# Dying plastic thread



## Dom (Jan 24, 2017)

I want to dye my Galaxy megaminx cream caps a little bit darker because it's too close to the white. 

What kind of brown dye could I use? I dont want to mess it up. 

(I'll post pictures when I do it.)


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## 4Chan (Jan 24, 2017)

Some dyes are good, some aren't. The secret itself is not so much the dye, but the catalyst.

To get certain colours, you can _force_ the dye to bind using a phase transfer catalyst.
Unfortunately, I can't reveal company knowledge, but it's a tip!


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## Dom (Jan 24, 2017)

4Chan said:


> Unfortunately, I can't reveal company knowledge,



I figured you'd say that. Lol. How about this: Rit dye, acetone, and hot water? Good idea, or bad idea? 
Kinda like Crazy Bad Cuber did, but I would not use as much dye.


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## 4Chan (Jan 24, 2017)

I can use this to teach chemistry, hooray!

So the acetone is the phase transfer catalyst!
It is soluble with the water, dye, AND plastic, and it permits the dye to travel in between the phases of water and plastic!

We don't use Rit dye, because the newer Rit is bad. They downgraded big time.
If you can get old Rit, some colours will work.
It's messy as hell though, and Rit has too many downsides, so i don't like it.

The thing to look out for is the acetone concentration.
If you use too much, you're gonna have a bad time.
It can swell, soften, or even dissolve if you get above 33% by volume.
If acetone is the best catalyst you can get your hands on, definitely keep it below 30% total volume to be safe.

With the catalyst I use at the office, it doesn't matter what concentration I use, so it's convenient but powerful!


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## Dom (Jan 24, 2017)

4Chan said:


> the newer Rit is bad



Ok, I'll stay away from Rit. So what kind of dye could I find at a hardware store? I don't need anything intense. I'm just trying to turn the cream a little bit darker to maybe a light brown. I have the Lux set so I have some extra cream colored caps to practice on first.


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## 4Chan (Jan 24, 2017)

Hmm, I'm not sure. Maybe the simplest option would be to try to source some old Rit online.

Only SOME of the newer Rit works on plastic, and some colours don't work, even with strong catalysts.


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## Dom (Jan 25, 2017)

4Chan said:


> Hmm, I'm not sure. Maybe the simplest option would be to try to source some old Rit online.
> 
> Only SOME of the newer Rit works on plastic, and some colours don't work, even with strong catalysts.



Okay, so a local craft store carries this stuff that says it'll work on rayon, but not nylon. But perhaps with enough catalyst, it'll work okay with plastic. I might use 10% acetone and see if it takes. If that doesn't work, I'll go up to 30%, but no greater. But to be honest, I don't think I care too much about the quality of the surface of the plastic since it won't really be interacting with other pieces of the puzzle (they're just the caps, after all). 

Should I go for it?


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## Dom (Jan 28, 2017)

This is the stuff I used along with acetone. 
 

The directions said to put it in the washer with some salt and a cloth you want to dye. 

So I mixed it with water and salt. Tried to dye plastic. Didn't work. 

So I added acetone. Didn't work. Tried a little bit of water, a bunch of dye, and a bunch of acetone. I soaked it for an hour. It still didn't work that well. 

Just made it softer and only a tiny bit darker. See the scratch marks?


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## One Wheel (Aug 29, 2017)

Did you ever get this figured out? I just picked up the new Qiyi and Yuxin megaminxes and have exactly the same problem. It seems like it wouldn't be too hard of a problem to foresee and prevent.


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