Dying your crinoline, a complete guide

So… someone asked me to do a tutorial on how to dye your crinoline.

I have no pictures.  I’m sorry.  I had no intentions of doing a tutorial.  But it’s okay, you really don’t need pictures to explain this, because it is so easy.

If you want to avoid having to purchase two crinolines, make sure your crinoline is made of anything but polyester.  Mine was Nylon taffeta.  David’s Bridal is a good resource, all of their crinnies are nylon.

The first thing I did was throw that thing in the washer.  I washed it on delicate with just a little bit of soap to make sure that there wasn’t any sizing or fixer in the fabric.

When the cycle was done, I took the crinny out and untangled it.  I put a lawn sized trashbag on the floor to help coral the water.  Then, I filled the washer basin up about half way (I have 4 settings on my washer, and I used the second setting.) with hot water.  Stop the washer before it starts to agitate.  Make sure your crinoline is still wet.  Ok, now, is you have powder dye, you need to mix it with water.  I know nothing about this, I used liquid dye to cut out that step.

So, my crinny is wet, my washer is half full of hot water.  Pour in your dye.  Do not pour the dye in on top of your crinoline.  Yikes!  I let my washer agitate for about 5 seconds to mix the dye with the water, then I stopped it again.  I put on my super thick industrial strength rubber gloves and shoved that bad boy in my washer.  BTW, the first time I tried this, I didn’t bother with the gloves, and my hands didn’t turn any kind of weird color, but I was using pink dye.

Also, I guess it might make a difference in how you stuck the crinoline in the washer.  I kinda dressed the spindle.  I unzipped the crinoline and put it around the spindle.  I felt like this was the best way to get all the tulle and the taffeta in the water and not all clumpy.  I was really afraid of it coming out tie dyed!  It didn’t, thank goodness!

Once you have submersed your entire crinny in the water, turn it back on and let it agitate.  I let the first crinoline agitate through 3 cycles and two bottles of dye.  The second time around, I only let it agitate through one cycle, or about 15 minutes.  This part is really up to you.  Know how intense or pale you want your crinoline to be.  Have something nearby to compare it to.  Mine came out a little darker than I would have liked, but that’s alright.  Honestly, the pink is only coming out in my crinoline and my flowers and centerpieces.  So, who cares if it matches perfectly?  Like everyone of my flowers will be the same shade of pink.  Fat chance.

After you have allowed the crinny to agitate for the desired amount of time, let the wash cycle finish.  Be sure the water runs clear to avoid staining the inside of your dress the color of your crinoline (doubtful, as you would have to go swimming in them, but still…).

Then I hung mine to dry in the bathroom.

And now I feel very guilty putting it in a closet.  It’s currently taking up much needed space hanging from the closet doors in my tiny hallway.

So, who else is dying your crinoline?  Perhaps we should have a thread on the boards!?