Does anyone have experience bleaching the colour out of navy blue overalls?

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Evarcha

New Hunter

• Apr 21, 2010

• #1

Hello everyone. I am still kinda new...

I am making my own Boba Fett costume, and I have been given some navy blue overalls to try out if they're useful on this project.
Will bleaching them get them near to Fett's E.S.B colour? Or will I be wasting my time and Bleach?
Thanks in advance for any help guys, I love this site, I can't believe I didn't know about until a few weeks ago.

 

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Nickpocalypse

Hunter

• Apr 22, 2010

• #2

It shouldn't be a huge deal, the ESB suit seems to be a light light shade of blue anyways so I'd think it should be ok

Sorry, I don't really have any experience dying clothes like that :S

 

webba fett

Active Hunter

• Sep 8, 2010

• #3

I bought a dark grey/green flight suit (US army) from an army surplus, I soaked it in bleach for 24 hours, it has faded but not enough. Hope you have better luck than me.

 

ShaeVizla

New Hunter

• Sep 12, 2010

• #4

Have a look at the fibre content first Dyes used to colour natural fibres are generally able to be worked on at home but those used for Polyester require a totally different dye process which cannot be reversed by home methods.

That said Navy blue dye is made up of a few different pigment dyes and you may find one or another comes out but leaves the rest behind. I've had navy bleach back to a warm brown and I've had it bleach back to green and one time red. And then there are dye strippers which may leave fabric yellow at the end...

You are probably going to be best off using the overalls as a pattern to cut and sew out of a better fabric


I've been home dyeing for more than a decade and it's always terribly exciting

 

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runFettBoyRun

Jr Hunter

• Jun 22, 2015

• #5

How did you get on? I'm trying to bleach my and it is slow going. On the third dip into the bucket. Seems to be getting slightly lighter. Or it maybe wishful thinking!

 

Darth Voorhees

Well-Known Hunter

Preferred Vendor

• Jun 22, 2015

• #6

runFettBoyRun said:

How did you get on? I'm trying to bleach my and it is slow going. On the third dip into the bucket. Seems to be getting slightly lighter. Or it maybe wishful thinking!

Click to expand...

You may not have realized, but this thread is 5yrs old, so doubt your going to get a reply from the original poster...that said, i wouldnt think a navy blue, or any very dark colored suit, will bleach properly. Factory dying is different from home dying and alot of times you just dont know what your gonna get. However if its a tan or light to medium grey jumpsuit, it may work.

The only instance i saw where bleach worked perfectly was TAguirres thread where he dyes a white jumpsuit with the evening blue dye and it came out smurf blue...and he bleach it and it looked near perfect.

 

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mcfarlj3

Jr Hunter

• Jun 22, 2015

• #7

I had some navy blue blue coveralls and tried bleaching them. Although I got a color that was decently close, the bleach severally compromised the integrity of the fabric. Especially the zippers. Some of the zipper fabric just dissolved before I could reach the desired color.

 

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runFettBoyRun

Jr Hunter

• Jun 22, 2015

• #8

LOL - I love the smurf reference. Yes - I'm doubting whether there is method in my madness or just madness.

I've removed all the pockets from the overalls, 100's of stitches, and I'm going to try to fashion hip and shin pockets and then try bleaching again. Worse case scenario - I'll have improved my sewing.

I'll let you know how I get on and I'll keep an eye on the zippers!

 

Tfett40

Active Hunter

• Jun 23, 2015

• #9

Evarcha,
I originally dyed my white MOW suit and ended up with that smurf color after I dried it. I eventually had to do 2 or 3 different washes of cold water and about 1/8 cup of bleach in small load. I monitored it until I got the right shade. I think this process worked well because I did not treat the dye job to keep the color. Some fabrics are treated with products like mordant to keep the colors from washing out. So you might need to use more bleach. Just make sure you let the bleach mix in evenly in the water before throwing the suit in or you might end up with a hippie dye look. If that method doesn't work, I guess you can always try bleaching it completely and attempt to re-dye to the proper color. Best of luck.

 

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runFettBoyRun

Jr Hunter

• Jun 24, 2015

• #10

Thanks Taguirre. All information and luck is helpful