Forums/Tutorials & tips/3D printing tutorials & advice
RIT Fabric Dye on Durable Plastic
Josh Reuss
posted this on April 30, 2011 00:37
I recently tried RIT fabric dye on some durable plastic 3d printed ponoko mascots; so here's a few photos of the process and the
colorful results. The dyes I used were a powdered 'royal blue' and a liquid 'cherry red'.
To start things off I took a small pot I don't cook with and heated up some tap water on the kitchen stove.
Brought the water to a near boil then backed it down to a simmer. Adding the dye was a wholly unscientific
process for me, only a small amount of the packet was needed to get a deep blue hue.
Stirring well I made sure the dye granules had dissolved completely before putting my model in.
No turning back now...
This little guy wanted to float; felt a little macabre as I forced it under and bubbles gurgled out the
mouth...
A series of shots at 10min, 20 minutes and 30 minutes. Your results will vary depending on how much dye
you use and how hot you keep the water. If you want a repeatable color take detailed notes on the amount
of water, water temperature and the amount of dye added in addition to soak time.
Around the 30 minute mark it reached the color I was looking for so I pulled it out and put it under the
kitchen faucet to wash off any remaining dye. Initially the model looked blotchy but as it dried took on a much
more uniform color.
The liquid RIT dye performed like the powdered version, although I perfered the liquid when it came to
being able to recap and not getting dye granules where they shouldn't be.
Depending on how long you leave a model in you could achieve everything from a pale pink to a dark red.
What a cheerful group.
Here's one more example of the white durable plastic dyed cherry red.
Have you tried your hand at dying dying your own models? If so how did it turn out?
Comments
Thanks for the tips, Thomas! We'd love to see some photos of the pieces you've dyed as well - sounds great!
These are photos of various incomplete bracelets (awaiting rivets to be printed) I have dyed using RIT and acid dyes. When dyeing felt and bamboo you must steam the items for 30-45 minutes to set the dye. It can be a lot of work to dye the felts and bamboo but I am all about the color!
I tried this overnight with dye that was initially tea-hot (55 seconds in microwave) and then cooled to room temperature; the results were disappointing in durable plastic (trying to dye with Rit black liquid dye). I suppose the heating is very important? Is this what others are finding? Was there surface preparation you had to do with your models?
Thanks so much for adding your own images Thomas - they look awesome!
Amazing to see the dyed bamboo and felt as well, I haven't heard about other Ponoko users doing that yet - so no doubt you'll be inspiring some others here too.
Dennis - Sorry to hear your first attempt didn't work out. Hopefully you'll be able to use Thomas' advice and have a better result a second time.
Has anyone tried dying the superfine plastic? Can we expect similar results?
Hi Mark! The recommendation from here in the office is that you may want to paint superfine instead - it's certainly been used for wargame models, etc in that fashion... if anyone else has thoughts, please feel free to chip in!
The designs I'm looking at coloring are dice, so I'm worried paint would chip or wear away. My first ones should be arriving tomorrow, and I have a few options to consider. One idea I've heard of with 3d printed models is to soak them in hot tea. I'll let you know what I decide to do.
Great Mark - we look forward to hearing what you go with. =)
I've tried RIT on superfine. I did not heat as much as with the durable white plastic and I let it soak sort of overnight. The results were that it turned black but was still a little translucent, but it was good enough for what I was trying to do.
Thanks for letting us know your experience with this Dennis!
HELP!! My son wants to dye the plastic head to his lacrosse stick and needs it done, like, yesterday!!! It's bright white and he wants it golden yellow. The shape of the head makes it difficult to fit into a pot or bucket, I was thinking of the washing machine method. Do I have to add salt and/or vinegar or just use the powder and very hot water?? Any help would be appreciated!
Susan - It's a 3D printed lacross stick? It sounds like something subject to high wear where you will want to touch it up a lot anyway - why not just paint it with spray paint, and keep the can to fix dings that will happen later. I wouldn't have thought a 3D printed part would be tough enough to be a lacross stick - and that it would have been very expensive to print?!
Dennis, the head part he wants dyed is just white plastic, not printed. Does that make sense?
There's a few walkthroughs on dying lacross heads that might be helpful to look through.
http://www.e-lacrosse.com/stech9.html
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dying+lacrosse+heads
Consider using a larger plastic bucket that you don't mind staining and pouring in the hot water to fully submerge the piece.
Thanks guys!! I appreciate it!
My plan is to fill a bucket with HOT water, add the 2 cups prepared dye and go from there. No salt, no vinegar needed????