Dyeing PBT caps with Dylon: some experiments

13 Apr 2012, 22:45

How hot was the water?

13 Apr 2012, 22:48

since i was using an prehistoric stove which made it completely impossible to stay at the same temperature i would say between 65 and 90 ...

most of the time at 75-80 i would say

Noppoo Stage 1 - Not sure if that satisfys me.

15 Apr 2012, 10:27

Good stuff, koiz! That "Windsor Purple" seems like the shade of blue I was initially looking for.
I have Rose of Paris (12), Scarlet (32) and Kingfisher (33) waiting here as well as three cheap PBT sets. Now I only need to find some time...

15 Apr 2012, 10:55

As you might see, these are some variations of the color depending on how long you fry them and how much powder you put in the water. But dont forget, F5/F6/F7/F8 were darker from the beginning.

and DAMN. i Love that Windsor Purple. ^^

16 Apr 2012, 08:08

I used professional acid dyes and got zero color transfer. See my write up at geekhack.

Use a microwave oven to keep temperature up, if you can't do the double boiler method. ;-)

16 Apr 2012, 08:45

Link? Can't find it.

16 Apr 2012, 10:02

can`t find anything on gh either.

17 Apr 2012, 03:45

This looks nice.
I'm having trouble to translate this into Swedish so I know what kind of color to buy. What I came up with is that this is for coloring clothes, is that right?

And "rit dye", is that for coloring clothes as well?

And one last question.. Does the color "sink in" the plastic, I'm thinking about keycaps that gets a lot of use, does the color fade on them or will it stay the same even with usage?
Thanks!

17 Apr 2012, 03:51

Dyeing is indeed colouring the plastic itself, a few microns to mm's deep.

17 Apr 2012, 05:07

thanks!

But is the colos used for dyeing clothes originally? Or is it some other kind of color?

17 Apr 2012, 05:35

Regarding Dylon, "it is suitable for dyeing nylon, lycra and buttons" and in the OP it's referred to as multipurpose or general purpose dye; I think it's meant for clothing yes, and seems to be safe for plasticlikes

Rit I don't know, but since it's said to be hard to get in europe..
GL and POST PICS

17 Apr 2012, 16:18

Thanks!

I'll try it out later when I get some spare time, I'll upload pics of it as well.

17 Apr 2012, 19:55

Do start on crappy caps though, see the experience by those that went before you; so you'll know exactly how to create that shade you want evenly on the caps you love. Or how to create a faded if that's your thing.

18 Apr 2012, 11:09

off wrote:Do start on crappy caps though, see the experience by those that went before you; so you'll know exactly how to create that shade you want evenly on the caps you love. Or how to create a faded if that's your thing.

i have done it the ''put this shit on the stove, made myself a vodka-lemon and waited''-way. it wasnt that bad

18 Apr 2012, 13:17

koiz wrote:i have done it the ''put this shit on the stove, made myself a vodka-lemon and waited''-way. it wasnt that bad

Which is the way it should be done, no doubt :lol:

But as your pics show, there are various shades you can end up with, and ending up with that one takes a few tries probably.
Done a full board yet? 8-)

18 Apr 2012, 13:50

off wrote:
koiz wrote:i have done it the ''put this shit on the stove, made myself a vodka-lemon and waited''-way. it wasnt that bad

Which is the way it should be done, no doubt
But as your pics show, there are various shades you can end up with, and ending up with that one takes a few tries probably.
Done a full board yet?

nope, not planned either. For me it was more like an experiment (was bored like hell). Just looking how it works, how complicated it is, what may go wrong, etc. But i have one problem somehow.

i have a noppoo choc mini and a race. The Keycaps of the race (or any other bought keycaps) feel really cheap compared to the noppoo (or my harvested keycaps from cherrys). So i might try to get a white filco and do a complete set. But thats future-talk & a bit off-topic ^^

AND i never tried to get exactly one shade for all caps. As is said, i just wanted to play a bit. Just to show how big the range of the color is, depending on the time in the water & the amount of color in the water.

