Last Garment Dye Facility in the South

Why Garment Dye?

Garment dyeing is the process of dyeing the garment after it has been sewed and constructed. A majority of clothing gets its color from dyed yarn or fabric.

Building from a city rich in textile history.

Our dye house facility in downtown Burlington, North Carolina has a local history as a former sock factory that knitted and dyed socks from the 1960s through the 1990s. We had the opportunity to purchase this equipment and lease the facility around 10 years ago, and knew it was a good investment to stay aligned with our values as a B-Corporation.

Benefits to Garment Dyeing vs. Traditional Dyeing

 

  • Consistency: We control the variables that assures color consistency and works with our eco-friendly REHANCE™ printing technology.
  • Faster to Market: Domestic production can mean faster turn around times, vs. ordering products produced in other countries. Because we dye our garments after the shirts are sewn, there is not a limitation on color choices and the customer has greater flexibility on when to determine the garment color.
  • Smaller Volumes Possible: Our variety of dye tubs allow us to batch dye in smaller quantities.
  • Truly Pre-Shrunk Apparel: We jokingly say, if our shirt doesn’t fit the same 6 months from now… it’s not the shirt’s fault.
  • Minimal Impact: We are focused on using environmentally responsible dyes. The City of Burlington wastewater treatment plant was built around textiles. It is only a few blocks from us and we are fortunate to have a great relationship with them.
This allows us to grow with our mission to create the best wearing, highest quality, domestically made apparel, with minimum impact to the environment. Clothing with meaning, and connection. 100% made in the USA.

 Stock Reactive Garment Dye Colors

Color can vary based on dye load size, cotton type, and fabric finish

Color accuracy is dependant on your device’s display, and may appear different once printed on fabric. Consider ordering a color swatch to see the best representation of our color options.

Dye House Specifications

5,000 square feet with loading dock

413 Tucker Street, Burlington, NC 27215

Order Parameters:

  • Minimum production weight of 60 lbs
  • Standard 3 week turnaround time

Pricing:

  • Pricing is based upon a per-pound basis (for dyeing) and a per-piece basis (for handling)
  • Prices will vary depending on color selected and how much handling/packaging is required.

Color Matching Available

  • Flat fee of $175
  • Up to 3 matching attempts (tweak the formula as necessary)
  • All trial will be sent and customer will select one to proceed
  • Exact match not guaranteed until first production run.

Product Requirements:

  • Softener used in fabric finishing should be non-cationic & non-silicon-based
  • Garments sewn with cotton thread (unless a contrasting thread is desired)
  • Product samples required before order acceptance to assess dyeability

Waste Water Treatment:

  • We are fortunate to be a couple of blocks away from the City of Burlington waste water treatment facility
  • A facility that was designed and built around the textile industry
  • We have a great and close relationship with the city and closely communicate with them on anything that is going down the drain

Equipment Specifications

5 Sample and 9 Production Paddle Dye Tubs with the following capacities operating at a 17:1 liquor ratio:
2.5 lbs 7.5 lbs (x3) 15 lbs 61 lbs
78 lbs 79 lbs 87 lbs 102 lbs
124 lbs 142 lbs 164 lbs (x2)

2 Extractors

4 Commercial Gas Dryers

100 Horsepower Natural Gas Fired Boiler