Neoprin questions and dyeing neoprin [Archive]

Mermaid Allie

11-11-2012, 01:06 PM

Hi! I'm making my two friends and I neoprin tails for xmas. I'm purchasing 4.5 yards of neoprin from spandexworld (we're small mers i think thats enough). Our preferred tail colors are aqua, purple, and red. I'm getting red neoprin because its available from spandexworld, and mayb the turquoise one instead of purple because she doesn't really care what colour it is. But the third mer in my group has her heart set on an aqua tail... anyone know how to dye neoprin? I'm a real beginner here sorry!! Also, how will neoprin hold up in chlorinated water? We swim in pools alot... would it be more wise to buy white on white neoprin and dye it with some special dye? lol thx!

Winged Mermaid

11-11-2012, 07:23 PM

I wouldn't dye neoprin. In order to dye something, you have to wash it (to get all dirt and factory residues off), dye it, then wash it again. Unless you plan to do that all in your bath tub, you'd have to do it in a washing machine. You can't dye things in a front loading machine either, as far as I know from instructions on dyes and such. All the "beating" of the fabric from the washer agitating it will stretch and warp the neoprin. As you can see from this thread (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?3374), neoprin lacks elasticity, so it distorts permanently at least a bit every time it's stretched. Even dying jeans by hand is a pain in my experience.

Neoprin continues to warp, stretch, and break down the more it's used. Chlorine weakens and damages fabric, so it would only make that trait worse. You will need to take very good care of your tail and be sure to do rinses/washes every time you wear it. There's more about that in the tail care and maintenance thread (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?3108-%E2%98%86-Tail-Care-and-Maintenace-The-Official-Thread-%E2%98%86).

If I were you, I'd get white and just paint the entirety of the tail. Painting or dying over another color will change the color that it comes out. Screen printing ink/paint (such as Permaset Aqua Fabric Screen Printing Ink) will essentially dye the fabric when applied. However screen printing inks tend to be expensive. I've never heard of that kind of dye that you linked, but it says you can paint it on. Perhaps it will be similar to screen printing ink in that it dyes the fabric when you paint it on. If so it would be a lot less costly than something like Permaset :)

You say you're a beginner, so I wonder if you know much about neoprin. I wouldn't recommend it. Check out the "neoprene vs neoprin" thread I linked above, and also what is written about neoprin on the Materials and Supplies (http://mernetwork.com/index/content.php?139-Materials-and-Supplies) page. There are also some distributors of neoprene on that page that are cheap- Rockywoods and Seattle Fabrics are popular for low priced neoprene, and they both have a variety of colors.

Hope that helps you :)