Dear Jennifer,
There is a tan corduroy skirt in my size (with room for shrinkage) that is on sale for half price because it has some pinkish stains in the pleats. I thought it would be a fun project to dye or paint it another color or colors. It is 90% cotton, 10% poly.
I usually fabric paint instead of dye things with poly content, but I tried to paint corduroy once before, and the ridges got prickly and stiff, losing their softness. Is there a fabric paint method that works on corduroy or velvet without doing this? Or would dye be better, especially with the low poly content?
I have a lot of RIT dye around, do you think it would work on this or is there something special I should get that would give significantly better results? I don’t need it to be a very dark color, I don’t even have a particular color in mind yet, I just want to make it a color I like and have the stains not stand out.
Thanks, Sharla

Hi Sharla,
Dharma Trading Co. sells all kinds of fabric paints. Get a copy of their catalog, or else read it online carefully, to research fabric paints and their surface effects.
You might be able to dye this piece, but it really depends on what caused the pink stains. Sometimes stains pick up the dye darker or differently than the rest of the garment. I suggest the reactive dyes from Dharma. The polyester content on this piece is so small that it is negligible. You could have an interesting experiment if you are willing to try it!!
best,
Jennifer