OK, so I’ll start with a little disclaimer. This was me having a play about because I had a stockpot of dye on the stove whilst working on a larger scale project and I thought…what the heck…I wonder what will happen if I chuck some buttons in a bowl, add some of the dye liquid, and leave it for a while. Well…this happens…
As you can see. Mixed results. Those two dark ones soaked up the dye like thirsty camels! The majority took on a pastel/subtle version of the dye, and a few had no reaction to it at all. Presumably this had a lot to do with the material composition of each button. Some synthetics will take dye…some absolutely won’t. But if you’re not hung up on the results, then this is a kinda fun “see how it turns out” rainy day thing….if you’ve got another dyeing project on the go…why not just syphon off a ladle of the dye liquid and revamp some old buttons at the same time!
OK, so to clarify this is very much a “this is what I did” post as opposed to “this is the right way to do it” post. So this is what I did…
Firstly, the dye bath that I was using (for this “other large scale project” details to follow) was very concentrated. I bottle of liquid Rit and 2 packets of powdered Rit to 10 pints of water, and was being kept at a constant temperature on the hob. I ladled some off and added it to the buttons in a lidded glass bowl with a tbsp of vinegar (recommended when dyeing synthetics). I then covered and left it overnight. About 18 hours in total. During this time I whacked it into the microwave every couple of hours for about 45secs to keep the liquid warm….but overnight I just left it to cool down….
In the morning I simply emptied into a colander and rinsed thoroughly and left to air dry on kitchen towel.
This was just an experiment. The results were much subtler than I expected, but still pleasing. Perhaps having the buttons simmering on the hob (as opposed to simply soaking in the luke warm dye liquid) would have resulted in a stronger colour. Wooden, horn or shell buttons would perhaps dye well being natural fibres? Still…a good way of getting a little extra value for money out of your dye bath and something I thought you may find interesting and a it of fun 🙂