Question about IDYE and clear plastic

[disctildeath]

Been doing dyes now for about a year and a half, had some crystal clear and other really translucent discs come out poorly recently. I had for a while been adding the powder to shaving cream in bowls then adding a bit of water, but I then just took the dye and mixed it with water and keep it in jars then just eye drop that into shaving cream to have a selection of colors to use which I then eyedrop that into patterns on a shaving cream bed in a pie tin. Does IDYE degrade over time if it is already mixed up in jars or should have I let the clearer ones sit in the shaving cream longer than 24 hours? I have done other clearer plastics before, these were clearer runs of Gateway Diamond and the two crystal clear Shamans I did with a rainbow burst design barely showed up at all and the crystal pink Warrior I had took a bit of the red but not the orange or even the purple I added which is usually the best color. I did some of the more pearly Diamond discs and those took alright, and the platinum which is opaque like Star/ESP always does well but should I just go back to mixing powder each time I do a batch?

 

[twistedmangled]

Clear champion type plastics need heat for the dye to take well. Using a room temp method or a shaving cream bed does not allow the plastic to take the dye and get vivid bright colors. A few ways that I dye champ type plastic are dip dye in a warm bath of dye, make a paint mixture with powdered dye and laundry detergent and paint it on and then heat the disc (lots of ways to get it warm), or you can use a mixture of powder dye and acetone and paint or splash the mixture on to the disc. If you try to heat up the shaving cream it will just turn to liquid and ruin your bed. Stick to star type plastic when using this method it takes they dye much better without heat. Hope this helps!

 

[roggenb3]

Yeah. What he said.

Champ is just slower to take than star, so without heat it doesn't work all that well. It may still turn out all right if you let it sit for like a full day, but for shaving cream stuff it's best to stick to star-types if you want the colors to really pop. Champ will be more muted.

 

[Enzy]

make a paint mixture with powdered dye and laundry detergent and paint it on and then heat the disc (lots of ways to get it warm),

Can you elaborate? What are you using and how warm and for how long?

I've been doing some painting and haven't done a champ style plastic yet.

 

[roggenb3]

Can you elaborate? What are you using and how warm and for how long?

I've been doing some painting and haven't done a champ style plastic yet.

Not to answer for someone else, but I use a mix of like 4oz detergent to 1/2 teaspoon of dye powder for painting.

To heat, I place it in the oven on the lowest possible setting, and even then only leaving the oven on long enough to get to like hot car temperature. I never let it get so hot that I can't grab the oven rack.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

I'm fairly new to dyeing and experimented with worm dip on my clear Z-Force. It took 3 days and the colors weren't nearly as "poppy" as they are on Star/Gold Line/ESP etc., but it worked okay and as a bonus it resembles stained glass when put on the window with sun behind it. The flight plate got some new puddles on it though. I assume because there's acetone in the worm dip? Or maybe because I had weights on it for the duration of the dye? I wonder if this will take the beefiness out of its flight? It looks cool, though.

 

[Central Scrutinizer]

https://imgur.com/gallery/aMSE9NE

Here's a link to the aforementioned Z-Force. Hope this works.

 

[twistedmangled]

Can you elaborate? What are you using and how warm and for how long?

I've been doing some painting and haven't done a champ style plastic yet.

Like roggenb3 said hot car temp is perfect, an oven, a hot car, the sunshine or a hair dryer just depends on what you have available. Warm enough to soften you plastic a little but not warm enough to cause the plastic to deform permanently. And how long just depends on the plastic and how dark or light you want your color you have to experiment. The great thing about the detergent painting method is that you can paint it, heat it and rinse the dye off and if you want the color darker you can repeat the process until you get the desired shade.

 

[roggenb3]

The great thing about the detergent painting method is that you can paint it, heat it and rinse the dye off and if you want the color darker you can repeat the process until you get the desired shade.

Yup, for subtle shading I do this at the sink, and paint on/rinse off many, many layers that are each on there for only a few seconds.