Dying DH Hair

[KiwiSquirtBottle]

I dye natural fibers (roving, mohair, etc) pretty frequently, but I've never tried Nylon. If someone who's done it would be kind enough to clear a few things up here....


With fiber, the way to go is:

• Soak what you're dying in vinegar water to open the fibers and make 'em more dye-receptive.
• Dye the stuff. Either submerge it completely in a dye solution, or apply the gradiant and wrap it up in saran wrap.
• Heat via steam or microwave or sun.
• Rinse with cool water (and possibly a fiber conditioner.)

Obviously I don't need to soak it in the fiber conditioner at the end, but is it a similar process for the Nylon hair? Is vinegar added before, during, or after the dying process? I know people dip dye gradiants, but has anyone ever layed their hair out in saran, applied dye, wraped it up, and heated that way? Is Rit the best dye, or could you also possibly use food colouring or kool aid?


Thanks for any help!

[Tabbyclaw]

Nylon is way easier than animal fiber. Stick it in warm/hot Rit, let it soak until you like the color, and you're done. Alternately, pour warm/hot dye over it, repeat until you like the color, and you're done. No prep, no post.

-Tabby
the princess with claws

[simplysteffie]

Tabby is pretty much spot on. Dying DH with Rit dye is pretty easy. If I've already styled the hair (curled it with a boil perm) I'll just heat up some water in the microwave; that way I don't risk losing and having to recurl the hair- also having the color bleed (when doing gradients). If the hair isn't styled, I just use boiling water like Rit tells you to do. Sometimes I rinse the hair, sometimes I don't- cold water if you do; but I do let it dry completely before I start styling it. Either way, it's pretty simple.

Post Merge: April 13, 2012, 06:54:09 PM

Oh. If you use hair dye, like Manic Panic, it works- but the lighter colors (like Cotton Candy pink, etc) tend to fade after a while it seems, especially when there's tons of heat.

[kittybethy]

I need to make some Lemonade hair!

[reyl]

I used the Golden Yellow Rit dye to make some yellow hair. I literally dipped it in and pulled it out, and put it in a rinse bowl. The Rit dye takes very fast on DH for me. I usually use it hot on the stove, which could be part of it. I'm going to try some lukewarm water for more pastel colours and hope it helps.

[KiwiSquirtBottle]

Reyl, you could also dilute the amount of dye you're using, as that could help with pastels.

I remember Colourscape posting about using vinegar to really make colours pop. Anyone know whereabouts in the process you'd add that?