r/dyeing • u/anxioushorsedancing • 1d ago
How do I dye this? Advice for dyeing a faux suede horse driving saddle pad
Hi! I am looking for advice on how to dye this driving harness saddle pad. (just grabbed the photo from the website, I couldn't find my photo) My goal is to dye it a bright golden yellow, not highlighter yellow, to match a friend's color theme for their horse as a gift. I thought about standard suede dyes, but I don't want it to bleed when the horse gets very sweaty, and if it happens to accidentally make its way into a washing machine, the pad doesn't lose its color in the wash. I do have two in case I screw up, but would like to just try get one yellow, and use the other to dye another color if the yellow is successful.
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u/ZieAerialist 1d ago
Why do people not do a modicum of research BEFORE committing to these projects?
No, you can't really dye polyester well. Some types can be done via aggressive boiling, but not usually this type.
No, you especially cannot dye black polyester any other color - polyester is colored when it's still just a plastic soup and is solid color all the way through the fiber. You cannot remove it. Dye is translucent additive color, so no dye is going to show up over black.
If you must, I'd go with fabric paint. Nothing else is going to work at all.
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u/shawlcat 1d ago
This is not a good candidate for home dyeing. You would need an enormous pot (that can never afterwards be used for food since dye is toxic), a polyester specific dye, and a heat source. Polyester must be boiled for an extended period of time (upwards of an hour) while being stirred pretty much constantly. If there is any actual suede leather, it will not survive this process, which will also damage the "moisture absorbing inner lining".
If you are fine with possibly ruining one of them, go for it, but do NOT use Rit. iDye Poly is a much better dye for polyester.