Garment dye colours finished clothes, piece dye colours fabric before it is cut, and pigment dye, as a garment-dyeing process, holds pigment on the fabric with a fixative and a binder.

How do you tell good garment dyeing from poor?

Good garment dyeing shows only small shade differences between parts and no damage from the dye bath; poor work shows distortion from shrinkage or damaged trims and linings. Check these points:

1. Compare the parts. Hold the collar, cuffs and body side by side. Slight differences are inherent; a pocket bag at a clearly different shade suggests a blended pocketing.
2. Look at the thread. Cotton or corespun thread should sit close to the body colour. A slightly darker line can be mercerised thread used deliberately.
3. Check the waistband. Excessive shrinkage can leave a waistband looking crumpled. It should lie flat when the garment is laid out.
4. Pinch the collar and cuffs. Some blended interlinings pill and mat in the dye bath. Feel for a rough, pilled or matted layer inside.
5. Inspect trims and zips. Look for frayed delicate trims and a zip tape that has not taken the colour.
6. Read the care label. “Wash separately” or “Wash with like colors” tells you the colour may bleed.

How do you care for garment-dyed clothing?

Follow the care label, which under US rules must warn you if a normal washing procedure would harm the garment or other items washed with it. Wash garment-dyed pieces with similar colours when the label asks for it. Expect a pigment-dyed piece to keep fading: its colours are intended to wash down over its life.

Is garment dyeing sustainable?

Garment dyeing can cut unsold stock and the cost of fabric waste, but there is no simple yes. Cotton Incorporated reports that it can significantly reduce lead times and excess inventory, and that fabric wasted in cutting is undyed with minimal or no finish. Those are gains in stock and fabric waste, not measurements of water, energy or chemical use. The same bulletin notes that paddle machines need a higher liquor ratio, the ratio of dye liquor to the weight of garments, which is less economical and may limit shade reproducibility.