ok, so instead of start a new thread ill contribute to this thread keeping dye info in one place. this was originally poted on ZS.
the full thread can be seen here on ZS. there is a lot more pics and info on the original thread.
http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=67780
here is one post that will give you most of the info you will need to get started.
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STEP 1 - before any dyeing i washed this pack by hand in an 18 gallon bin with some laundry soap and some powdered oxy clean, and hung it to dry over night. i used about 1/2 of a cap of laundery soap and 1 scoop of oxy clean in warm water.
STEP 2 - i needed a container large enough for the pack so that it could be covered in water and would allow me to move it around. i used the 18 gallon plastic bin again. i turned on the tap in the bath to hot and waited a minute untill it was steaming, then i put the pack in the bin and filled it with just enough water to cover the pack. while the pack was soaking i used every large pot we had and boiled water on the stove.
STEP 3 - once i had the water boiling i mixed my dye. i used 12 tsp of rit golden yellow ( powder ) and 5 tsp of rit black ( liquid ) i bumped up my original mix quite a bit, more than i thought i would need to. this dye was mixed into simmering water and allowed to sit for a few minutes to let the granuals in the powder dye desolve. stir the dye mixture around very well to make sure you have all the granuals disolved. if teh yare not completly disolved you could get streaks.
STEP 4 - once my dye was mixed and my water was hot ( simmering ) i removed the pack from the bin, poured in my dye, poured in my simmering water, and put the pack bak in the bin.
STEP 5 - all i did at this point was stand over my MOLLE soup and agitated the bag pretty much non stop. i used a stick and kept poking and moving the bag around. every few minutes i would flip the bag. i think this is one of the most important steps to dying these packs. by constanly moving the pack and water around you are making sure you are getting consistant coverage. my pack has even color even behind the webbing and around flaps. i kept the pack in the dye bath for approx. 1 hour and 15-20 minutes.
i did something about half way through the dye bath. i wasnt sure i was happy at the coverage i was getting at that point. the material looked a bit "grainy" i know that i had read that acid dye was good for nylon, but i had also read that rit dye alone would work. i call BS on the latter. so i started thinking how do i get acid dye? well i had read about people using vinegar, so i looked in the fridge to see if we had any...looked in the pantry, and couldnt find any damn vineger....what to do?
we did have orange juice! a quick google search revealed that orange juice is about acidic as vinegar, so into the microwave went about 3 cups of orange juice. i nuked it to make it hot so it wouldnt drop the temp of my dye bath. within just a couple minutes i noticed much more even color and the pack seemed to suck up dye much faster and got alot darker. the OJ had pulp BTW! lol. i think there is something to be said about an acidic dye when working with nylon.
once i was happy with how dark the pack was i rinsed in warm water, then cool water. then i hand washed with just a little laundery soap and it was done.
thats about all i can think of at the moment.
the pack is a pretty sweet OD if i do say so myself. i am 100% satisfied with how this came out.
here are some pics with the pack next to different items of like colors. the two coyote EMT bags were purchased to ride on the sides on this pack, and they match pretty good. the camera plays tricks with the colors as does the incandecent lights. the buckles look like they are mustard/orange when in fact they are a great OD color. i will get the pack out tomorrow for some additional pics in natural light. THE PACK IS ACTUALLY A LITTLE GREENER THEAN IT LOOKS IN THE PICS.
