Dyeing a Seat With RIT Dye HELP

[wheelhorseman]

So i have this old pink Huffy seat i want to dye red and put on a bike. Went to Wally and got a bottle of Rit dye. The dye is not sticking to the seat at all . Here is EXACTLY how i did it. What am i doing wrong.

Washed seat cover with SOS.

Heated a large kettle of water on stove....not boiling but pretty hot.

Using an old igloo cooler put seat..dye and water in cooler and stirred up.

All i have is a cooler of blood red water and a pink seat. Dye water just rolls off seat.

Do you have to "cook" the dye water and seat together I read something about adding salt to the mixture.

My seat is squeaky clean so what is wrong? I have read on the net about dyeing bike seats and it always works.

 

[Rockit!]

Sounds like it might be treated to resist the water? The seat I mean. I've dyed split-grain with Rit before but nothing else.

 

[outsider13]

Its' vinyl it won't dye, you will need to buy vinyl spray paint. I've used it to "patina" or "vintage"...or just to make it look dirty, to white vinyl. But it won't change the color, like spray paint. :mrgreen:

 

[Wildcat]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16572&hilit=+vinyl+paint

 

[Murray-Eliminator]

Yeah RIT dye is for fabric, not vinyl. you need vinyl dye, it comes in spray cans like paint. spray light coats and let it sit for 30-60 min between coats. depending on humitity.

 

[Firewalker]

SEM is a good product for dying! I use it from time to time in my work :mrgreen:

FW

 

[yoothgeye]

RIT dye is marketed for fabric, but it works on many other materials. I have the same seat and gave him the idea to dye it, bike2112 owns the saddle, I dyed it black and it worked great. I used RIT dye just last week to dye the hard grips on my handgun from white to black. Lots of guys are dying gun parts, you can use RIT to dye plastic "mag" wheels and even hard plastic BMX saddles.

(grips are hard plastic/nylon and dyed in just minutes)

Here is the seat before, I will see if bike2112 can show the finished product.

 

[outsider13]

dude, you have got to show us how :shock: , i've tried to no avail. :x You're handles look great. :mrgreen:

RIT dye is marketed for fabric, but it works on many other materials. I have the same seat and gave him the idea to dye it, bike2112 owns the saddle, I dyed it black and it worked great. I used RIT dye just last week to dye the hard grips on my handgun from white to black. Lots of guys are dying gun parts, you can use RIT to dye plastic "mag" wheels and even hard plastic BMX saddles.

(grips are hard plastic/nylon and dyed in just minutes)

Here is the seat before, I will see if bike2112 can show the finished product.

 

[yoothgeye]

My pink seat from above after dying:

I'm guessing it's probably a heat thing, when I did the gun handles I brought the dye bath to a boil and then soaked the handles for 5 minutes in the boiling dye, the seat I did in a big pot on the grill and it did not come to a boil, but it was very hot and it stayed there a long time. Maybe the heat "opens the pores" of the material being dyed.

 

[yoothgeye]

Additionally, the pinkish spot on the corner of the seat in the dyed photo is where it sat against the bottom of the pot while beIng dyed.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Nice work on the handgun, looks almost exactly like my lorcin .380 except for the raspberry color.

 

[Sinner4]

Head down to your local auto paint supplier and get your color of SEM paint. It works well. I have done color changes to several interiors of cars and trucks. At $12 a can you can do a lot with it.

 

[wheelhorseman]

There is proof here that you CAN dye vinyl with RIT. Why it didnt work for me i dont know. I soaked the seat all night and had absolutely no change. Would have got the same results soaking in Kool Aid. Does the dye supposed to stick to you like ink if you get it on your fingers? Mine will wash right off your hands with only water from my outside spigot.

 

[yoothgeye]

Does the dye supposed to stick to you like ink if you get it on your fingers? Mine will wash right off your hands with only water from my outside spigot.

No! It will dye your fingers. Look at my hand in the gun picture, my fingers got black dye on when I was drying off the handles. Maybe your mix was too diluted? I always avoid getting it on my hands because it quickly dyes your skin.

Maybe you did buy Kool Aid, try drinking it and let us know. :shock:

 

[wheelhorseman]

Why didnt the dye affect the lettering on the seat?

 

[yoothgeye]

Why didnt the dye affect the lettering on the seat?

The lettering is a screen prin or paint, so it's a barrier to the dye.

 

[wheelhorseman]

After talking to a couple of upholstry shops here i decided to leave well enough alone. They said the spray on dyes wont last on something like a seat. Recovering is my only option and its not worth spending that kind of money. Guess it just wasnt meant to be.

 

[yoothgeye]

After talking to a couple of upholstry shops here i decided to leave well enough alone. They said the spray on dyes wont last on something like a seat. Recovering is my only option and its not worth spending that kind of money. Guess it just wasnt meant to be.

Can you sew, even a little? Find the material you want, cut a shape the size of the top of the loaf plus about an inch all around. Then sew a strip as deep as the seat all around, don't worry about your stitching, you'll be flipping it inside out. Then wrap up the loaf.

I hate that this didn't work for you, still have no clue why.

 

[Bigcam59]

I used Valspar paint for plastic to make the seat on Locomotive Breath brown. Sprayed on a few light coats and let it dry in between and it worked great.
before...

and after...

I've ridden the bike a few times since and the paint is hlding fast, no rubbing off at all. Funny thing is, the can says not for vinyl, but i didn't read that til after I was done.
Another possibility is Upholstery paint. You can usually find that in any auto parts store.