How to remove colour from a wrap

There are lots of reasons why you may want to remove the colour from  a woven  wrap.  I don't strip wraps often now that I'm not really babywearing anymore but in the past I occasionally would purchase a wrap that I preordered or bought online that when it arrived the colour was not as expected.  Sometimes the colour was downright hideous or sometimes the colour just didn't go with my skin tone, but I liked the pattern or the wrapping qualities otherwise.  Stripping is also useful if you have a dark coloured wrap and want to dye a lighter or completely different colour.  Some stripped wraps are actually rather pretty and can just be used in their new form rather than be dyed over.

Below is an easy method you can use to strip colour in your washing machine.  I have have used it successfully many times.   Be aware though that not all colours will strip.  The wraps I personally tried have been fine except for one yellow wrap but I have heard that blue can be hard to shift sometimes.

Only strip plant based fibres. Don't strip silk or wool.  It may be best to avoid bamboo too unless you can test a scrap first.

Firstly you need Dharma Color Remover (also known as Thiourea Dioxide or Spectralite).  You can use this method in a  washing machine (front or top loader). I use my front loader.  If you prefer to use the stove top method follow the instruction on the Dharma site instead -
​https://www.dharmatrading.com/techniques/color-remover.html

You need an equal amount of Color Remover to Soda Ash. To strip one size 6 wrap you'll need 100g or Dharma colour remover and 100g of Soda Ash (also known as washing soda and easy to find in the supermarket).  For a ring sling just halve the amounts (and unpick the rings first).

Put both powders in the washing machine drum (not the detergent compartment).  I put the colour remover in first and the soda ash on top.  Then put the wrap on top of the powders and set the machine to wash on the 90 degree cycle with at least one or two extra rinse cycles.

Make sure your laundry is well ventilated as here will be a smell towards the end of the cycle.  After the cycle wash again in 60 degress with your usual detergent.  Your wrap will  be a bit stiff and crunchy at first but will quickly  break in again.

I came across this method in the natural mamas forum and there's lots of great tips in the original thread. Here's the link https://www.naturalmamas.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?133995-Stripping-is-easy-a-little-advice-to-mamas-wanting-to-do-so-)&highlight=dye+front+loader.

Here is a example of a wrap I stripped and dyed.  This is Natibaby Linden.  I preorderd this and it looks pretty in photos but the cream is really yellow and I didn't like it much when it arrived.  I loved the pattern though!

​Here is the wrap dyed orchid.

Wrap stripped - the tan area is very slightly lighter and the lighter part of the pattern is now grey.