I had a few Rick tees that I never wore due to their colors...one was cream (l/s) and one was bleach (s/s...which is a type of light blue).
The L/S cream was 100% cotton, pretty sheer. The bleach was semi-sheer and made from Viscose and Rayon.
The color I was looking to achieve was a dried blood....almost like a light burgundy. I used liquid RIT and purchased 'scarlet' and also already had a bottle of black so I decided I would mix some black in with the scarlet to get the color I was looking for.
So the main thing to consider is the weight of this fabric....it's almost like gauze so it will absorb a lot of water but it will also only actually hold a little bit if that makes sense.
Start out by wetting the tees...make sure they are completely soaked with warm/hot water.
I did these in the sink....so run a sink 2/3 full of the hottest water you can get, mix in the liquid dye (in this case 1/2 bottle of scarlet and about 4 oz. of black) ADD one cup of table salt (for absorption) and mix that all together for about 2 minutes.
Add the pre-soaked warm t-shirts and completely soak them while wearing gloves. Squeeze out all the air (the viscose tends to trap it) and agitate them really well.
Continue with the agitation for about 20 minutes (on and off...the idea is to keep any part of the fabric from floating up out of the water so the dye doesn't get uneven).
Pull the plug out of the sink and let the dye run out and start running cool water. Rinse the tees in cool/cold water to help set the dye and squeeze out any excess. You're going to get a shitload coming out because these shirts are so thin, they don't hold much moisture because the saturation point is really low. Continue rinsing...at this stage, you can twist them and work them pretty well but don't get too rough. Remember, these are pretty fragile when they're dry but the water does add some strength.
At this point, get some Woolite and toss in the sink and fill it back up. Work and agitate the tees again...keep them going to get out all the excess dye. THEN, rinse again.
It's kind of a laborious step but if you don't really do this well, you're going to get dye on everything you wear it with eventually. So keep going until the water is running fairly clear out of it...(it takes a while) and then wring them out again. Be fairly gentle but get out the water as much as possible.
Unroll the shirts and lay them on a flat (preferably dark) towel. Roll them up in the towel and squeeze to get excess moisture out. The next step is critical...DRY THESE FLAT OR ON AN AIR DRY RACK. If you hang these dry, they will be so stretched out of shape that you won't be happy. Dry them flat (or almost all the way dry and then hang for the last hour or so). Takes a few hours to dry but when they do completely, they will be back to their natural shape and a new, improved color.
RESULTS: The viscose/rayon tee was a light blue and ended up as a light burgundy. I wish this one were a little bit darker but synthetics aren't know for holding dye unless you use heat, which I didn't want to do. At first, there was barely any sheerness to the tee, as if the dye had locked into the fiber but as it dried, it was about as semi sheer as I started out with.
The l/s cotton tee was perfect. Like the color you see after you pull a Band Aid off of a wound. Which is what I was hoping for on that one.
NOTES: I don't think anyone would recommend RIT dye. It's an OK all purpose dye but there are much better dyes out there. Powder dyes (mix them BEFORE adding) will give you a deeper hue and better penetration of the fibers of your garment. Some people use vinegar to set the dye but I think that only works with acid based dyes (which are very good in heat). As far as this goes, it was fast (I could pick the dye up at the local store) and easy and I was happy with the results.
A good thing to mention is that some of the thread used to construct the rayon/viscose tee is nylon and didn't pick up the dye at all. So you get a reverse stitching effect. Fairly subtle but know that in advance that it's not uncommon for designers to use nylon thread to piece together garments like tees because it's generally stretchier and stronger than cotton. This nylon thread will NOT hold regular sink dye.
One more note: You may want to wash them again right after wearing them to get whatever dye is left in there. And don't wear it over any expensive white shirts until you see the water run totally clear after a washing.
RESULTS:
100% Cotton L/S Rick Owens sheer tee (had been cream)
70% Viscose/30% Rayon semi-sheer tee (had been bleach/light blue)
If you want that really rich red color that Rick gets, definitely use the more advanced reactive powder dyes. Liquid RIT is only capable of so much and isn't known for its bright colors.
