Thread: I need to dye a corset!!

...and I'm worried that if I soak it in dye some bad will happen, will it?!

Or would it be better to paint it with fabric dye as I am panning to cover it with loads of bits and bobs after anyway?

Thanks!

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I dyed (and trimmed) the corset I am wearing in the attached picture. The colours came out a little brighter than it looks but that's just the way the photo came out.

It was white when I bought it (it was one of the 'What Katie Did' music hall ones that are made to by customised) and I dyed it in my sink using dylon cold water dye. I was really nervous that soaking the whole thing would make the metal in it rust or that it would dry funny or something but it was all suprisingly easy and I had no problems. Just remember to dry it flat - I spread mine out over my laundry rack.

Good luck with yours!

OK cool, thanks!!

You should be careful with the dying and drying, do not leave it sitting on its own in the dye as you want the material to be held under the surface at all times, this will hopefully prevent the steel bones from prematurely rusting, then when you remove it from the dye you want to get it dry as quickly as possible, let the air get to it as much as possible as this will help the drying process, whatever you do don't let it stay damp or the steel will rust, most of the steels used in corsets will rust really quickly if left in a warm damp location

Dear Femme Ferale

White Knight is quite right when he says you should keep the corset submerged throughout - but it's not to do with rust. That's the only way to make sure the colour is even. Keep the corset submerged, but don't put a heavy weight on top of part of it, or you'll get a tie-dye effect.

I'ld be a bit more worried about shrinkage - most commercial corsets have a cotton coutil backing, which shrinks up to 5%. If the corset has spiral boning ( the stuff that bends backwards and forwards and also side to side, and feels like - well, a squashed spiral, with ends like the top of a safety pin) then the metal used is a mixture of zinc and steel, and it doesn't rust.

Emerald Ace has given you a top tip, but remember that cold-water dyes are not as colour fast as hot-water dyes, so you may need to redye on a regular basis. Also, they are not as intense. You can get white to go a pastel shade, but you'll never get a good true red or black. And remember polyester never dyes properly, so you may end up with a two-tone effect - the fabric will take the colour but if the top-stitching or binding are synthetic they will stay the original colour.

The best dyes to use in my experience are not Dylon, but a German make. There was a company called George Weil based in Mortimer Street; I know the shop isn't there any more but they may well still exist on the internet. They specialised in dyestuffs and stuff for batik etc., had a great range, and their staff were very knowledgeable and helpful.

The final thing to remember is that whatever you are dyeing must be absolutely clean before you start. Even traces of deoderant or old sweat etc. can affect how the dye takes.

If it's a precious corset and you don't want to take any risks, then google the following theatrical dyers : Nicola Killeen; Gabriel(le?) Firth; Weimerar and Schultz; Penny Hadrill.

Good luck!

Viva La Belvoir

Viva, with spiral boning you are right if it's been plated in some way it won't rust, BUT in general the ends of the boning are just cut to length and they can rust even with endcaps etc in fact endcaps are likely to retain moisture thus promoting rust, just make sure that once the corset has been dyed you dry it as quickly as possible with as much air arround it as you can manage

It could work (as Emerald Ace's lovely example above shows) but there are a lot of variables.

A lot depends on where your corset is from, what it's made from etc. Which, assuming you bought it rather than made it yourself, you won't be able to tell without taking it to bits - which of course you won't be wanting to do. Brand is no guarantee, Vollers for instance have a good name around here but I've seen the innards of some and I was quite shocked.

If it's boned with spirals, then spirals are galvanised and no they shouldn't rust. But as White Knight says, the ends could be an issue. If I recall correctly, someone posted about a corset a few months ago that had rusted and stained after washing. Also, if it's a cheaper off-the-rack corset (such as are sold on ebay) the bones may not be the usual galvanised spiral or coated flat steels. The cheap ones are made in the far east, and are cheap for a reason. I've also heard of busk studs rusting. Definitely give it lots of air and keep it flat when drying so it doesn't distort. Leaving any prolonged dampness would cause the problems.

Fabric, as Viva said above shrinkage may be an issue. Good quality corsets are coutil, which may shrink up to 5% (corsetmakers often don't pre-wash coutil as it loses some firmness and we usually intend you to dry clean anyway, especially if the surface is something like silk for instance), but many are made from various types of cotton duck and drill (again, some quite well known brands) which may shrink substantially. And of course there may be a synthetic content which would affect how well the dye takes.

So all in all it's a bit of a roulette game, but it's better to be aware of the pitfalls. Fingers crossed it works out perfectly for you.

Wow, thanks a lot guys, I'll let you know what happens!!