How to Dye an Upholstered Chair with Rit Dye

[Music] do you see this chair a few days ago it was actually off-white there were some stains on it that i just could not get out so i decided to go ahead and dye it blue i am new at attempting diy projects and i am so proud of how this project came out it feels like a really big win and i'm excited to share the steps with you here's the before was actually a free chair i found on the side of the road the first step was cleaning it because i didn't want there to be anything on top that would prevent the dye from settling in i used this bissell carpet cleaner the rest of the supplies i used for this project were a mug these are the two brushes that i used the die was the pearl gray from rit along with evening blue i used two bottles of the color stay fixative and a spray bottle to put them in i used a mug so that i could keep the water hot i do not plan on using this mug anymore for drinking i also put plastic drop cloth underneath it to prevent the dye from going onto the floors a hair dryer and a fan to help with the drying throughout the process i use this little medicine cup for measuring because i knew i could throw it away right after i was done using it with the dye i made sure to test the die the night before to see what the dye would do to the fibers i considered doing this outside but i opted for my kitchen so that i could do small batches of boiling water to keep it hot i boiled a cup and a half of water each time i did five milliliters of both the blue and the gray but this will depend on how rich and dark you're hoping the dye will be at the end more dye will give darker fabric be sure to shake the bottles each time once the water was boiling i poured it into the mug and then i poured in the dye gave everything a little stir and got to work first i went in with a larger flat paint brush trying to get an even base layer started it's important to try to get it as even as possible because as things start to dry they're going to dry at a different rate and it's going to look uneven no matter what be sure to work the die into all the little nooks and crannies of the piece if you end up with a drip of excess dye try to chase it with your paint brush right away while everything is hot to even it out here's how it looked after the first layer of dye note that everything is going to look much darker wet than it looks dry so keep that in mind as you're considering the color i immediately went in with a second layer but i think it would have absorbed more of the second coat if i had given it a chance to dry a little bit first this time i used circular motions and the round brush to encourage the dye to settle into the texture of the design tapping or wiping the brush on the edge of your cup is going to help prevent those drips we talked about next i poured one bottle of the fixate into the spray bottle and then sprayed the chair following up with a hair dryer after to help it set with heat that's what it looked like i put a fan on it to help dry it overnight and then my husband and i brought it outside in the morning so far so good then i rinsed it all off to get rid of any excess dye that might have been sitting on the top didn't want this to transfer to our clothes later some people online said that they didn't rinse it and didn't have any issues with transfer later but we have a toddler roaming around our house often and i was afraid of what would happen if i didn't rinse it and if it got wet down the road i got scared here because it did look pretty uneven in spots as it was drying but it all worked out and here it was the next day it was a little lighter than i had hoped and a little bit of a green blue so i went back in and i changed the ratio of the die the first layer i did three fourths blue and one fourth gray and the second layer i actually did completely gray to try to tone down the green hue i ended up using the round brush for both layers this time just because i felt like it was giving me more control over where the die was going and it was settling into the details of the chair better once i was on the second layer i immediately followed each section of dye with a section of fixative and then sprayed it with a hair dryer so i dyed one part and then sprayed the fixative and then used the hair dryer before moving on to the next rinsed everything off again keep the chair outside if it's fairly warm if you have it drying indoors be sure to keep a fan on it to prevent mildew here's the final result after it was done drying of course there are a few imperfect spots but it's really hard to tell especially inside and overall i'm just so proud of how this turned out i think it looks great there is a part of me that wants to try to tone down the green just a little bit more but i love it i am not a diy or home expert but i do want to give you the confidence and courage to try new projects so that you can create a home that you love so if that's a plan that you're on board with and you want to 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Channel: Allyn Lewis

Views: 95,785

Keywords: upcycling, rit dye, tutorial, before and after, rit dye how to, rit colorstay dye fixative, furniture makeover

Id: KO9CdquuXu4

Length: 4min 26sec (266 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 18 2021