Paint on Dye

[cajuninms]

Hey guys,

So I am looking to do a paint on dye like in this video.



In the video they used 2 parts rubbing alcohol to 1 part RIT liquid dye.

Two questions:

Would acetone work better than the rubbing alcohol?

If I am using powdered dye, should it be grainy or rather smooth texture? The last couple of mixtures I have used have been a bit grainy, and I think it is cause I am using too much powdered dye.

Thanks!

 

[Jermy]

Acetone would work better, the color is instantaneous... so ya gotta be careful. The other downside about acetone is that the vinyl won't prevent it from bleeding no matter how hard you press it down. It can work, but you have to be really quick and cant let the mix sit around.
If your going to give it a shot, I'd recommend doing it by the sink so you can rinse it off alot while applying the color. Also keep some rags handy to blot it.

As far as the textures go, i'm not sure about the rubbing alcohol. But with acetone i'll use either the grains of dye or the liquid acetone to produce different effects, play around with it! I have a test disc that I mess around with different techniques on.

 

[tstack10]

I did rit, acetone, and detergent. It was really grainy the color took really quick but it did bleed a little bit.


Why can't vinyl prevent that? Acetone makes it unstick? Let us know what works for ya!

 

[ChUcKyZ]

When you ask if acetone would work better than rubbing alcohol, what do you mean? Brighter? Quicker? Easier? Better at what?

For the graininess- I converted a french press coffee filter screen to separate the rit from all the salt they throw in there. Enough salt still makes it into the dye to act as a mordant, without all the excess graininess from the undissolved salt.

Another way you can remove the salt is to dissolve a package of rit in as little acetone as possible (leaving most of the salt undissolved) and decant off the dyed acetone. Do this a few times to "purify" your dye as much as possible, then let the acetone mixture evaporate, leaving pure dye with only as much salt as is necessary.

Or, buy the liquid rit. Not very cost effective, though.

 

[Jermy]

I did rit, acetone, and detergent. It was really grainy the color took really quick but it did bleed a little bit.


Why can't vinyl prevent that? Acetone makes it unstick? Let us know what works for ya!

The acetone will eat away at the adhesive holding the vinyl in place at the edges.

 

[cajuninms]

Yes the acetone/dye mixture eats away at the adhesive quite quickly. What about the rubbing alcohol in the video. The mixture in the video seems rather thick. How did he get the mixture this thick? Is the reason for the rubbing alcohol just to make the dye adhere easier to the plastic?

 

[ChUcKyZ]

It must be, because I'm sure nearly everyone here has tried using just liquid rit to disappointed ends...

I don't think it is so much a "glue" as it is tearing apart the outer layer of plastic, allowing the dye molecules easier access to the interior of the plastic.

 

[tstack10]

So you could use a mixture like that and paint it on, wash it off all by freehand with not vinyl outline???

Rubbing alcohol and acetone have different properites right? As far as evaporation, content etc?

 

[ChUcKyZ]

So you could use a mixture like that and paint it on, wash it off all by freehand with not vinyl outline???

Rubbing alcohol and acetone have different properites right? As far as evaporation, content etc?

You could indeed. Depending upon your skill with a brush, the results will vary from a 3-yr old's fingerpainting to Renoir.

You're correct- the two are completely different solvents with unique chemical and physical properties.

 

[NothinButChing]

I like that idea

 

[Skin5482]

I followed this video to dye my first disc. I think it worked pretty well and if I wasn't a noob at this it would've turned out even better.

The mixture is 2 parts liquid Rit and 1 part rubbing alcohol. You need vinyl to do this because the solution is too thin to paint on with just a brush.

I missed two bubble in the vinyl and the dye went into some of the grooves from the hot stamp. So it didn't turn out as clean as I wanted it but not bad for my first attempt.

 

[Biscuit]

note: if you're painting with an acetone mixture, make sure you use a natural bristle brush. Acetone eats away at a lot of synthetic materials.