NightmareX

Aipex8 I think you need to watch your 3rd brake light from now on. Some crooks might think you got diamonds embedded in there lol. Looks real nice though.

Socket7

OK!

So I went and did this mod for real last night on my clear corners. Having done this myself, i see it as the only good way to tint your clear corners. Sprays run and and may not leave a smooth surface. Tint films are not designed for external use. Dye avoids both problems.

A few tips.
1: Use something to keep the corner from touching the bottom of the dye pot. If the corner makes contact with the bottom of the pot it will get too hot and melt, like Laythors red corner did.

2: The dye stains every surface it touches Permanently, including the pot you pour it into. Wear old clothing. If you're concerned about your countertops, put something down to protect them from stray drips. Wear gloves too if you don't want your fingers a funny color.

3: I had a small infrared thermometer I used to measure the surface temperature of the dye. Anything below 160 degrees and the dye will not impregnate the corner. You could soak it all day at 140 degrees and it'd barely pick up any. In case my calibration was bad, 160-170 degrees is around the point where small bubbles will start forming on the bottom of the pot, but it does not come to a boil. When you've added the dye, you wont be able to see the bubbles at the bottom, so figure out where on your stove 165 degrees is before adding dye. At the right temperature, it should take around 2 to 3 hours to take up the dye.

4: Wash the corner thoroughly before dying. Any contaminants in your dye will end up impregnated into your corner. I recommend using dawn dish soap as it will remove car wax.

5: Amber LED bulbs will shine through the corner amber. Stock bulbs will be a red-orange color.

laythor

woot.. gratz Socket!

Aipex8

iTrader: (1)

That looks great! Let's see some night shots.

PBlue

iTrader: (1)

i wanna do this... i have film tinted oj corners, but also a set of clears and another set of oranges... what kind of dye? where you get it?

Socket7

It's RIT fabric dye. should be available all sorts of places. I got mine from OSH, but craft stores probably carry it too, even drug stores. In my case, I used #5, which is Scarlet. If you want to smoke them, use black.

I'm not even kidding when i say this stuff stains everything it touches. I used a stainless steel napkin holder to keep the corners from touching the bottom of the pot. When I drained the pot, the dye had stained the stainless steel. I could not scrub the color off.

White_Shadows

Yeah my girlfriend dyed an art project in our double boiler thing.....I was not happy....purple is not a good color for cooking pots.

dabax2324

iTrader: (1)

are there any dyes that would maybe kinda blend in with nordic green

Socket7

So after leaving them on my car for a while. I've found a problem with using RIT dye.

It changes color over time when exposed to sunlight. Specifically, red fades to orange.

At first I though it was my process that was wrong, but after doing a test on the corner Laythor dyed and gave me, I've got clear evidence of the dye fading is caused by sunlight.

I still think this is the best way to color a corner, but I need to find a dye that wont fade when exposed to UV radiation.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

I blame Laythor! What a freaking ripoff~! That dude scammed you!!!
call 911, alert the admins, ban that ****!


Any ideas what other type of dye to use?

laythor

try sending an email to rit, Socket. I had sent them one and they replied pretty quick. I know they make an industrial version of their dyes and I assumed (incorrectly I hope) that it was just a repackaged version of their consumer lines.


edit: FYI, Jedi wears panties and is only upset because he dyed his clear corners white.

and if anything get's me banned it will be the rusty coat hanger comment from the other thread

Socket7

I already sent them a question on their website. I'm assuming I'll get an answer on Monday. Hopefully they'll have something that will be UV resistant.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

the rusty coat hanger comment was epic.

laythor

it's a great line to use on someone.. there is no "come back" for it

shazy

That looks Good!

Socket7

And it stays that way for about a week.

Then it turns DOT approved orange.

I'm still looking for a more suitable dye.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

my tint vinyl overlay has been fine for over a year and during a salty maryland winter.

im pretty sure a red vinyl is the simplest solution.

batangisip89

iTrader: (6)

wow thats amazing!!! i have to try that soon!

YeahYeahYouWere

iTrader: (1)

Would it be possible to use some sort of clear UV protectant on them? For example, this stuff (clicky). or even this other stuff (clicky). It's made for marine applications, but it might still work for these. Or something similar.

I mean, there's got to be something out there to protect plastic surfaces from UV fading, right? It might be worth a try.

Ryan2008

I don't care how old this thread is. Whatever happened? Is dye not worth it now that it fades in the sun? Anyone come up with a solution?

laythor

Dye is not the answer.

Ryan2008

Damn, it sounded and looked like such a great idea. Oh well... I guess I'll let the thread drop on down again....