Fading Flightsuit Fabric

BobaFiend

Active Hunter
I have an industrial jumpsuit that I intend to use for my ESB fett, but the color is too dark (Postman Blue). I figured that fading the stupid thing would be no problem, its 20% cotton 80% polyester, but the whole process has been a nightmare.

Attempt 1- I started with RIT color remover and i cooked it in a pot with that for a half hour with no results. The lighter fabric I got for pockets faded to off-white instantly and is now unusable unless I re-dye it.

Attempt 2- I washed the suit in hot water in my washing machine with chlorine bleach up to the "max fill" level several times, four I think. No change

Attempt 3- I filled a plastic tub with very hot water, mixed in about 1:5 ratio of bleach to water and soaked the garment for 45 minutes. About every 10 minutes I got impatient and added more bleach, ending up with about a half gallon of bleach in probably a 1:1 ratio. Still no changes...

Does anyone have ideas or advice for me? I'm about to throw this thing in a woodchipper out of frustration and any help would be awesome.
 
Hi apolifka, You seem to have tried all of the reasonable solutions. The only other thing I can think of right now is to let it sit outside. The sun can fade garments very quickly, you may have enough time before the Con. My flightsuit is from Ladysewforus and I used a dye called Dylon I think, it was China Blue. It came out very nice for an ESB color.
 
Mix a bleach ratio again....probably a little less then 1:5....I would say about 1:10 in that big bucket....

Saturate your flightsuit in the water and then pull the flight suit out and ring it out gently, you want it to still be a bit saturated and IMMEDIATELY throw it in your dryer. Do not let it dry. Bleach has some much more intense effects when you throw fabric into a electric tumble dryer.

THAT should fade your suit significantly. I would recommend trying a very small ratio of bleach to water first, as you can always take away more, but it will be harder tryin to fix it if you over decolorize it.
 
Ok, so saturate with bleach and then dry it. Sounds reasonable and at this point I've got nothing to lose really. I should have just bought a 100% cotton jumpsuit but I didn't think about material at the time. I was too focused on style and color. I'll give it a try! If i don't get any results it looks like Ill have to leave it outside for a week or two :D
 
I have found sunfading to be really effective. I wouldn't leave it outside, but rather hang it in front of a sliding door and turn it every so often. You have a lot of control with sunfading if you continue to check it, and ensure it doesn't get too faded.
 
Hi apolifka, You seem to have tried all of the reasonable solutions. The only other thing I can think of right now is to let it sit outside. The sun can fade garments very quickly, you may have enough time before the Con. My flightsuit is from Ladysewforus and I used a dye called Dylon I think, it was China Blue. It came out very nice for an ESB color.

Exactly the colour i used, i think it looks more accurate then some of the ESB "Blue's" i have seen out there.
Like said before the sun can fade your colours pretty quik.

GL with your suit! ;)
 
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