Many textile dyes are substantive (they bond chemically onto the fabric) and are designed for dyeing specific textiles or textile types. If colour runs during drycleaning or wetcleaning/washing, the liberated dye is strongly attracted to any similar textile types in the load. This explains why, when things go badly wrong (in, say, a load of whites), loose dye may only be picked up by one or two garments in the load. Technically, this is a form of greying (see LCN May/June 2025 issue). Loose dye, together with colour markoff from coloured trims and buttons, can be extremely difficult (or impossible) to remove from contaminated items.
Fault
When drycleaned in D5 Siloxane (Green Earth) the colour ran, and dye was picked up by the upper white component leaving it with a distinct bluish discolouration. The white areas of the trim surrounding the waist area also appears to have been greyed by the loose dye. Following drycleaning, a rub test on the black component revealed that there was still loose dye in the black dress fabric!
Technical cause
The black dye fastness was either inadequate or there was a lot of loose dye present in the black component post manufacture, which could have been due to inadequate rinsing following the fabric dying process. The care label instruction (‘Specialist Dryclean Only’ – circle F underlined) indicated the garment should be drycleaned on a gentle cycle in hydrocarbon solvent. It is not possible to determine at this stage if the garment would have responded satisfactorily had it actually been cleaned in hydrocarbon solvent as required by the care label. However, D5 Siloxane is an even gentler solvent, with approximately half the power (KB value 12 – 17) of hydrocarbon, and it is unlikely that the dye would not have bled had hydrocarbon been used to clean the dress.
Polyester has been marketed as a textile fibre since the 1950s and first became popular and well known to the public under the brand name Terylene. Over the years, its use has expanded across a wide section of workwear and personal wear clothing. Polyester textiles are now found across the range of high value clothing and while it has always been regarded as an easy-care fibre, with virtually bulletproof dye fastness, in more recent times many cleaners have found to their cost that the colour fastness of polyester fabrics can no longer be relied upon. The technical cause of this problem is almost certainly failure on the part of the dyer to adequately rinse or remove all surplus dye from the fabric. For black fabrics to be used with a contrasting colour, as here, it may be necessary to use a rinse additive, such as sodium dithionite.
Responsibility
The fabric dyer and garment maker should bear the primary responsibility here, but the retailer should have checked with the supplier that the garment had been checked for drycleanability.
This was a fairly expensive designer dress (estimated value c.£700), with a ‘specialist clean’ instruction, so an experienced professional cleaner would have removed the trim around the waist and carried out a simple rub-test to check dye-fastness of the garment and trim against the solvent they were using. This is particularly important if the solvent is different from that on the care label. If found to be colourfast, they would have either protected the trim or removed it before going ahead with the cleaning.
A cleaner specialising in the care of high value and designer label items would have established the value of the dress during reception and probably priced the cleaning charge in relation to the stated value. Had the risk of cleaning been considered unacceptable (as here), a specialist cleaner would have referred the customer back to the retailer or possibly accepted the dress at ‘Owners Risk for dye bleed’.
Rectification
In a case like this, the cleaner rarely gets lucky, but a reclean in distilled solvent stands a remote chance of solving the problem. However, if a replacement could be found for the waist trim, and the black and white parts of the dress separated, the white top and lining could then be bleached by steeping in a solution of up to 5% sodium dithionite (5g/ltr) in warm water; this is a powerful reducing agent and will decolour most dyes, so care should be taken to prevent contact with coloured fabrics. Gloves and eye protection should be worn. This should be done outside or in a well-ventilated area using a plastic container because it gives off a strong smell of hydrogen sulphide (which is poisonous). Check frequently and remove and rinse thoroughly as soon as the whiteness has been restored.
