💲 Dye Cost Estimator
Price out a dye batch from your fabric weight, depth of shade, and dye price — dye cost, auxiliaries, and labour rolled into a total and a cost per kilogram of fabric.
💲 Your Batch, Costed Out
What is a Dye Cost Estimator?
Knowing what a dye batch actually costs is the difference between a quote that holds and one that eats your margin. This estimator takes the depth of shade and dye price to work out the dye spend, adds your auxiliaries and labour, and divides the total by the fabric weight to give a clean cost per kilogram — the figure you can build a price around.
Use it to quote a custom dye job, compare two shades, or decide whether a deeper colour is worth the extra dye. The results are estimates for planning; test on a sample swatch first, since yields and waste vary, and confirm the numbers on a real batch before committing to a price.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How does the dye cost estimator work?
Dye used comes from depth of shade — fabric weight × shade percentage — so 10 kg of fabric at a 2% shade uses 0.2 kg of dye, which at $50/kg costs $10. Auxiliaries are priced per kilogram of fabric, labour is a flat figure for the batch, and the three are added for the total. Dividing that total by the fabric weight gives the cost per kilogram, the number you'll usually quote on.
What costs do dyers most often forget?
The dye itself is rarely the whole story. Salt, soda ash, fixatives, and wetting agents add up — fold them into the auxiliaries-per-kg field — and so do labour, water, energy to heat the bath, effluent treatment, and the cost of any reject or strike-off swatches. Building those in gives a cost-per-kilo that actually reflects the job.
Will my real cost match the estimate?
These are estimates for planning; test on a sample swatch first. Dye yields and waste vary, prices move, and a deeper shade or a difficult fibre can change the auxiliaries you need, so confirm your figures on a real batch before quoting a customer and add a margin for comfort.