Dying Seashell with RIT Dye - Help!

[shadowlark]

I think I've got my Seashell at the point where I can dye her. She was in pretty bad shape (pics here: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,324308.0.html

Now that I'm currently unemployed and she's pretty uniformly sunfaded, I'm ready to dye her. But I'm not sure which colour to go with. The RIT Dye site has these colours and tells you what colours to mix to get them. What do you think the best match would be to get her back to her former glory? Or any other suggestions on a different dye to use?

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[SeashellnBubbles]

I have a few Seashells in my collection and they vary a little in purpleness I think 212 or 157 would give you the closest to to her natural color. I'd probably go for the 157; it will give you good color and if it fades a little again it won't matter because she'll still be in the right ballpark for coloration. Please PLEASE show us pics when she's done! I'd love to see her restored to her former glory!

[Sawkinator]

It's always a challenge to tell how close a color on a screen is to real life - maybe someone here could loan you an unfaded Seashell so you have something to compare the dye to?

That's one idea, anyways. xD

[shadowlark]

I think I'm just gonna wing it! I was leaning towards 157 as well, so I've ordered the packets necessary and will see what happens. I don't have any baits to test on, so I'll probably start lighter and if she needs darkening, keep adding dye. Fingers crossed! Now just have to wait for the dye to get here (local wal-mart and michaels didn't have any )

[shadowlark]

So, the dye came today....so far, Seashell has been soaking for about 7 hours and has barely gotten any darker. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've made up the mixture several times with boiling water and tried keeping the water temp high but it doesn't seem to be making much difference....    Guess I'll just have to leave her and see if she starts taking the colour... 

[Aednatia]

Did you add vinegar to the water? I forget what vinegar does and I think there is something else you can add if you don't want the smell but it helps dye take.

I also think 157 is to light to dye with. I would try 482 or 164, this way if she does dye a bit dark some dyes can leach out after a while or even maybe a little sun fading again

[hathorcat]

I would have said 164 looks the closest You can add washing up powder to the mix as well that often helps solid, soft plastics take the dye. Because rit is essentially for fabrics and not plastics you need to use a higher dye ratio as well. We use fabric dyes for demo products sometimes because they are quick and easy when you are mocking something up for show.

[shadowlark]

Yeah, before my last attempt I did a bit more research and added vinegar and a bit of dish soap. I also tried putting the mixture into a pot on the stove and keeping it just below boiling to see if the super hot water would help the dye seep in (as opposed to a plastic container that I kept trying to heat up in the sink by pouring boiling water into the sink to cover it...). She finally took some dye, but looks like I got the mixture wrong so she's darker than I was aiming for. Still, she looks better than she did. Here's the progression so far.

Pic 1 - how she was when I rescued her from my parents'
Pic 2- after a few months on the balcony sunfading. Not quite a uniform colour, but better than she was.
Pic 3 - after being dyed. She's got a few darker spots here and there, but looks better.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Just gotta remove the paint protecting her eyes/symbols and rehair her

[SeashellnBubbles]

I like her that color purple! She looks wonderful...great job can't wait to see her when she's all done!

[puuush]

Great work so far. Love her new colour.

[Eluluu]

looks great hun! id do an alternate rehair on her, maybe a darker green than her natural hair, to match the darker body. could be nifty =]

[WildBlue]

Looking good! I can not wait to see her completed.

[NoDivision]

Darker than intended is good - the dye will fade a bit

[hathorcat]

She looks great! Given a little time for some of the excess dye to fade she is going to look even better!

[shadowlark]

She's done! I ended of rehairing her with Dolly Hair Lucky Clover as I had already bought it for her ages ago. Pics are in my restoration thread (see sig).

Thanks for all your help!