Girth or Rope Belt Information

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ROTJ dying tutorial by Steve

Originally posted by TK1028:

Klinsek was successful with the following procedure. I am quoting Klinsek here:

“Got my girth from statelinetack.com, size 38" to allow for some shrinkage.

Put the belt in a container, then pour laquer thinner or acetone all over it until it is good and soaked. Make sure you use a glass or metal container for this, as the thinner will eat away a plastic one. Leave it in a ventilated area, or outside if weather permits, and let it soak up for about 4-5 hours. This gets off any synthetic coatings or treatments, which was keeping people from getting the belt to take dye.

Now rinse it off REALLY good with a garden hose or something. It will probably still stink like hell, so give it a quick hand wash in the sink with a bit of laundry detergent until it smells decent.

Time for the dyeing! I used one(1) bottle of the liquid RIT dye, color: Cocoa Brown. I completely disregarded the directions. I think this is the key. :)

Stove top dyeing is the way to go guys and gals. Pour about a gallon of water into a pot. I used a big metal crock pot. But you can use any pot that will hold a gallon of water. Just make sure its not filled all the way to the top to avoid a stainfull mess. Put it over a LOW heat and get the water hot, but NOT boiling. Never let it get to a boil. Now slowly pour the WHOLE container of liquid dye into the hot water while mixing with a wooden spoon you care never to use again. Hehe. Stir it in real good. It will look like yummy tar. (what?)

WET the belt under the faucet first with hot water, then put it into the dye pot. Try not to get any on your hands, its a pain to get off. Now, you must stir often and keep moving the rope around every 5 mins or so. You want to make sure it gets a nice even dye. If you let it sit to long, some areas will soak up more dye than others. Again, make sure the water never starts to boil! I kept turning the burner off awhile, then back on again when it started to cool, so it didn't get to hot.

Keep at stirring and shifting the belt around for about 45mins.

Throw on some dish gloves or equivalent. Now take the pot over to a big sink (kitchen, whatever) and take the belt out and lay it in the sink. Run it under WARM water, and get most of the excess dye off. Squeeze the belt as the water runs over it and ring it out good. Keep this up until it seems like most of the excess dye is out. Now give it another good hand wash in detergent like before after the laquer/acetone process. Rinse and ring it out real good again, then lay it out somewhere to dry. Let it dry indoors though, cuz the hot sun will cause it to dry TOO fast, and it will shrink lots. It will take a long ass time to dry nevertheless. Be patient.

When you are done you should have simillar results as I did. My belt has a reddish brown color to it, which is more the ROTJ style. If you are going for ESB I guess you could get the regular 'brown' color RIT liquid dye, instead of the Cocoa Brown.

If anyone has any questions please post, or e-mail me at jedi_klinsek@hotmail.com

Again, this is what Klinsek posted at the RPF; the credit goes to Steve. Hope it helps.

Here is how it turned out:
rope_belt.jpg



Chris Skidmore
"I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe"
SergeantTK1028@aol.com
 
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Another Dyeing Tutorial from Michael Max111

Originally posted by Braks Buddy:

Originally posted in the first Boba Fett Details Thread by Michael Max111.
---------------------------------------------------------
OK, I may have made a break-through with dyeing the rope belt. I'll give you a quick run down of my failures.
Got wrong belt from Richie, he sent ESB and we thought I could dye it red. Wrong
First attempt with RIT over the brown crappy red brown.
Next I used RIT color remover and re-dyed, didn't take.
Tried RIT again failed. Tried hair dye, failed. Tried RIT a few more times and it wouldn't take. It always came out on the rinse. Then I bleached the belt and it came out almost white. Tried RIT and failed. Then I tried a dye from pro chemical, heavy duty industrial stuff, and failed. Till tonight!

