# Bleach spilled: Now looking for best, cheapest dye house with low/no minimums (Canada or US) that can re-dye the bleached areas back to Pantone colors



## cody (Oct 28, 2006)

Hi, so I spilt bleach on some garments that were dyed to an exact Pantone #, is there any dye houses (anywhere in Canada or the US) that can re-dye the garments back to their original Pantone color in the bleach area's?
This is not a at home job that can fix it obviously.
thanks


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## denck (Apr 7, 2009)

*re: Bleach spilled: Now looking for best, cheapest dye house with low/no minimums (Canada or US) that can re-dye the bleached areas back to Pantone colors*

How many t-s are you talking about?


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## cody (Oct 28, 2006)

*re: Bleach spilled: Now looking for best, cheapest dye house with low/no minimums (Canada or US) that can re-dye the bleached areas back to Pantone colors*

25 garments - hoodies, trackpants, trackshorts, etc.

it's an easy Pantone color too!


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Let's see if I understand this properly:

You have a garment. It was dyed a certain Pantone colour. You "spilt" bleach on that garment. Which means that the bleach is untidy and could be anywhere.

Is that more or less correct?

If so, it will be impossible to dye it back to the Pantone colour, or possibly even to dye it to any one consistent colour, without first bleaching the entire garment.

The dye shade is determined by how long the _entire_ garment spends in the dye bath, not by the dye formula alone. If you re-dye the garment, the bleached areas will still be lighter than the non.


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## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

I doubt if its worth it to try and reclaim them. The cost of the shipping there and back, plus the price of the dying, and definitely no guarantees.

However being the person that I am, I would do the next most stupid thing, I would either splatter some more spots and try and make some sort of design, or bleach the whole lot and see what comes out. I know not too clever.


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

Bleach them all. Take the easy route.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Undiluted bleach on a garment weakens the fabric. Even if you were able to re-dye, the garments may start to shred after a few wear/washes.


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## InspiredImp (May 29, 2008)

I've had clothes literally fall apart on my body because they'd been bleached too strong. Even if you can magically find a colour match, you will not have a quality item.
Bite the bullet and buy new stuff.


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## cody (Oct 28, 2006)

I know for a fact I will NOT bleach them out entirelly, it'll destroy the garment.

But I just need a dye house that will re-dye them pink.
how f'ing hard can it be, seriously.
I'm in Ontario, Canada I dont care where they need to be sent to.
any suggestions on dye houses from your experience with them?
thanks


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

cody said:


> how f'ing hard can it be, seriously.


Ya cannae change the laws of physics, cap'n.


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## cody (Oct 28, 2006)

white, bleached area's CAN be dyed back to pink.
I need names of dye houses that could help, anyone


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

cody said:


> white, bleached area's CAN be dyed back to pink.


Not the *same* pink as the surrounding garment.


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## InspiredImp (May 29, 2008)

I spoke to someone who does colour restorations on carpets. he says the fibres are different, so he won't touch it. 
But he recommends that you contact a high end dry cleaners.


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## cody (Oct 28, 2006)

I'm gonna call like crazy tommorow cuz apparently nobody replies to emails, or they do so when they feel like it


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## lizziemaxine (Nov 14, 2007)

Listen to what people are telling you.
You are not going to match the dye.
There will be a difference around the edges of the parts that are re-dyed.


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## cody (Oct 28, 2006)

oh it'll be fine, it's not huge splattered, just dots here and there


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## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

cody said:


> I'm gonna call like crazy tommorow cuz apparently nobody replies to emails, or they do so when they feel like it


1. Dye houses have higher minimums then what you have.
2. Any pantone match is a pantone match. There isn't a easier or more difficult pantone color to match.
3. The reason I suspect nobody is replying to your emails is because they may feel like you're wasting their time.


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## InspiredImp (May 29, 2008)

Cody,
You said these items are already custom dyed. What did they tell you when you asked them about re-dying?


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## novanutcase (Aug 6, 2008)

Cody,

I basically gave you the same answer that everyone else is giving you in a PM that you had originally sent me. The garments are ruined for the most part but then again it also depends on what you see as "acceptable" in terms of color variation between the bleach spots and the already dyed areas. It would be much easier, less costly and less chancy to just replace the garments and start over again.

Will they come out perfect? You have a VERY high probability that they won't.

Can anything be done? Sure, there is a chance that they MIGHT come out at an acceptable shade diffference to you.

If you want to chance it call a dyehouse and ask them if this will work:

Have them strip the color out of the garments with Potassium Permanganate. Potassium Permanganate is a bleaching agent that isn't as harsh on cotton fiber as bleach is. This is what they use to do mineral washes with. Once the garments are all stripped to a very light pink have them redye them to match the pantone color you desire. 

Will it work for sure? I couldn't say either way. Sometimes it will and sometimes it won't but if you are willing to gamble on it to see if it will work then go for it but my suggestion would be to start from scratch and have them dyed the color you want.

Please don't expect the dyehouse to be able to pull this off because, as I said before, the probability of this working is VERY low. 

I used to dye hundreds of thousands of t-shirts for American Apparel when they were starting their PFD program. Unfortunately, they're production QC was very poor at the time since they were used to cutting dyed fabric and just sewing it up. They didn't realize that when you are sewing a garment that is going to be garment dyed the fabrics all have to come from the same fabric lot that it was knit from which meant they needed much tighter control of their fabric lots. If you mix up lots when your cutting the pieces to be sewn, say for instance you cut all the sleeves from one lot of fabric and all the bodies from another lot what you may get is "paneling" which means that one panel, say a sleeve, will dye a different shade from another like the body. You can't tell since the color before dye is all the same. The only way you can tell is after you dye it. This is much the same problem as what you are having.
When this began to happen they asked me what could be done to fix it. I did the above and I would say that out of all the damages maybe 20% could be saved. 

I cut and sew my own T-shirts along with cutting and sewing for my customers. I'm glad to say that they have stayed with me because I am very anal about making sure these types of problems don't happen due to my tight fabric lot control.

John

BTW I used to own a dyehouse for 15 years so I know a thing or two about dyeing garments!


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## cody (Oct 28, 2006)

thanks for the huge reply, luvs good advise,


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## MZDEELO (Oct 14, 2006)

you have to take the shirts to be *strippe*d at the dyehouse *before* you can redye them again....


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