18 Apr 2012, 14:10

So pbt feels that good huh... (or was it pom)
Ofcourse you could just coat the cheap caps (on the inside for instance) to make em feel heavy quality

Also, wasn't saying you failed with your attempt; meant that if you have a specific look in mind, chances of getting that the first time are pretty fn slim!
PS; I actually like the orange you've shown in the top pic on this page- but not sure which I like more, the fiery ones (right) or the flat ones (left).

18 Apr 2012, 14:18

off wrote:So pbt feels that good huh... (or was it pom)
Ofcourse you could just coat the cheap caps (on the inside for instance) to make em feel heavy quality
Also, wasn't saying you failed with your attempt; meant that if you have a specific look in mind, chances of getting that the first time are pretty fn slim!
PS; I actually like the orange you've shown in the top pic on this page- but not sure which I like more, the fiery ones (right) or the flat ones (left).

The Color of F3 is my fav.

18 Apr 2012, 14:24

koiz wrote: The Color of F3 is my fav.

bah, doesn't count; it's out of focus.
though it looks almost light-emitting red..

18 Apr 2012, 14:28

off wrote:
koiz wrote: The Color of F3 is my fav.

bah, doesn't count; it's out of focus.
though it looks almost light-emitting red..

18 Apr 2012, 14:40

the lights, my eyes!
But that's lame man, going for orange only to like red. :evilgeek:

18 Apr 2012, 14:46

off wrote:the lights, my eyes!
But that's lame man, going for orange only to like red.

naah, its not pure red ... its a very funky orange!

(with a bit red)

21 Apr 2012, 12:28

Nice job! Looks great!

I wonder, if my G80-1800 case is dyeable.
Did anyone ever try to dye cases?
Prolly gonna be difficult to find a pot this huge...

21 Apr 2012, 13:50

Which, together with easier application of even layers, is probably why most people used spray can variants of vynil dye.
As a matter of fact, quite a few have tried dyeing their cases (at some point, so will I)!
Here a few hits:
vynil dyed neo(2)
G11 dyed matte black/anthracite
model M ssk dyed black
flaky model m dye
experiences
and there's a lot more

23 Apr 2012, 21:58

Thanks for the links. Especially the black Model M looks awesome.

23 Apr 2012, 22:50

np. definitely agree on the ssk; fkn wicked.
Anyone thinking of dyeing the MX-11800 case or caps (seeing how they're pbt), let me quickly reiterate this warnin: they're not all pbt, all caps with more than one mounting point are not (at least on my board; you can tell since it doesn't say 'pbt' inside, and, because the caps are lots thicker), and afaik the case isn't either, but haven't checked.

24 Apr 2012, 09:24

What's the deal with that spray-on dye? Is that still dye or is it paint? How does it work if there is no heat involved?

26 Aug 2012, 01:21

a stainless pasta/steamer set is perfect for dying key caps. it is big enough for doing a full set and has a built in strainer that makes it easy to check the color and rinse, and keeps the caps off the bottom (less direct heat = no warped keys). if you shop around, you can find them for under $10

i dyed the red keys in my avatar about a year ago with RIT and have been using them 5 days a week since. still no sign of fading.

26 Aug 2012, 01:23

How even is the color? That seems to be the biggest issue with dying.

26 Aug 2012, 02:50

very even except for one key. i think i touched it after cleaning and before dying. i believe that there are two important steps to getting the color even.

first, keys must be very clean. i use a wide-mouth half gallon jug half filled with hot water and a squirt of automatic dish detergent. roll and shake for a few minutes; empty and repeat; empty and rinse.

second, add some surfactant to the dye bath; a teaspoon of Synthrapol or Woolite (these don't suds), or a couple of drops of Dawn dish soap (not enough to suds). this helps the dye disperse in the water and should eliminate the film that some people detect on the surface of the dye bath that caused blotching as the keys are added and removed from the bath.

to a previous question, i have used "Duplicolor vinyl and fabric dye" on a keyboard case to good result. the "dye" on the label is a misnomer as it is in reality paint. dyes are transparent, pigments (paint) are not. you can never dye something white; you can only go darker, but the Duplicolor is available in white and all colors hide dark and light marks on the substrate fine. like the Fusion paints, ketones are in the mix to improve adhesion to synthetic materials.

Dyeing PBT caps with Dylon: some experiments

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