How do you dye a velvet chair from red to dark green or burgundy
without removing the fabric from the chair?

Hi,

That's an interesting question.  Thanks for coming to Google Answers.

The basic answer to your question is that it's extremely difficult
(the general consensus is not to do it at all) to dye furniture fabric
(especially velvet, which can lose its soft touch) without removing it
from the furniture first.  That's because the dye can't be properly
rinsed.  If dye isn't rinsed properly, it can rub off onto clothing or
drip onto the floor if the furniture gets wet.
http://www.flash.net/~pburch/dyeing/FAQ/furniture.html

In searching through numerous Internet pages and discussion groups, I
wasn't able to find any examples of someone successfully dyeing
furniture at home without removing the fabric.  I did run across,
however, an example of someone warning not to try it.
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=es&lr=&threadm=35AE44C1.2550%40SPAMibm.net&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Des%26lr%3D%26q%3Ddyeing%2Bupholstered%2Bfurniture%26btnG%3DB%25FAsqueda%2Ben%2BGoogle

One possibility is to have a professional do the work for you.  Some
carpet-cleaning firms that do this work have drying rooms so the
furniture can be dried after washing. Here are some examples:
http://www.carpetdye.net/furndye.htm
http://www.carpetcleaner.net/furndye.htm
http://www.colorcarpet.com/References/set5.html

I was unable to find examples of people using this approach at home
(washing the furniture and then using a hair dryer, perhaps?), so I'm
not recommending it.

Another possibility would be to consider painting rather than dyeing,
as mentioned in one of the comments below.

Google searches:
://www.google.com/search?hl=es&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=dyeing+upholstery
://www.google.com/search?hl=es&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=dyeing+furniture

I hope this helps.

mvguy

"How do you dye a velvet chair....?"  The old joke says "very
carefully"...You can dye while in place BUT you must know whether the
fabric is cotton, rayon, brushed silk(rare), or acrylic pile.  That
determination will tell you what dye and process to use.  There are
tests for these different fabrics which I'll try to get for you..if
you do not know.

When you dye fabric, the final stage is to rinse and wash the fabric,
to get any traces of the dyeing chemicals out, which is difficult if
the fabric remains attached to the chair.

An alternative to dyeing is to use a fabric paint. Instead of washing
and leaving to dry, you apply the colour on using a paintbrush, then
set it using heat (a hot iron or hairdryer).

The other problem is that if you dye or paint velvet, you run the risk
of spoiling the pile and when it dries it feels hard and unpleasant to
touch. Setacolor is a fabric paint that seems to work well on velvet
and they have a wide range of colours.  You can thin it down with
water and paint straight onto the fabric. Be careful not to use too
much at once or it may soak through into the stuffing. And do a test
first, where it can't be seen - for example turn the chair upside down
and see if there's any fabric to test on that is hidden.

Leave until completely dry then rub some white fabric against it to
test whether it comes off, as you may find that the colour rubs off
over time as people sit on it!

I also came across this method for embossing velvet (imprinting a
pattern using stamps and / or a hot iron) as an alternative decorative
technique:

http://www.taunton.com/threads/pages/t00072.asp

You can buy Setacolor in crafts shops or online:

in the US
https://www.prochemical.com/setacolortransparent.htm

in the UK 
http://www.lainesworld.co.uk/pebeo/setacolo.htm

Google search terms:

Setacolor fabric paint upholstery

Good luck!

catherine-ga