Dye temp?

[Luv2Disc]

So I've done probably around 30 dyes now and was wondering exactly how hot you guys let your dye heat up before dipping and while the disc is floating in the pan? I bought an $8 digital cooking thermometer from walmart and found that between 100-115 degrees is about the point where you can hold the pan without burning yourself but where you can see the dye barely "steaming". I still get worried about bleeding (even when using vinyl) when my dye gets close to around 115-120 degrees while the disc is in the pan and I'm trying to get a nice bold black. I've been typically preheating my dye to around 100 degrees then turning the heat down to low or 1 on the stove then placing the disc in for about 10 minutes then killing the flame, let it sit for another 5-10 min, check it, then turn the heat back on low for 5 min til it gets almost too hot, then I move the pan to a side burner to finish cooling down the last 5-10 min then rinse.

It seems like even after a couple days after a dye the disc feels a little "gummier" then before dyeing. Anyone else notice this?

Has anyone experimented with higher temp to color boldness?

[Luv2Disc]

over 50 views and no input?

[ChUcK]

I used to keep a junk meat thermometer dangling in my pan, and found 115 F to be the best average temp. Hot enough to speed up the process, not hot enough to seep through the masking vinyl very fast.

I've dyed enough so the temp of the pan is second nature with all my personal dyeing gear, but I like to bring a thermometer along when I'm dyeing while camping, just to make sure ol' Jimbo's propane stove isn't actually a small fusion reactor. Propane burns so hot it can be hard to control the dye temp.

[Luv2Disc]

yea i bought a cheap $20 hot plate so i could do it in my basement where it isn't as important to not drip on the floor/counter but even the low setting is blazing hot! you think a dimmer switch rigged up to adjust the power work to lower the temp? I.E. variable control box fan spinner (whatever you wanna call it)