Sometime last year, I asked about dyeing carpet. My TR8 lived
most of its life in CA and so (1) the top was always down, (2)
the sun shown in, and (3) the navy carpet had faded to an ugly,
blotchy tan. The carpetting itself was in pretty good shape so I
decided not to replace it just yet if I didn't have to.
Someone had suggested carpet dye in a spray can (!) -- Western
Auto had some. I agreed to write back and tell everyone how it
worked out. There are only 6 colors to choose from: Camel Tan,
Royal Blue, Black, Chocolate, Bright Red, and another color I've
forgotten. I took the old carpet out of the car, cleaned it up
and started spraying the Royal Blue. Hmmm, color on the cap did
NOT match the color of the dye! The color was a very BRIGHT
Royal Blue. No match. Moreover, the carpetting I had sprayed
got quite stiff. Rats!
What next? I called a few local detail shops. Most didn't do
carpet dyeing. Those that did used spray can dye. I also looked
in the Yellow Pages under Carpet and Rug Dyers. Of the 4 or 5
listed, only one would consider looking at my CAR carpet. I
brought it to them, they pulled off a few strands, lit them on
fire (!), sniffed the odor, looked at each other and said 'meat!'
Meat? Seems they can tell carpet type by smell and 'meat' =
acrylic. Nope, they said, can't dye acrylic. Won't work well at
all.
Final effort? Went back to Western Auto and got some more Royal
Blue and some Black. You guessed it. I alternated blue and
black. Surprise!! Worked great and looks quite good too! You
really have to look carefully to discover that I dyed it.
Hints for those who may try this at home: (1) Work in bright
sunlight. It's easiest to see exactly what color you have
(especially if you mix two paints like I did). (2) After the
carpet dries, brush it with a stiff brush to get out the
stiffness the dye left behind. (3) I shampooed the biggest
piece of carpet with some of that spray-on Woolite stuff; I just
vacuumed the other pieces. The vacuumed pieces turned out best
for some reason. (4) Colorfastness? I'll let you know next
time I get rained on :-) Seems very good though.
end of report
jim
jatc@emx.utexas.edu
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