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Can you buy a White band and dye it any color you want?

R

ricktat

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 18, 2013
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This idea was inspired from thread about pink hair turning the white band pink. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1877078/

I used to use Rit Dye fabric dye on light colored plastics and rubber. It was crazy how it was absorbed into even hard plastics.

Any tried or want to try?? Maybe on the size that you don't wear?(extra size)

I am sure some people ordered a white for faster shipping and it is just sitting in a drawer.

what I am talking about:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rit-Dye-14671-Rit-Dye-Powder-Tangerine/26596980

*try at your own risk
 
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I have used rit dye on many G-Shock watch Bands and it both worked perfectly and lasted long term. I still have a white band I dyed blue probably 5 years ago.

Haven't done on an apple band but that's the info I have to share.
 
I haven't done it myself, but now I've subscribed to see if anyone else does it. I can think of a few colors I'd be interested in that aren't currently available.
 
ricktat said:
This idea was inspired from thread about pink hair turning the white band pink. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1877078/

I used to use Rit Dye fabric dye on light colored plastics and rubber. It was crazy how it was absorbed into even hard plastics.

Any tried or want to try?? Maybe on the size that you don't wear?

what I am talking about:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rit-Dye-14671-Rit-Dye-Powder-Tangerine/26596980
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'd be up for trying on my spare m/l band. I might even have some Rit about somewhere. If not, I'll head out tomorrow and pick some up. I'd love to have a red band and an orange band. I wonder which would work best.

I only have black, so I think I'm going to dip just one end in the black to see if it will even take. Anyone have any tips about proceeding? Strength of the dye concentrate, how long to leave it in?

Well... I heated the dye to 140 degrees and let the band sit in the dye for 10 minutes. It turned a lovely shade of grey, and I do mean lovely. If you wanted a medium shade of grey band, you could certainly achieve it. Based on this, I'm going to guess red will go more pink, but a lovely medium shade of orange might be possible. More to come on this tomorrow after I pick up some orange Rit.
 

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Subscribed!

This could be really cool! Can't wait to see the follow up with the orange and/or red! Was thinking about this myself (actually I asked the question in the previous mentioned thread :) )
 
I'm going to guess it might darken some, and I could have left in the dye even longer. I might heat up a bit more dye and see what happens if I leave it in over night.
 
Three comments on this.

1. Its your band so experiment as you wish.

2. What will be the effect on the bands longevity?

3. Don't expect Apple to give a refund if you don't like the color you come up with, or if the band begins to disintegrate within a couple of months.

Outside of that have fun.

That grey that GrimmsGirl came up with does look nice.
 
Tom G. said:
Three comments on this.

1. Its your band so experiment as you wish.

2. What will be the effect on the bands longevity?

3. Don't expect Apple to give a refund if you don't like the color you come up with, or if the band begins to disintegrate within a couple of months.

Outside of that have fun.

That grey that GrimmsGirl came up with does look nice.
Click to expand...
Why would he try to get a refund lololol
 
GrimmsGirl said:
I'm going to guess it might darken some, and I could have left in the dye even longer. I might heat up a bit more dye and see what happens if I leave it in over night.
Click to expand...

Earlier today I was reading online about dying rubber and people talked about boiling the water before mixing it with the dye and then adding something else to help it take. Then they would let it soak for up to 7 days in some cases from what I was seeing. I think overnight would probably be pretty good.

How is the dye on the strap? Can you smudge it or wipe it away or does it seem permanent?
 
Tom G. said:
Three comments on this.

1. Its your band so experiment as you wish.

2. What will be the effect on the bands longevity?

3. Don't expect Apple to give a refund if you don't like the color you come up with, or if the band begins to disintegrate within a couple of months.

Outside of that have fun.

That grey that GrimmsGirl came up with does look nice.
Click to expand...


1. That's a given
2. I guess we'll see, but at $49 I'm not that fussed over it. I do find it hard to see how the dye would change the chemistry of the band so much that it would start to disintegrate. It's not acid... but then again, I'm not a chemist. So... *shrug*
3. That's a given

The grey is rather nice. I am imagining how nice a blue or a green that weren't so pastel might be. All those ladies who wish the Apple pink wasn't so salmon... A pretty lavender perhaps... I like the feel of the sport band, and so far the dye hasn't changed that at all. The possibilities are actually exciting.

I have the band back in the black dye and I'll leave it there over night and post pics again in the morning before I go out and get a different color.
 
irentamac said:
Earlier today I was reading online about dying rubber and people talked about boiling the water before mixing it with the dye and then adding something else to help it take. Then they would let it soak for up to 7 days in some cases from what I was seeing. I think overnight would probably be pretty good.

How is the dye on the strap? Can you smudge it or wipe it away or does it seem permanent?
Click to expand...

I washed it with dish detergent afterwards and rinsed that well with water. It seems pretty permanent. My memory from my tie dying days makes me think salt might help the dye stick to fabric, but I might be misremembering and rubber might be entirely different than fabric anyway. I only did a quick search before trying the black the first time and found the article on heating to 140 degrees and only leaving the band in the dye for 5 minutes, but I am looking forward to seeing what the band looks like in the morning after sitting in the dye all night.
 
GrimmsGirl said:
I washed it with dish detergent afterwards and rinsed that well with water. It seems pretty permanent. My memory from my tie dying days makes me think salt might help the dye stick to fabric, but I might be misremembering and rubber might be entirely different than fabric anyway. I only did a quick search before trying the black the first time and found the article on heating to 140 degrees and only leaving the band in the dye for 5 minutes, but I am looking forward to seeing what the band looks like in the morning after sitting in the dye all night.
Click to expand...

Soda Ash is the key. You soak it in soda ash first, then do a soak in the dye.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/chemicals/soda-ash-fixer.html
 
GrimmsGirl said:
It looks like soda ash is only effective with cellulose (plant) fibers. I wonder if it really has any effect on rubber.
Click to expand...

From what I was reading on a thread for people dying rubber bmx parts it seems to be mentioned a few times with good results. Just stated to do a long soak for rubber compared to cotton.

My wife's white band should be here in a few weeks and when it gets here I'll probably cut up her extra strap and do some testing myself.
 
irentamac said:
From what I was reading on a thread for people dying rubber bmx parts it seems to be mentioned a few times with good results. Just stated to do a long soak for rubber compared to cotton.

My wife's white band should be here in a few weeks and when it gets here I'll probably cut up her extra strap and do some testing myself.
Click to expand...

Can't hurt then. I have some sodium carbonate in the house for my laundry, so I'll give that a try tomorrow before I try the 2nd color.
 
GrimmsGirl said:
1. That's a given
2. I guess we'll see, but at $49 I'm not that fussed over it. I do find it hard to see how the dye would change the chemistry of the band so much that it would start to disintegrate. It's not acid... but then again, I'm not a chemist. So... *shrug*
3. That's a given

The grey is rather nice. I am imagining how nice a blue or a green that weren't so pastel might be. All those ladies who wish the Apple pink wasn't so salmon... A pretty lavender perhaps... I like the feel of the sport band, and so far the dye hasn't changed that at all. The possibilities are actually exciting.

I have the band back in the black dye and I'll leave it there over night and post pics again in the morning before I go out and get a different color.
Click to expand...

It will be fine, won't disintegrate, the band is made with FKM, one of the most highly resistant polymer made.

http://www.dupont.com/products-and-.../elastomers/brands/viton-fluoroelastomer.html

Frankly it's a bit overkill to use for a watch band.
 
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