how can I dye a wool frockcoat?

[redwards80]

Hello all, I have a Tan Butternut frock coat (color can be found on Quartermaster Shop web site) and I want to make it a Richmond Grey color (whch is a dark gray color). How can I go about doing this without shrinking the wool and what are the steps i must take to dye it that color? Would dying it in my kitchen sink work? Any info would greatly help me. Also I might want to make the color a kind of BLue Gray color. How do I go about doing this?

Thanks: Richie Edwards

[Spinster]

Re: how can I dye a wool frockcoat?

Honey, based on years and years of handling wool and stirring dyepots, this is

(1) A really bad idea.
(2) Something to be undertaken ONLY by someone with a heck of a lot of experience, and even then, things may turn out really really badly.
(3) Something I'd undertake only under the circumstances that the coat was not otherwise useable.
(4) Not something you can do in the kitchen sink.

Best instructions I can give:

(1) Sell Brown Coat
(2) Buy Grey Coat

[KarinTimour]

Re: how can I dye a wool frockcoat?

Dear Mr. Edwards:

I'm sure that Mrs. Lawson will be along in two ticks to give you the benefit of her expertise (decades of period dyeing). In the meantime, I'll pass on a little that I've gained from reading her very eloquent and down-to-earth advice on this topic.

1. Your kitchen sink is far too small for dyeing a coat. You will need, as they say in Maine, a "wicked big pot" for the dyeing process. My recollection is that Mrs. Lawson said that the correct pot for something this size could run you hundreds of dollars, unless you've got the right stuff sitting out in your back shed -- even then, you might learn that the pot you were intending to use has serious problems for this use. Read Mrs. Lawson's posts for the details (see below).

2. You need to do this (once you've read up on the topic and have decided you still want to go forward with it), outside, in a well ventillated area. Dye stuffs are caustic and easily airborne in steam and breeze and can cause lung damage to you and to anyone who lives with you. If you're going forward, do this in the yard, not the basement, not the garage.

3. If you are planning to do this with commercial dyes, that's one thing. If you are planning to gather things like roots, bark or other natural dyestuffs, you'd be best advised to a) make absolutely positive that you've got an expert who is identifying the tree(s) where you are gathering this stuff so that you get the right stuff and b) you try a few experiments on smaller, less expensive garments first, to make sure that you've got the process down before sticking your coat in the pot.

4. I'd recommend doing a search on "dyeing" or "dyes" or even "Mrs. Lawson" as she has written some very detailed and useful instructive posts on this board in the past year.

I've never dyed anything, but I read about it with fascination and once got to watch Mrs. Lawson in action at Chickamagua with an indigo pot. Fascinating!

Hope that's helpful,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping Hats, Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[1stMaine]

Re: how can I dye a wool frockcoat?

Well, first off, it's from QMS, so it's not something that most folks here would use. You are, in essence, attempting to make a silk purse from a sow's ear.

Go over to the othe forum, sell your coat, and then buy a well-made dress coat from one of the approved vendors here.

Just sayin'.....

[redwards80]

Re: how can I dye a wool frockcoat?

Roger that everyone, thanks for your advise.

Richie Edwards