Restore Life To Faded Hats With The Right Dye

by Ryan Vagabundo

If you're a regular traveler there's also a good chance you're some sort of at least semi-regular hat wearer. And why not? They keep the sun, sweat and hair out of your eyes and also provide some protection from the sun and rain to your face and neck. 

This time of year here in the US, the summer, is the time of trial for hats. Nothing is harder on a hat than the combination of moisture and the summer sun. You sweat a bit, it seeps through so that it's visible on the outside of the hat, and with only a little sun exposure you've got brown discoloration that looks unappealing.

Hats usually get discolored and ratty-looking long before they accrue serious wear. While this type of abuse can make hats look ugly, it doesn't do any structural damage to them. There's no need to throw them out if you can revive their color. This idea does occur to a lot of people, of course, but the response is usually to attempt dyeing them with cheap Rit dye from the nearest Walmart. That dye is not meant to permanently bond to fabric, unfortunately, and it's usually completely gone with the first wash.

To successfully dye a hat made of cotton or polyester, you need the right dye and the right technique. Specifically, you're looking for a "fiber reactive" dye, one that's designed to bond with fibers that have been soaked in a mixture of water and soda ash. The good news is, this dye really doesn't cost more than the cheap Rit stuff, and no boiling is required either!

What you'll need before starting:

* A pair of latex or similar disposable gloves

* At least one kitchen/bathroom trash bag per hat (you might substitute a very good shopping bag, like the Target ones)

* Fiber reactive dye in your desired color

* Soda ash  

* A cheap bucket

* (Optional) small paint brushes, sponges or a spray bottle if you want to do detailing

Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how to successfully restore long-lasting color to a faded hat.

Obtain fiber reactive dye of the appropriate color. Jacquard's Procion MX series  is probably the most common brand and will be the easiest to find both online and in retail stores. You can buy colors individually or in a variety pack that comes with a bag of the needed soda ash. One important note about colors: keep in mind that the base color of the hat is going to have some influence on the final color. You can't dye a hat to a lighter color than it already is, and unless you mix an extremely strong dye and let the hat soak for a long period, you're going to get some mixing of colors and the end result will not be the same color as the dye. For example, if you apply a light coating of black dye to a yellow hat, the end result will usually be a deep blue color.

If you did not get soda ash with your dye, it can be obtained at Walmart, many hobby stores and from stores that carry pool cleaning supplies.

Wash the hat (or at least hand-rinse it out) and let it air-dry before dyeing. If you don't have them already, you'll also want to obtain some latex or similar gloves and wear them for the remainder of this process.

Soak the hat in a solution of water and soda ash for at least 30 minutes prior to dyeing. A bucket from a dollar store (or discount hardware store like Harbor Freight) is a good affordable choice as a receptacle. You could also get a cheap 2 gallon water jug and cut the very  bottom off. The water should be warm, but not boiling -- hot water from the tap will work fine. The recommended dosage is one cup of soda ash per gallon of water used, but you do not need an entire gallon for one hat. You just need enough water in the bucket to fully submerge the hat.

Remove the hat after at least 30 minutes and wring it out.

Mix two teaspoons of dye per cup of water that you plan to use. The method you plan to use to dye the hat is really what determines how much dye you need. The easiest method and the one that will provide the deepest color is submerging the hat in dye. Applying the dye in spots allows you to use different colors in different areas and to steer around patches and logos, however, and will also require much less dye than submerging. For one hat, you can use as little as a large pinch of dye. Apply by spray bottle, sponge or paint brush -- all of these can also be obtained cheaply at most dollar stores.

The hat now needs to stay moist for 24 hours for the dye to bind properly. An inexpensive and effective way to do this is to simply tie it up in a plastic bag. The hat should be kept in as warm a place as possible. Room temperature is fine, but try not to let it get much below that.

The next day, wash the hat and allow it to air-dry.

While this dye is not invincible, you will be able to continue to wash the hats in the future with little to no fading (depending on how you wash them). The sun will still wear the new color out gradually, but you can use this method multiple times on the same hat to restore color.

Is this safe to use in laundromat or lodging washers? - The short answer is, yes (despite the warnings some laundromats post). A commercial washer will easily clear any excess dye with the water and it won't stick to anything but the soda ash'd fabric.