Shade Variation: Why Dyed Fabric Never Matches Itself (and How to Control It)

Two rolls of the "same" colour are almost never identical, and a single roll often shifts from edge to edge or start to end. If those variations end up next to each other in one garment - a sleeve a shade off the body - the piece is a second. Shade variation is unavoidable in dyeing; the job is to measure it, band it, and cut around it. Here is how.

The three ways shade varies

Dyeing introduces variation on three axes, and they need different controls:

• Batch-to-batch (dye-lot) - two separate dye lots of the same recipe come out slightly different. The reason there is a dye-lot number on every roll.
• Side-to-side (listing) - the two selvedges differ from the centre across the width, usually from uneven heat, tension or liquor flow.
• End-to-end (tailing) - the shade drifts from the beginning of the roll to the end, common in continuous dyeing.