Dye and wash treatments are how a plain garment acquires character. They also change dimensions, so they belong in the plan from the beginning rather than added at the end.
Piece dye and garment dye
Piece dyeing colours fabric before cutting and gives strong consistency across a run. Garment dyeing colours the finished garment and produces the softer, slightly irregular character associated with washed clothing, along with more variation between pieces.
Shrinkage is the main technical issue
Garment dyeing and washing shrink the garment, sometimes considerably. Patterns must be cut oversized to compensate, and the compensation has to be established by testing rather than estimated.
Common treatments
- Garment dye for depth and a lived in hand
- Enzyme wash to soften and reduce surface fuzz
- Pigment dye for a faded, tonal surface
- Overdye to shift the colour of an existing fabric
Variation is a design decision
Some variation between pieces is inherent to garment dyeing. Decide in advance how much you accept, and communicate it to customers rather than treating it as a defect.
Trims must survive the process
Thread, labels and hardware react differently to dye and wash. Confirm that every component is compatible before committing, or you will discover it on finished goods.