Dyeing Ugg Boots

I did it! I was nervous and worried but my Ugg pale pink boots were dying - no that's not right! They were DYEING LOL :) Well, really I guess they were dying to be dyed. They were filthy and couldn't be worn like they were. Something needed to be done. I got some inspiration from a fellow blogger catchickcreations and an ehow article.

So first I sprayed them with Shout and brushed them with a toothbrush. I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere so I just went all in and threw them in the washing machine on cold/gentle.

I patiently watched them go through each cycle with my finger pushing down on the "lid closed" button. (I didn't want the bottom to come unglued from the leather)

They came out looking great! I stuffed them with paper towels to retain their shape while they dried.


I knew I wanted them to be "pinker" because they were so faded, so I bought RIT powder dye in petal pink. (I used one whole packet for the bucket). We (because at this point hubby became involved) filled the bucket with hot water and I dissolved the packet in a glass bowl with two cups of water then poured the dye mixture into the big bucket and stirred.

I throughly re-wet the Uggs and put on gloves so I could get them into the bucket top down with the soles floating together (if I would have had larger boots/feet, this wouldn't have been so easy).
I waited for thirty minutes and swirled them around with a stick periodically during that time. When the dinger went off, I pulled them both out and began the rinsing process - warm, then cold when they no longer had pinkish water running out of them. Then I stuffed them again - and waited. And waited. And waited.

It took almost 4 days for them to dry and I kept changing the paper towels in them.

But I have to say the final result was well worth it all. They are now presentable again. As a final process (to soften up the sheepskin on the outside again) I vigorously "brushed" them with a plastic bristle hair brush. This returned some of the nap and made them soft and pliable again :)

This was the final product/outcome. I think they turned out great. And thanks catchick, for your kind email and helping me through a scary process :)

As a side note, the stitching around the tag on back did turn pink. Since the dye was so light, it didn't affect the tag. I had a brainstorm of an idea to color the tag with white crayon (wax) before I dyed them to keep them from changing but in my nervousness, forgot to do that, so I don't know if that would work or not.