How to Make a Dyed Umbrella
If you have purchased a brightly colored beach or patio umbrella over the past few years that was supposed to be fade-resistant and has faded more quickly than you would imagine, you may be looking for a quick solution to re-dye your umbrella. Whether you would like to freshen up an old, faded beach or patio umbrella or dye a neutral-colored umbrella you have purchased at the store, depending on the fabric of the umbrella you may have to do some guessing and testing to get your umbrella to become, and stay, the color you desire.
Things You'll Need
- Simply Spray fabric paint
- Scotchgard
- Candy or meat thermometer
- Trash bags
- Fiber reactive dye like Drimarene K
- Synthrapol
- Soda ash
Instructions
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Spray your faded umbrella with fabric paint. If you have an umbrella that has faded in color, the best solution for any vinyl or canvas fabric is to spray it with an aerosol fabric paint like Simply Spray, which you can purchase at your local craft store or online (see Resources). Spray one even coat and let it dry for 24 hours. Spray a second coat and let dry for 24 hours.
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Cover your newly sprayed umbrella with Scotchgard. This may not fully weatherproof the umbrella until it is dry, so remember to keep the umbrella out of direct sunlight and rain for 24 hours to let the umbrella dry. You can purchase Scotchgard at your local hardware store or drugstore. Spray the umbrella thoroughly, but do not soak it.
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Prepare a new canvas umbrella to be dyed. If you have an un-dyed canvas beach or patio umbrella, you must dye it slightly differently. In order to get the dye to take, presoak the umbrella in water that is 140 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the hottest most bathtub taps will go when turned all the way on hot. If you do not have control over your water heater, you can also heat water over the stove, keeping track of its temperature with a meat thermometer or candy thermometer, and fill up the bathtub until there is enough water to cover the umbrella. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of soda ash and 1/2 a teaspoon of Synthrapol to the hot water and leave in for approximately one hour. You can purchase soda ash at your local grocery store and Synthrapol at a dye supplier or fabric store.
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Soak your new canvas umbrella in a fiber reactive dye bath. Canvas is woven to avoid dye, so you will need to purchase a special fiber reactive dye like Drimarene K in order to get the color to permeate the umbrella. Line your bathtub with trash bags and fill with cold water. Add fiber reactive dye, about 4 teaspoons of dye per cup of water. Leave the umbrella in the dye bath for about four hours, then rinse in cold water then hot water.
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Tips & Warnings
If your bathtub is not large enough to soak and dye your umbrella in, purchase a large plastic tub from your local home improvement store.
Keep all fabric dye out of the reach of children.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit http://www.sxc.hu/profile/dcubillas
