How not to dye beads

[mostlysunny]

Howdy
Cos I have a tendency to buy things and go 'this would be fabulous if it were navy/teal/pink not orange/grey/blah why don't i just dye it' only to have things go HORRIBLY wrong I decided to ask the wise craftster folk before I ruin a perfectly good (but pale pink) cardy.
So I plan to dye this pale pink cardy that has white beading ( it's from the fifties) to navy, but I want to keep the beads white. Considering that I'm going to do this on the stovetop which seems to be the method to dye everything from clothes to your fingers and your stove are my beads going to turn blue? I could remove them all but frankly that'd take buckets of time and kinda defeats the purpose plus I suck at reproducing needlework ( its a very specific failure!)
Any help would be muchly appreciated.
Thanks
Sunny

[rostitchery]

it depends on what dye you use and what the beads are made of, but since you say stove top, i'm assuming RIT and if the beads are ordinary nylon they will tint but not dye to the same color as the fabric (unless the fabric is poly or has a lot of poly in it).

[BettyThreat]

maybe if u can use a dying method that uses cool dye, you can paint the beads with wax so that they don't tint.

[ma2maya]

What fiber is the cardigan? If it is a natural fiber like cotton or wool don't use RIT b/c it is totally unnecessary and quite frankly a horrible dye(it may be all-purpose but it is all-purposefully horrible!) Actually I think the only thing I have heard of RIT dyeing well is FOE(fold over elastic) O.K. I will end my anti-RIT diatribe for now!

Back to your cardigan, if it is wool I suggest using either an Acid dye(sounds frightening[or trippy ]) but the only thing acid about it is the vinegar or citric acid you use to "fix" the dye.  The other dye would be a fiber reactive dye, which is doable for any natural fiber including viscouse rayon.

If it is acrylic, polyester or other man-made fiber you may be stuck with RIT. Sorry

As to the beads, the fiber reactive dyes only dye natural fibers. They might slightly stain(very light) but would probably come clean in the rinse stage. I am not sure what the acid dyes would do. If the beads are of a porous material like a plastic then you may get some coloration. If they are glass beads your probably in the clear.

Here are some helpful links on dyeing/dyes
Paula Burch
Fiber-Arts.com

Buen suerte,
Kathy

[wokeupafraud]

if the sweater is made of animal fibres you could try the kool-aid method on the knitting board.

[ma2maya]

Sunny,
I see you are in Australia so having a supplier in country would be handy for you The only one I currently know of is http://www.kraftkolour.com.au/

Kathy

[cataway]

Remove one bead and put it through the process.  Then if it dyes try waxing and see if that helps before you do the whole garment.  I don't think it will dye the beads unless they are real pearls but i have been wrong before

[mostlysunny]

Thanks all!
I usually use Dylon, and i think the cardy is a relic of the plastic lovin' fifties so its some poly/cotton blend.
But i wil probably dye it anyway (no I haven't learnt a thing!) as the beads are glass (thanks Kathy!) so I'll let y'all know
Thanks again
Sunny