Un-dying and re-dying

I bought a bunch of sweaters to unravel because the yarn is nice and I like the colors. They had a bunch that I didn't particulary like the color and I was wondering if you could change it. Can you sorta bleach it out and re dye it in a more pleasing color? I think I can do this with cotton but I was actually wondering about wool blends. If this is possible I would have an almost neverending supply of really nice yarns for really cheap prices. There really is a lot of yarn yardage in an ex-large sweater I got for a buck.

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I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, with your help I KNOW I can.

Bleach would destroy the yarn if it is wool. If it is a light color you can over dye it and that could give you some nice color. I don't know that there is a safe way to remove dye from protein fibers without damaging them.

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"Fiber is just that way, it teaches us to look differently at how things connect, to know that everything is tied together somehow."

Jacey Boggs

You can try the "dye remover" that is available from Rit and Dylon...but I'd try it on a small chunk of yarn and do some measuring and strength tests on the piece..before and after removing the color.

I know the hair companies make a color remover for hair that doesn't disintegrate the hair (I once used it..turns the hair a startling shade of WHITE ). Prepares it nicely for a new color.

Bleach, as in fabric bleach, will work, but it will also attach the structure of the wool fiber.

Marchwind is onto something there with the overdying. Even an ugly brown can become a wonderful woodland green by using a bright neon green on it.

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The product the hair companies use is peroxide. I will try it and let everyone know. What I will do is get a cheap felted sweater and cut it up. I will then soak it in different concentrations of peroxide and check for damage. Then I will use fine wool and check for damage.

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I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, with your help I KNOW I can.

you can over dye also if its a lighter color. though some wont take dye well if they treat them :P

dragonchick, One key in your question is the word blends. You can remove colour from fibres using hydrogen peroxide, but if the mix contains rayon, cotton, poyester or several other fibres, the dye may not take up as expected.

Here is a good description of the bleaching process:http://www.prochemical.com/directions/BleachingWool.htm

One other problem is that you do not know how much degradation has happened to the wool in its prior life by bleaching, dyeing, washing. You may be pushing it over the edge as a suitable product for your hand work by giving it another bleach and dye process.

But for a buck's worth of wool, it may be worth the chance.