Dying Curtains

I've had this set of curtains stored away in my basement for years.

Years.

They were hand-me-downs to me, but someone must have paid a lot of money to have these custom made.

I didn't know what to do with them, but I couldn't part with them either.

It was the white that was the problem.
Something about white curtains says "dated" to me.

That, and my house is painted in all warm colours, so there really was no "fit" for them here.

I did say years right?

If it hasn't been used in years, then it's time to either get rid of it, or make it work.

I decided to try to make it work.

Please notice the instructions on the front of the box:

Now notice the lack of instructions anywhere inside, outside or on the packaging within the box:

I just had to point out that I looked everywhere this time (unlike in my tiling fiasco).

I looked it up online and all they said was to add the dye to hot water (over 100 degrees).
It didn't say how much water to use though?

At this point I had to chant "you've got nothing to lose, you've got nothing to lose..."

In went the curtains.

{Gulp, sweat, fingers and toes crossing...}

I had no idea how long to soak them for.

I baked 6 dozen pumpkin muffins stirring the curtains occasionally in between.

They didn't seem to get darker over time, so I pulled them out and gave them a rinse and spin.

(Note: I did wash a load of gray towels afterwards just to be sure that there was no dye left in the drum.)

It's not a dramatic change like from white to black, but it is the perfect shade of soft gray/silver that I was hoping for.

My dining room walls are called "Bleeker Beige".  The gray of the curtains is slightly off, but not as much as it appears in the photo.

Experiment = Success  (Whew!)

Dad - my first curtain dying experience went a lot smoother than my first hair dying one eh? (Thank goodness!)

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Have a great one!