How to Dye Polyester Fabric

Polyester is more difficult to dye than nylon. It requires very high heat and extreme pressure, using disperse dyes.

For polyester apparel fabrics, dyeing is usually done using a jet dyeing machine. Jet dyeing polyester also builds bulk through shrinking and helps create a soft hand.

Industrial polyester fabrics (i.e. 200, 300, 600 and 1800 denier polyester) typically use high temperature/pressure jigger dyeing. Jet dyeing these heavier polyester fabrics generally shrinks them too much, and results in a higher working loss.

In general, polyester is known to have better colorfastness than nylon.

Fun Fact: Although polyester typically has better colorfastness than nylon, nylon 6.6 bright yarn, actually exceeds polyester in colorfastness!