Dyeing ripstop pants?

[akdms]

I've seen some pictures of gis that haw been dyed and turned out really nice, and am considering dyeing my gi (currently white). My gi pants are ripstop though -- does anyone know how they will hold dye, if at all? Do I need to use a special kind of dye for it to stick? Any other general advice?

 

[ohmalley]

is the drawstrip made of the same ripstop material? if so i'd buy a replacement drawcord and use the ripstop drawstring to test the dye on.

ripstop is cotton so i think it'll take dye just fine, but it wouldn't surprise me if the color was a bit different than the gi top, simply because the top is a different, thicker weave.

or, what you *could* do is guy a cheap ass gi from jitsugi. get the ripstop pants with the goldweave jacket, dye 'em, and see how it comes out. if you hate it, you're only out $65 total and you've got a back-up gi. the goldweave may take dye differently even than a singleweave, but you'll at least get a sense for the variation between the jacket and pants.

 

[Mostenso]

Eek I think you would definitely have to get special dye for ripstop as its a polyester-cotton blend (my atama ones are anyway). Most cold water dye Ive come across is designed just for pure cotton. If you dye polycotton in it it will come out a much lighter shade than the top and could be patchy.
You can get polyester dyes but sometimes you need to boil the fabric in hot water for an extended period for the dye to work and this would shrink the pants.
Id invest in some pure cotton pants and dye them instead.