Thread: HELP! Dying cheesecloth!

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I thought I'd use black food coloring to turn my cheesecloth grey, but it turns out, it turns it PINK! I'm attempting to use teabags to turn it dingy but I'm not sure if it's going to work or if I've ruined it. (Good thing it's cheap!)

Anyone have any suggestions how I can fix this?

I used black acrylic paint, just added a little bit and mixed it into the water, soaked the cheesecloth and then wrung it out. (no rinsing)

If your cheesecloth is pink now, I'd soak it in a little bleach to get that out, then re-try it with paint or tea/coffee.

No need to throw it out, the more you're messing with it, the more degraded it will be and look great!

Thanks for the info! I filled my kitchen sink with water and mixed in some black acrylic and it seems to be taking well, didn't think to bleach first (I decided to remedy first before waiting for replies) I had my paints out because I'm making bloody sheets to cover my couch and chair and a bloody hand towel for the bathroom and thought to myself "Duh! Why didn't I use paint first!?!" But for future reference for anyone else: food colors don't dye things well!

I've had very good luck using Rit fabric dye on cheesecloth. The liquid type is easier than the powder. Usually mix it in a 5 gallon bucket, soak for a few hours to a day with occasional stirring, then rinse thoroughly in the tub (I've always gotten the tub clean again without trouble, but no guarantees!), then hang the cheesecloth to dry. One bottle will dye a lot of cheesecloth.
If the paint doesn't cover the pink, the Rit Dye might be worth a try.
Good luck!

We used rit dye. We only used half a box of gray dye. Do not shred before washing. We did in the washer, a small load. I bought a whole box of cheese cloth and used over half of box. We put some white and some gray cheesecloth all over unfinished basement rafters. We made them all tattered and full of holes. We used them for the look of old and creepy in the spider basement. It worked great.