Back to Black (denim)
Reader Sara has some great tips if you decide to dye your demin black. She writes:
Hi Jessica,
This is about the opposite of fashion, but I used to work at a restaurant that required us to have impossibly dark jeans as part of our uniform. This required dying our jeans about once every 3-4 months - here is what I learned.
While I never dyed them true black, just dark dark blue, I used 1 box of black RIT and 1 box of dark blue RIT per pair. I used a top loader washer (which you may not have access to in NYC) with cold wash and cold rinse. Then I washed them again in warm water, and once more in cold water. I rarely, if ever, had any more dye come off after the 2 post-washes. Some people recommend using salt to set the dye, but I never did that. Make sure you use the powdered dye, not the liquid stuff** - I didn’t have good results with the liquid and the chance to make a mess was large! Make sure to wear yucky clothes to dye in and if you get some powder on your hands, just lots and lot of warm water and soap to get it off.
Good luck!
Sara
PS. Oh, they should also make sure to dry the jeans totally dry in a dryer (not necessarily on high), so no tranfer could possibly occur.
**I’m actually a fan of the liquid, but it may be a good idea to try out both!
what a good idea!!! i was just thinking that my fave pair of jeans was wearing out in the knees colour wise, but didnt know what to do about it. im definitely going to try this out!
