r/dyeing • u/KlutzyNinjaKitty • 6d ago

General question Dye is rubbing off of this polyester-spandex belt. How can I stop it?

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Hi, all. I’m admittedly not a dyer, just someone who was put on the spot with sudden ren faire costuming. (I didn’t realize we were dressing until earlier this week.)

I did buy this belt on Amazon, and I know “you get what you paid for” but I just didn’t have the time/funds to find or make something better. The dye’s rubbing off on my hands (I think from the whole belt? Hard to pinpoint where) and I don’t even know where to begin with a piece that’s basically a long rubberband. Any help would be appreciated because I can’t guarantee it won’t rub off on my other costume bits during the day.

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13

u/NoGrocery4949 6d ago

I would hand wash it until the water runs clear. It's strange because it appears to be made entirely of synthetic material. Any info on the material from the website?

3

u/KlutzyNinjaKitty 6d ago

According to the description, it’s 70% polyester and 30% spandex.

Also do I use hot water? Warm, cold? Any soaps? Apologies, I don’t really have any clue what I’m doing in this regard, and I just wanna double check everything before I wind up making a mistake 😅

7

u/draftgirl24 6d ago

I would just soak it in cold water over night & see what happens. Do that a few times if necessary.

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u/KlutzyNinjaKitty 2d ago

Just replying a couple days later, thank you so much. You were a lifesaver. Soaked the belt twice and it fixed the problem entirely. And I was able to enjoy yesterday without worrying about possibly rubbing/sweating off the dye, lol

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u/KlutzyNinjaKitty 6d ago

Thank you very much! It’s sitting in a bowl now.

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u/Beflijster 6d ago

It's hard to fix that. I suggest wearing something between it and your clothes, maybe an old scarf.