Plastics question!

[eric40817]

Hey guys. Going for my first dye job here. I have a white dx wraith that I stripped all the stuff off with acetone, a kc pro roc, and a blizz boss. I sketched out and hand cut on contact paper, the Sam Adams Boston Lager logo. Got the disc (wraith) in the dye (about an inch and half of water in a pan with half a packet of Rit dye) and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Heat was on a 4.5. Took the disc out of the dye...nothing. A slight slight tint that just washed off. Same for the Roc. My blizz boss is going on 5 minutes now and last I checked it hadn't shown the slightest trace of dye.

Am I not using enough dye?

Is more time required? I read a how-to that said time is dependent upon how dark you want it, should only take a few minutes though.

Or, does DX, the KC Pro, and Blizz just not accept dye? Maybe its the plastic Im using?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[ferretdance03]

DX doesn't really take dye well if at all. KC will take, but it will need to soak for a while and it will still be faded looking. Blizzard is Champion plastic, so it should take dye- but it depends on your set up. What color is the disc? What color dye? I typically use a full packet of dye with about 1/2-3/4 gallon of water (I store left overs in milk jugs). I heat it until it stemas just slightly, then turn the heat back a bit, and float the disc. Depending on the color combination and desired results I typically check the disc in 5-8min intervals.

[eric40817]

thanks ferret. the dx and the kc are white. the boss is a clear light green. the dye is blue. I put the rest of the dye in the water about 10 minutes ago. the champ is starting to take the dye now. Sounds like I didnt give the KC enough of a chance though. Ill go back to that one tomorrow and leave it for a while.

[Itchy]

Also, heard Rit changed their formula and the newer stuff wont dye plastics anymore... something to watch out for.

[eky8]

You've pretty much got all the correct information here. If the blizzard plastic isn't taking the dye well then you probably have a bad batch of rit. They changed their formula around the beginning of 2011. If you look at the lid on liquid dye or the package on the inside of powder if it has a ND on it it will not dye plastic. Otherwise if you look at the 5 digit number on the outside of the box or the lid of the liquid if the number ends in a number lower than 11 (the number of the year, example XXX10 is 2010) then it will work. As another option jacquard idye poly works to dye plastic but throw away the intensifier packet. It is actually a much stronger dye than rit but a little more difficult to find if you don't live in the right place.

Also I mix my dye a full packet of rit to 32 ounces of water. And store it in quart canning jars.

[eric40817]

Thank a lot guys for the tips. The Blizz did take the dye. It floated around in the dye for about 25- 30 minutes. Its tough for me to say just how much dye it took as the champs are clear. Im going to try the kc again tomorrow i think, if that doesnt work I may try my white star FB although I feel that stars will probably respond similar the champs. If all else fails maybe I can find that suped up dye on ebay or something.

Im not sure where on the box of powdered dye to find these numbers, eky. Ill check the bottle of liquid black I have too.

So do all you guys that are still dying discs just have a stash of the older Rit?

[eky8]

Honestly I usually dip champ type plastics closer to 30 minutes to get a good rich color. It just doesn't take as quickly. It also doesn't bleed as quickly and the image looks good for longer. You will find star takes dye much more quickly.

The ND is printed on the package inside the box. The five digit number is stamped on the top or bottom of the box.

I do have a stash of old rit dye. However I will probably be switching to the idye poly because I think it is a better quality dye. The only real downside to the idye poly is the lack of color options. They only have 8 colors.

[eric40817]

Gotcha. Ill probably find some idye and give that a go.

Thanks again guys