The L/S cream was 100% cotton, pretty sheer. The bleach was semi-sheer and made from Viscose and Rayon.
The color I was looking to achieve was a dried blood....almost like a light burgundy. I used liquid RIT and purchased 'scarlet' and also already had a bottle of black so I decided I would mix some black in with the scarlet to get the color I was looking for.
So the main thing to consider is the weight of this fabric....it's almost like gauze so it will absorb a lot of water but it will also only actually hold a little bit if that makes sense.
Start out by wetting the tees...make sure they are completely soaked with warm/hot water.
I did these in the sink....so run a sink 2/3 full of the hottest water you can get, mix in the liquid dye (in this case 1/2 bottle of scarlet and about 4 oz. of black) ADD one cup of table salt (for absorption) and mix that all together for about 2 minutes.
Add the pre-soaked warm t-shirts and completely soak them while wearing gloves. Squeeze out all the air (the viscose tends to trap it) and agitate them really well.
Continue with the agitation for about 20 minutes (on and off...the idea is to keep any part of the fabric from floating up out of the water so the dye doesn't get uneven).
Pull the plug out of the sink and let the dye run out and start running cool water. Rinse the tees in cool/cold water to help set the dye and squeeze out any excess. You're going to get a shitload coming out because these shirts are so thin, they don't hold much moisture because the saturation point is really low. Continue rinsing...at this stage, you can twist them and work them pretty well but don't get too rough. Remember, these are pretty fragile when they're dry but the water does add some strength.
At this point, get some Woolite and toss in the sink and fill it back up. Work and agitate the tees again...keep them going to get out all the excess dye. THEN, rinse again.
It's kind of a laborious step but if you don't really do this well, you're going to get dye on everything you wear it with eventually. So keep going until the water is running fairly clear out of it...(it takes a while) and then wring them out again. Be fairly gentle but get out the water as much as possible.
Unroll the shirts and lay them on a flat (preferably dark) towel. Roll them up in the towel and squeeze to get excess moisture out. The next step is critical...DRY THESE FLAT OR ON AN AIR DRY RACK. If you hang these dry, they will be so stretched out of shape that you won't be happy. Dry them flat (or almost all the way dry and then hang for the last hour or so). Takes a few hours to dry but when they do completely, they will be back to their natural shape and a new, improved color.
RESULTS: The viscose/rayon tee was a light blue and ended up as a light burgundy. I wish this one were a little bit darker but synthetics aren't know for holding dye unless you use heat, which I didn't want to do. At first, there was barely any sheerness to the tee, as if the dye had locked into the fiber but as it dried, it was about as semi sheer as I started out with.
The l/s cotton tee was perfect. Like the color you see after you pull a Band Aid off of a wound. Which is what I was hoping for on that one.
NOTES: I don't think anyone would recommend RIT dye. It's an OK all purpose dye but there are much better dyes out there. Powder dyes (mix them BEFORE adding) will give you a deeper hue and better penetration of the fibers of your garment. Some people use vinegar to set the dye but I think that only works with acid based dyes (which are very good in heat). As far as this goes, it was fast (I could pick the dye up at the local store) and easy and I was happy with the results.
A good thing to mention is that some of the thread used to construct the rayon/viscose tee is nylon and didn't pick up the dye at all. So you get a reverse stitching effect. Fairly subtle but know that in advance that it's not uncommon for designers to use nylon thread to piece together garments like tees because it's generally stretchier and stronger than cotton. This nylon thread will NOT hold regular sink dye.
One more note: You may want to wash them again right after wearing them to get whatever dye is left in there. And don't wear it over any expensive white shirts until you see the water run totally clear after a washing.
RESULTS:
100% Cotton L/S Rick Owens sheer tee (had been cream)
70% Viscose/30% Rayon semi-sheer tee (had been bleach/light blue)
If you want that really rich red color that Rick gets, definitely use the more advanced reactive powder dyes. Liquid RIT is only capable of so much and isn't known for its bright colors.
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