As I’ve been experimenting with dying wheels, I thought I’d write up on how I’ve been somewhat successful in getting good colors.
Before, I start, please note I am using White BOAs. Different thane formulas and especially different colored wheels change the final product a lot, so be careful with your expectations as you’re only going to get within a margin of the color you want
What dyes should you use?
I have had success with both RIT Synthetic and RIT All purpose. They do dye differently though
If you want color accuracy, I’ve found RIT All-Purpose to actually get closer to whats on the bottle than RIT Synthetic. It is all about timing, and urethane will actually really take in both dyes (Others have found about 3mm deep into the urethane was still dyed after chunking). You can get a pretty good idea of the darkest color possible by just putting some kitchen towel in the dye bath.
I have not found either of these RIT Dyes to affect the hardness or durability of my wheels, only the colors.
What you’ll need In total, it cost me about £20 to buy a large pot (£10) and RIT dye (£8), and shitty forks to dye these wheels.
Dish soap
White / Malt Vinegar
1x 236ml bottle of RIT in a chosen color
A large pot which you’re willing to throw away or has a completely untouched nonstick. This stuff isn’t good to eat (obviously) so cooking out of the pot you use is probably not safe.
Warning Do NOT do this over a flame based stove. Only do this on an electric stove. Warning: do not bring large quantities of vineager to a boil. Do this in a highly ventilated area. Do not stand next to the pot the entire time. Boiling vinegar (Or even just heating it) does release potentially lethal amounts of carbon monoxide. If you at any point feel tired while doing this, take it off the heat and step outside ASAP. I only use a splash of vinegar. It should not take up a signifigant portion of your mixture. If you use too much it can be unsafe. Boiling water is also hot (Who knew). Do not try to take the wheels out with your hands. I use forks. Don’t use whatever you use to handle the wheels while in the mixture to eat.
The process
Fill a large pot with already boiling or very hot water (As hot as your tap goes. You do not want to wait 2 hours for your surface to heat it up.
Place your wheels into the pot and make sure they are upright (As they are on your board) and make sure the water does not overspill or come too high in the pot. Take the wheels out.
Place the pot on the stove at medium-high (At this point it only has water in it) and allow it to heat to a simmer, not a boil
Lower your heat to a medium-low until the water is still (Perhaps a few bubbles are visible, but it shouldn’t be moving and bubbling a lot), but evaporating.
At this point you should add a small amount of vinegar and dish soap. I use about a teaspoon of dish soap and a tablespoon or so of vineagar in a 12" pot. I’ve experimented with adding different amounts of dyes. You can get away with 1/3rd depending on how small the wheels are, but half will fully dye them. Used/stoneground wheels dye a little easier.
Extremely slowly and carefully, lower your wheels into the pot. Try to make sure they only touch the bottom and not the sides or each other as this can cause un-eveness, especially on lighter shades.
Set a stopwatch up on your phone, and at intervals use something to spin the wheels around so the same point isn’t always on the bottom. For darker shades, every 15 minutes can be okay. But when I did my orange ones every 7 minutes I turned them. Keep a bottle of water nearby, so if the mixture evaporates below the top of the wheels you can top it up and stop a line on the top. I used Graphite RIT here (Black) so you can’t even see the wheels even though they’re just mm below the surface. Lighter colors will be more obvious where you need to grab and spin them.
The wheels will dye quickly. After about 20 minutes, some may want to remove them (If you want a more pastel-like hue). I keep my wheels on the heat for at most 1 hour. If I just want the darkest color out of the dye (Both the blue and orange wheels pictured were like this) I leave it for an additional 1 hour off the heat before taking them out. They’re still hot at this point.
I want to try this. There are some really interesting examples online of people using rubber bands and hot glue to create patterns on wheels for roller skates and popsicle stick boards.
I was initially worried that I may have dyed them too dark, but I found that they lighten-up a fair amount with normal use. I used RIT Synthetic, Sapphire Blue, Full strength, about 30 minutes in the dye bath with no vinegar or soap and I flipped them a few times to even out the coverage.
Nice walk through! I’ve been wanting to dye some nylon hubs black to see how it would look. I’m worried about the heat but have had the black rit dye staring me in the face for weeks.
I’ve found they lighten a little too. The blue ones pictured aren’t even sapphire blue - they’re a way way lighter shade. The edge of the urethane just took in practically the actual color of the physical dye. After some time it tends to reel back and become more accurate (The orange ones have had time for this, they’re almost spot on)
Excellent tutorial @Anubis I was planning on making one but this is far better than what I would have made!
I have actually dyed @MBS fivestar hubs with pretty much the same steps as above but without the vinegar.
I dyed them for 3h at boiling temperature on gas stove under full supervision
Lol
I boiled for so long because the hubs take AGES to absorb… and not, may I say, very well.
Also the hubs were completely degreased and clean before hand, so was the pot.
Here are the results
The one on the right I scratched with 400 grit before to see the difference… as you can see it’s worse and it’s hardly a royal purple… More like a washed out indigo colour.
Then attempt No. 2 (the other half of each hub) was like a double fail… I used the same method as before but with this colour
And 2h later the hub hadn’t dyed AT ALL.
So I had some midnight blue and added that into the mix a 3h later I got this…
It’s a nice colour but definitely not midnight blue, more like a light navy blue
I’ll let you be the judge. The next colour I want to try is yellow but I don’t have any hubs left to try it on… @MBS?
NOTE
The hubs don’t seem to deform at all the first test i had the hubs screwed together the second time i had each half loose, the result is 100% the same.
i also took a stanley and cut a chunk out in an inconspicuous spot, the dies get’s absorbed about 2mm, no more
Beautiful! Thank you for this. Now I know what to expect with black dye. I’m going to be like a witch standing over a bubbling black cauldron for hours.
I’m not sure if you put two bottles of the same colour if it will turn out nicer as i don’t just have free monies to spend on dye and hubs, but i’m guessing 1 bottle of black will be very dark grey. 2 might just make them 100% black
Gotta wonder if these wheels would have chunked like that if the hadn’t been dyed. I really can’t see how or why it should matter, but its still curious
I went for a short ride to get food yesterday on the caguamas. I previously had Abec 97mm Reflys on it and the caguamas feel surprisingly better. Going over blind man bumps dont feel as hard. 77A caguamas are really nice for its size. Just not a fan of the cyan color that eventually turns into a matcha green, so dyeing it black was the next thing
Finally Dyed my Boa’s black, Came out Great, dident need to use more than 1/4 Graphite - added some black normal as well.
Let them dye for some hours, double love.
now the wheels are much softer as well but still with rebound - They say 83A rides like 78A, now it feels like 78-77A. wonder how it will ride . Hatchlings if anyones wondering the 90mm
downside i might have expanded one of the cores (took some work shirnk it again)
, you’ve got some big cajones
but still with rebound - They say 83A rides like 78A, now it feels like 78-77A. wonder how it will ride . Hatchlings if anyones wondering the 90mm