Dyeing Nylon Cord

Over the years, I’ve experimented with dyeing certain pieces of my knotted jewelry. At first I tried “Acid Dye”, so named because it requires an acidic additive like vinegar to set. At the time I thought it was the only dye that was suitable for nylon cord. It required a hot dye bath, which was a problem if I wanted only certain portions of the piece to be dyed or if I wanted to apply the dye with a paintbrush, rather than throwing the whole thing into the simmering dye bath. I never could figure out the correct amount of vinegar to add and the colorfastness of the dye was always an unknown factor.
So I put dyeing on the back burner (so to speak) for a while, but the desire to paint color into my pieces stayed with me. Last year I did a little more research and found a product called Dye-Na-Flow, a fabric paint that acts like dye. I’ve used it for several pieces and am really happy with it so far. It doesn’t require a hot dye bath, so you can paint it on straight from the bottle or dilute it with water for a lighter shade. I like to dampen the knotted piece in warm water beforehand so it accepts the dye more easily. It does require heat to set so I use a hot iron, sandwiching the dyed piece between 2 pieces of fabric so that the iron doesn’t come in direct contact with the nylon. If ironing isn’t practical (if your piece is 3-D rather than flat) they offer a product called “Air Fix” that you mix into the dye to make it colorfast. This is a new product for me, so I can’t say for sure if it’s as effective as heat setting.
If you want to add another element to your work, you may want to try this! I recently made some earrings and painted them with this product. Below are some of the steps I took to create an ombré effect for a pair of earrings.