Not sure if this belongs here, or in general chat, but wanted to show off some of the masks I've dyed, as well provide answers where I can for anyone who is curious.
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That fade is sweet! -
I know of these video and more go through the process of dyeing the masks but is there anything else that you did and or tried that made the process easier?Comment
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jokers sure! Apologies for the long post, kind of a stream of consciousness...
So, the blue ear'd Vios and the orange Vents were all done with the Rit Synthetic dye shown in those videos. I followed pretty much that process, but used about 1/2 a bottle for 2.5 gallons of water. I aimed to keep the water at/around 190F-200F. Clear masks will take on color much better, and remember that you can only dye darker and all plastics will dye differently. The 3 orange masks were in the same water bath for the same amount of time, and came out different shades, despite all being Empire E-Vents. Also, remove the foam first, and clean well. I didn't need to remove any "clear coat" with acetone like the second video, but that may just be a Flex8 thing. I just gave all masks a good cleaning with warm water and dish soap. I also dye directly in the pot, but I have a dedicated 3 gallon stainless steel pot for it. I rinsed with cold water when I was happy with the color. If it was too light after rinsing, back in the dye bath it went.
The green and purple CRBN was done using Pro Chemical and Dye disc golf dye. It was way stronger and worked way faster than the Rit stuff. TBH I'm never going back to Rit.
Also, as you can see with the Empire masks, and jewels left on will have their clear coat dyed, so keep that in mind.
Word of caution: synthetic dye is strong. It will dye your countertops if not cleaned up right away. It will dye any plastic or wooden utensil used (I have a dedicated wooden spoon). So, uh, just be careful.
Oh, and something those tutorials (and frankly, a lot of tutorials leave out) is that you can save the dye for re-use, or co-dye other items at that time, especially if you use a heavier dose of dye. With the blue I dyed one of Mrs Z's white quarter zip long-sleeves for work and it came out a nice light blue, and with the orange I dyed two white headbands that had print on them.
Lastly, for fades, or dying multiple colors, start with the darker color, unless you're really confident in your ability to hold part of the mask out of the dye. For example, if I had wanted to do a nose fade on CRBNs, say black to purple, I would start with the black, just holding the nose in, then do the purple. The purple will not affect the already darker black. I will soon be experimenting with vinyl stencils (for dying solids, like visors and hopper shells) and other "masking" techniques to handle the holes in masks.Comment
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Thank you zinger565 for the excellent write up, I will definitely have to try pro chemical since they are roughly the same price or cheaper then Rit and have a ton more colors. I am glad you mentioned reusing the dye since that would be one thing i could see me doing is getting done with a mask hopper or anything and throwing it away and wasting all of the dye.
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You have not tried lotion dyeing yet have you? I saw on Pro Chemical they mentioned lotion testing after i looked it up i see where they use it for dyeing discs and then found this write up and picture on reddit.
"I use the cheapest lotion at Walmart and rit dye synthetic. I pour the lotion into an ultimate disc until the bottom is covered. Mix the dye with lotion in small squeeze bottles, 2:1 lotion to dye. Squeeze the dye/lotion mix onto the lotion bed, small dots work better than lines. Repeat with each color I'm using until most of the bed is covered, you don't want large white patches. Use a toothpick to make your swirls then lay the disc onto the lotion and push down so the lotion touches the edge of the rim. Depending on plastic type and desired effect you can adjust how long you leave it in the dye. This one was in dye for 7 hours. Champ style plastic takes 24+ to get good color."
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I have not tried it, but I did a ton of reading/watching on what the disc golf folks are doing. The big advantage they have is that discs are flat, so they can "float" them in a bed, which make lotion/glue/shaving cream/ect bed style dying possible and relatively easy. I'm planning on trying it with some JT visors just to see if I can get some cool looks with it, but those swirls will "smear" towards the edge when you push down to submerge the entire part.
It's definitely a way to get some real control over where the dye goes, as well as much more economical than a full bath. I'm also planning on experimenting with vac-seal/sous vide bagging parts with dye bath in them and putting those in a warm bath to reduce the volume needed to submerge an entire part.
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