Will I damage my sail?

[y0dsa]

I recently acquired an old white cotton sail for a kayak. As it's a bit stained I'd like to tie dye it, but have heard that dying weakens the fabric. Any thoughts on this would be welcomed. Thanks.

[Kathy]

prolonged exposure to soda ash can weaken fibers but this would be like letting your item sit in a solution of soda ash for quite a long time(we're talking many days +++ here). Your sail would be fine if you tie dyed it.

Think about it this way, exposure to sun, wind, moisture weaken fibers as well but you know that this is prolonged exposure and with proper care the effects can be minimalized. You don't fear putting the sail outside on the kayak, so you shouldn't worry about dyeing it

Kathy

[y0dsa]

Thanks for this, Kathy. Good point about the weather/ sun damage. I'll use Dylon cold process and hope it all works out ok.

Cheers!

[Kathy]

You might get more bang for your buck(pound!) if you get some fiber reactive dye (fibrecrafts.com) especialy with a piece that is bigger and heavier than your general dye job. Don't get me wrong, the Dylon Cold water dyes will work since they are fiber reactive but they are generally more expensive b/c they don't come in very economically sized packages for larger projects.

 
kathy

[pburch]

Good point. Dylon dyes typically will do about 8 ounces of fabric per packet, or one t-shirt, and cost $2 to $3 each. That means at least $24 if your sail weighs six pounds. In comparison, one two-ounce jar of Procion MX type dye from PRO Chemical & Dye costs $3 to $6, plus shipping ($6?),  and will dye twelve t-shirts - or a six-pound sail.