dyeing plastic

I wanted to dye these plastic cups for seat belts, and thought of how we used to dye parts for radio controlled cars fifteen years ago, by having the parts simmer in a pot for about 30 minutes using powder dye.

I picked up this pot at the goodwill store for $4 and bought the closest thing I could find to the powder dye we used to use back in the day, which was liquid RIT dye at target.

 

I wanted to keep the plastic parts submerged, and also have an easy way to take a peek at what was happening in the pot.

 

The show is on, I kept it going for a good 45 minutes which I think is about what we used to have the stuff going for.

 

The end result was unfortunately not ok, and I'll have to experiment a bit more. Some sides wouldn't really dye too well at all, like the inside. And I wonder why it didn't dye more evenly, maybe because I didn't stir it? Then is the question about the the dye itself, is it the right kind? Was the time / temp wrong? Many possible reasons to why this didn't work out. ?!?!

Anyone who has successfully done this kind of dyeing and could name a good dye to use? I think the stuff we originally used was for dyeing clothes, and it really soaked in into the plastic. Maybe it was a different kind of plastic and it won't work for those reasons.

 

I wonder what the function of the acetone is in this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nanowe1tG9g

 

I did some more research and they say that the acetone helps the plastic accept the dye.

 

Maybe it will work as to open up the pores in the plastic if it's diluted with water, and it will not be strong enough to melt it.

 

:TU:

I would think a double boiler would be better to use (like to make candy with).

It is two pots that fit together.

Maybe if you hang the parts and not let them touch the bottom?

 

Research this first, but when I was younger and heavily into plastic car modeling (styrene plastics, I believe), it was common practice to use a small container of brake fluid to dissolve the paint on old model car bodies. It would eat the paint and leave the plastic unaffected. I know, it seems counter-intuitive, but it worked as advertised. And, then you could clean the bare plastic body and change the color, etc.

There are very good quality plastic & vinyl dyes available from upholstery and paint shops, so I am curious why you did not use those. Rit is a type of fabric dye that requires fabric with some degree of porosity. Injection molded plastics are different and need a chemical process to change color - which is what the special plastic & vinyl dies accomplish. I have used (I think) the brand Marhyde (sp?) before and it worked as advertised on the seats and door panels which were high-wear surfaces. These vinyl & plasic dyes actually "sink into" (on the molecular level) the plastic or vinyl and in my experience, never wore off, etc. Pretty impressive.

Ken

 

I did have the pieces suspended, I bent the wire slightly.

The rit dyeing process seems to work for others, I've read about it on a couple of different forums; but if there is proper plastic dye, then that would be preferred as long as it isn't too expensive.

hmm.... I'll have to figure out what we'll do for round two. I will be painting a pair of kick panels soon anyway, so then I could just paint these two pieces at the same time.

 

i have done this many times over the years ,and powdered rit dye is what i use.i have never had a problem,except over time it will fade.i have done glasses,taillight lenses,front park lenses to amber.the powder works better than the liquid.

 

I have never had to dye transluscent plastics like lenses, etc., rather only opaque parts like interior vinyls, carpet and trim.

Knowing now that others have had success wit RIT dyes on these parts, I would suggest that surface prep might be partly responsible for the variable finish results.

The other observation I would add is that if the new color "dyed" plastic part wears off, then it seems to have really been a coating rather than a stain that seeps into the material.

That said, RIT dye is probably a heck of a lot less expensive than buying replacement parts ... even if you have to do it over again.

A chemical surface prep that etches the material and remove older sun faded plastic surface should be quite beneficial.

Ken

 

I just use lacquer and a preval spray gun. Lacquer cut 2:1 puts a perfect sheen on it.

 

Ken I remember the Traxxas and Associated cars that had the white/natural nylon based plastic. and yes it was powered RIT dye to change the color.

Bummer it didn't work as well here.

 

I had cars/trucks from both those brands, and I clearly remember dyeing my RC-10 black; back in 91/92 I think it was, mmooooaaahhhhaaahh.. I also remember winning the first race I entered, nothing could stop the traxxas sledgehammer truck back in 90. Yikes, it's 200 years ago now..

 

my buddie had an old Traxxas bullet and another with an RC-10. I went with a Losi JRX-pro converted into a truck (later had a XXT), already black parts. :TU: the sledgehammer was a tank though.

 

I took off one shock (had two) on each corner to lighten it. This was also before the real race trucks showed up, so this was pretty much the best truck you could have unless you converted a buggy.

 

I have had a great deal of luck using Duplicolor spray dye. I have gone through about 15 cans of their primer and gloss black plus prep cleaning spray. I have been trudging along the past few months redoing every part of da boats interior for when and if it ever gets out the paint shop. I first use simple green to knock the crud off then clean it again, then prep,primer a couple of coats, then a few light coats of dye. It really looks SWEET!!!!! I'm doing every lil' piece too. Door panels, Cloth seats, plastic parts , dash etc. Just CLEAN it then CLEAN it some more!!!!

 

I tried the powder dye with acetone, and the outcome was the same.

I'm moving on to some kind of spray paint.