How to use a washing machine to dye a dress

Posted by
#Do It Yourself#Style & Grooming#clothes#fashion

how to dye a dress in the washing machine

We just talked about how to break the news of a divorce on social media, while on our sister site, Offbeat Bride, we’re talking about what to do with that perfectly-fitting wedding dress after you divorce.

However, you don’t have to be going through a divorce to reap the benefits of this DIY. Plus there’s a super-uplifting story to boot…

After my wedding, I was left with a dress and accessories that I loved (I mean, look at those gloves!) but they were marred by the circumstances that surrounded their debut. There was a dress in my wardrobe that fitted me perfectly but that I couldn’t wear, and that I couldn’t bring myself to give away. In some ways, I felt like this dress was stopping me from moving on with my life.

So I decided to reclaim my wedding dress. I swallowed my nerves, broke out a different pair of gloves, and dyed it blue. And it was amazing.

Here’s the process for anyone wanting to alter their wedding dress, to give new life to a dress that marked the beginning of a happy marriage, or — as in my case — to cover some bad memories with a dose of brightly coloured dye.

Grab a dress, a box of dye, and check this post out.

About the Author: Megan Finley Horowitz

@meggyfin @meggyfin

I'm a 40-year-old potty-mouthed writer with late-diagnosed ADHD and a shit-ton of anxiety. I live in my hometown of Los Angeles with a husband, a daughter I never planned on having, and a senior rescue dog. Anything else you need to know can be gleaned from my instagram and my TikTok.

Comments on How to use a washing machine to dye a dress

  1. My partner’s mom does this with all her white clothes– anything that gets stained or dingy gets dyed black or blue. She says she barely buys black clothes anymore, she just waits for her white clothes to fade!

  2. This is great! My grand plan for my wedding dress is to cut off the majority of the skirt to turn into a christening gown for my future children. Then I would take my new party-length dress and dye it a delightful blue.
    Kids aren’t quite in my future yet, so for now my dress is just sitting in my closet waiting for its transformation. 🙂

  3. This is the exact dye and process I used to dye my wedding dress blue, but it’s blue for the wedding itself. I didn’t put in quite so much dye and got a very lovely periwinkle.

  4. what if I dye my dress a color that turn out to be totally unacceptable!! Is there no going back, except, to the garbage can! I am planning to use navy blue over a beige. Not sure how the trim is going to take the dye.

Join the Conversation