So tonight I thought I'd try boiling the thing in the dye, where as before I was just doing the hot water method. So I used the pro stuff on the stove for about 20 minutes and rinsed it and the dye held but dyed the belt a purple gray color. So being out of the pro stuff I tried again with RIT. I put it on the stove on simmer with a full box of cardinal red about a cup of salt and a half bottle of vinegar and I let the thing cook for an hour and a half ( I forgot it was there) Anyhow the end result was a dark red-purple color.
But my point is that the dye did not rinse out. Tomorrow I'm going to bleach it again and re-boil the belt, but this time I'm going to keep an eye on it.


Restless soul, enjoy your youth - Eddie Vedder​
 
Girth Dying

Originally posted by Braks Buddy:

OK, here is a brief tutorial. I have not got the exact color correct yet but at least I finally got the girth to hold the dye! This is basically a modified version of Klinsek's instructions...

Items Needed:
-1 Qt. Acetone (DO NOT substitute Laquer Thinner for acetone)
-PLAIN salt (NOT iodized salt)
-2 packs RIT dye
-WHITE vinegar
-Large boiling pot
-Large stirring spoon


-Soak girth in 1 quart of acetone overnight.
-Hand wash girth with mild detergent. Wash well!!!
-Mix 2 cups HOT water with 9 tablespoons PLAIN salt in large pot till salt dissolves.
-Add 2 packets dye to hot salt water.
-Put belt (which should still be wet from above step) in pot with salt water/dye mix..
-Add enough water to cover belt
-Stir for approx 10 minutes
-Add 2/3 cup of WHITE vinegar
-Continue to heat for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
-Rinse until water runs clear. This may take a long time.
-Stretch girth to desired length (measure before hand) on a 1"X6" board and nail down. GIRTH WILL SHRINK IF NOT SECURED!!!
-Allow girth to completely dry but do not expose to direct sunlight.

NOTE: When dying, keep pot on low heat setting - DO NOT LET BOIL!!!



Restless soul, enjoy your youth - Eddie Vedder​
 
Size?

Originally posted by MaxPlague:

Which size/length girth are you guys ordering? I have a 33 inch waist, 32 when I'm in better shape :)

But I see the girths are listed at like 38-54? How does this sizing work? Any hints?

:::OOOOPS!:::EDIT::: :oops:
I see that their are some girths listed beginning at 20"
I guess maybe I'll try to find a 28 or 30" to leave some room for the connector straps.

Maybe I'll just order one and send it back if it's too big.



- MaxPlague
"There is no emoticon for what I feel right now."
"DEATH TO POP-UP WINDOW ADVERTISEMENTS!"
 
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Originally posted by Braks Buddy:

The 38" is fine. It will shrink a LOT when you dye it. I have the same waste as you and had no probs.
 
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Have you actually seen this in person yet? I can't see the color very well from the picture. Even if it isn't the exact right color, it might be easier to dye.
 
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They look very promising and the price is not bad either.Thanks for the heads up.
 
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Good thing you don't plan on dying it. Trevira is a synthetic fiber and is virtually impossible to dye. If you want to dye one, go with Mohair like the original. Wool dyes quite nicely. :)

At least $15.75 isn't a bad price. Stateline has the 14 strand Mohair girths in white and black for $15.90.

I plan on getting a white one from them and then dying it red so it will be authentic. :D
 
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I gotta keep this alive..


I need a brown one for my Jodo outfit.

Once I get it..How much modification will I have to do before I wear it?(I know..stupid question but indulge me)


Jodo
 
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If you dye a mohair girth, it will shrink a LOT (wool's funny like that). ;) You might want to order one a bit larger than your normal waist size. Once dyed and ready to wear, you'll need 2 leather straps to connect the double set of buckles with. Some people use nylon webbing instead. :)
 
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Thanks..

And another stupid question....


How wide does it have to be to be close to the movie costume?


Jodo
 
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For Boba, order a "14 strand mohair girth" and you'll be good to go. ;)

I couldn't tell you the similarities or differences between Boba's and Jango's or Jodo's... :(
 
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Brown? Why would you want a brown one? ;)

My quest to lure others into making a ROTJ suit continues...
 
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I've heard that if you use Rit in boiling water, the mohair (wool) girth can shrink as much as 50%.

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains??? ;)
 
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