About RIT dying

[kinruan]

all right... I spent hours today but failed. I use RIT power dye and liquid also. However, the color doesn't really go up to the keycaps except yellow and orange. i added only the dye and keys so i wonder whether i forget any other addition agent. plz throw me any thread before about dye, very thank u.

so far, i am doing fine with idye, but i am looking for a cherry red, the RIT cherry red is not working at all, so does anyone know any other poly dye?

[rainbowshy]

I remember reading that powder dyes are the way to go. Also you're not supposed to use tap water, so if you do that, that could be the problem I guess.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32628
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=27214
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=27237

[fohat.digs]

Somehow it is so very hard to find all the old threads on this.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=35444.msg664188#msg664188

Certain RIT colors worked great for me, Scarlet, Sunshine Orange, Golden Yellow, Black, but others failed completely or hardly worked - Dark Green, Royal Blue, Cocoa Brown.

In the good thread from a couple of months ago, there was another brand of dye that did beautiful greens and blues.

Use ONLY powder, the liquid is useless. Mix at least double the recommended concentration, add salt.

Keep the water hot, boiling is best. Stir occasionally, it won't take long. Obviously, only PBT can survive this.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=4962.0

[pitashen]

i remember someone mentioning adding salt would help...

[WhiteFireDragon]

I've spent ~$70 on dye, and I realized it's probably not the dye. Some types of PTBs just don't soak the dye properly. And don't even think about trying on ABS. I'll repost my experiences on dying the caps when I have time, it's a rather long one.

[kinruan]

Somehow it is so very hard to find all the old threads on this.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=35444.msg664188#msg664188
, add salt.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=4962.0

What is salt for?

[kinruan]

I've spent ~$70 on dye, and I realized it's probably not the dye. Some types of PTBs just don't soak the dye properly. And don't even think about trying on ABS. I'll repost my experiences on dying the caps when I have time, it's a rather long one.

I use cherry PBT , I will be glad to hear ur story

[kinruan]

I also have trouble on scarlet. I am so confused.

[fohat.digs]

Scarlet worked great for me. Running them twice made them stunning!

Salt helps the dye "take" and make sure that the water is at or very near boiling.

Afterwards, vinegar helps the dye "set" but I don't know about the chemistry involved.

[SmallFry]

Mine worked super duper, check the link of my Model M in my signature!

[kinruan]

Ok, I am stilling having trouble by using rit with salt and any other add on stuff. What dye should I get really? Is idye a disperse dye?

[fohat.digs]

For dyeing a few dozen caps, I used about half a package of RIT powder in about a liter of water, with a half teaspoon of salt.

I brought it to a boil, stirred quite a bit, and strained it through a fine metal kitchen strainer after it looked like it had dissolved.

With the dye at, or very near boiling, it should not take long. For scarlet, I did it once, brought them out, rinsed and dried them, then did it again. The 2nd bath made the color a lot richer and more even.

Do make sure that the keys are absolutely clean and grease-free, or the results are sure to be bad.

[wcass]

i didn't use any salt myself, but did use a drop of dish soap. the dish soap removes the "film" that many people find on top of the dye bath that can cause blotching. the board in my signature is typed on daily and has been well over a year since i did it. i have not detected any fading yet.

i used a "pasta pot" which has a built in strainer. this keeps the key caps off the bottom, protecting against thermal damage. but it did take about 40 minutes to get the deep color.

[kinruan]

For dyeing a few dozen caps, I used about half a package of RIT powder in about a liter of water, with a half teaspoon of salt.

I brought it to a boil, stirred quite a bit, and strained it through a fine metal kitchen strainer after it looked like it had dissolved.

With the dye at, or very near boiling, it should not take long. For scarlet, I did it once, brought them out, rinsed and dried them, then did it again. The 2nd bath made the color a lot richer and more even.

Do make sure that the keys are absolutely clean and grease-free, or the results are sure to be bad.

very thank u for the suggestion, is salt necessary? I read another thread said that salt is not helping at all

[Halverson]

I did two batches. A teal and a pink. Both turned out very nice, pictures are somewhere on here but hard to find them while on my phone.
I used a a pack of dye, I believe two cups water, and equal amounts salt.
Even at boiling, there was so much salt it wouldn't dissolve.
Just stirred it once in awhile, took about 30-45 minutes. Maybe an hour. And the colours ended up darker than I would have thought. Probably could have taken them out sooner.

[kinruan]

seriously, the RIT powder scarlet is not working at all. i wonder whether it is changed or no longer work on poly

I did two batches. A teal and a pink. Both turned out very nice, pictures are somewhere on here but hard to find them while on my phone.

thank you. what dye are you using? i just ordered some ploy idye and then see how it goes.

[Halverson]

I think mine was rit dye. Picked it up from Michaels Art Store. Was the only dye they had.

[wcass]

just for conformation - you are trying to dye PBT keys, correct?
 
when PBT is soaking in water above a specific temperature, it becomes semi-porous and can trap the dye when it cools. most other plastics do not have this feature and would require a different kind of dye. an "acid dye" might work on other plastic types, but they are hard to find and are usually toxic.

[kinruan]

finally it works. next step is buying a laser engraved machine! very thank to you all above.

[rowdy]

Looks good

So, what dye did you end up using?  And what tricks, if any, to make it work?

[samwisekoi]

Mine worked super duper, check the link of my Model M in my signature!

That is super duper!

Of course, you were dying the best PBT found in Keytropolis!

 - Ron | samwisekoi

[jkercado]

RIT can deliver odd results. I dyed my Unicomp gray keycaps with black, wanting to get a very dark gray. Here's the result, with the keys placed on one of my Model Ms:



Yep. Chocolate brown!

[rowdy]

That actually does not look too bad.  Apart from the black on dark brown legends.

[fohat.digs]

Unicomp must use a different plastic.

I have dyed a number of keys black, with great, rich, full black results. I have 2 base (stem) pieces right here in front of me without caps, and they are truly black.

However, all mine came from actual IBM (ie pre-Lexmark) donor boards, so maybe the new plastic just doesn't take black well.