For example, if you try to dye yellow fabric blue, you might get green. Don’t bleach your fabric to make it white; bleach can destroy most types of mesh fabric.

You can try washing the fabric in a washing machine, but hand washing would be much safer. Mesh fabric is delicate.

Look for labels such as: DyeMore, DyeAll, or Polyester Dye. You can find this dye in most fabric stores and craft stores. Many online stores sell it too.

Plan on using 3 gallons (11. 4 L) of water for every 1 pound (450 g) of fabric. Keep the temperature consistent. About 180 °F (82 °C) would be ideal. Do not re-use this pot for cooking. Fabric dye is toxic. Do not use an aluminum pot; it will react with the dye.

Some packets of dye include a color intensifier. If yours contains it, you should add it in. Add a squirt of dish soap into the water and give it a stir. This will help the dye adhere better! Consider testing the color on a piece of paper towel or scrap fabric.

Nylon-based mesh will dye much faster than polyester-based mesh. How long you leave the fabric in the pot depends on how deep you want the color to be; the longer you leave it, the darker it will turn out. As with the pot, don’t use a cooking utensil to stir the fabric. Use an old spoon instead.

As with the other tools, don’t use tongs that you’ll be cooking with later. You can try squeezing the excess water out with the tongs, but you can do it with your hands too. Be sure to put on a pair of rubber gloves first, however. Be sure to wear gloves during this step so that you don’t stain your skin.

Wear a pair of rubber gloves during this step so that you don’t stain your hands. Be aware that the dye may stain them! If you want to, you can wash the fabric by itself in the washing machine. Run a cycle without anything in it afterwards to remove any excess dye from the machine.

This method works best on lacrosse mesh, but you can use it on other types of mesh fabric too, such as mesh shoes. This method can turn the fabric stiff, so it is not recommended for other types of garments (besides shoes).

Screen printing ink is a great option, but you can use other types of fabric paint too. Do not use puffy paint or dimensional fabric paint. It is not the same thing.

Don’t use a camelhair brush (too soft) or a boar bristle brush (too stiff). You can apply different colors, but be sure to rinse the brush between colors. You can use different colors to create gradients or patterns, such as argyle or stripes.

This should only take 20 to 30 minutes.

Make sure that you flip the fabric over onto a clean paper towel. If the paper towel is covered with paint, the fabric can get stained.

If you need to heat-set the fabric, cover it with a clean cloth first to keep your iron clean. if you need to heat-set the paint, set the iron’s temperature to a polyester, nylon, or synthetic setting to avoid melting your fabric.

This method works best on lacrosse mesh, but it may other on other types of mesh fabric too. This method may cause the fabric to turn stiff, so it is not recommended for garments.

The paper towels will help soak up any excess paint and prevent it from pooling. You can also use cardboard or newspaper instead. Some types of fabric spray paint is translucent, just like fabric dye. White mesh fabric will help the color show up the best.

For larger areas, cover the outlines with tape first, then cover the rest with cardboard.

Don’t apply a thick layer of paint, or it will bleed under the masking tape. If you covered any parts with cardboard, hold the cardboard down.

Cover any painted areas with cardboard so that they don’t get re-painted. Remember to mask off any areas that you don’t want painted.

Make sure that the paint is completely dry before you heat-set it.