Kool-Aid, especially the warm tones like orange and red, will fade in the sun. Leaving it in the car is not a good idea, but for someone like me who isn’t outdoors in wool much, it won’t be a real factor.

When people dye sockyarn with Kool-Aid, it seems no problem to me. The socks are not meant to last forever, and how much sun will a wool sock realistically see?

I have found that food-grade dye sticks well to the wool, and it does not wash out if properly exhausted and kept hot for a while after exhausting. However, some clothing detergents have “brighteners” which are mild bleach-type chemicals, and they could realistically be expected to fade some colors in the wash. Probably washing with a woolwash such as Eucalan, or hair shampoo (made to wash hair, which is what wool is) would avoid that issue.

So if I were making something I hoped to be a family heirloom, I would not only use commercial dyes but I would do very specific research. Even many commercial dyes will fade in light/sun and some are not washfast. For yarn intended to be made into a garment (which by the nature of the item will wear out at some point from use), I don’t personally worry.

However, if you were knitting a coat to be worn outdoors at sporting events, perhaps commercial dyes would be more appropriate. And we will hope/assume that commercially-dyed yarns will be resistant to sun fading, but honestly, I don’t think that can be guaranteed, either.

How is that for straddling the fence?

Diana, looking forward to the silver-haired stage of life… It shows off colors SO much better than brunette.