Well I'm Taking the Plunge - Girth Belt dying

OK C4B! I may have pics as soon as tomorrow! Like I said, I did cocoa brown and wine in one dying, for 30 minutes. Let it dry a week, then dyed that in scarlet 30 minutes at a simmer, then a 30 minute soak. It seems like just the right color now, but as of last night was still a little damp. The target color is a nice, rich maroon color. Not too red, not too brown.

Shinobi
 
Well, I tried to dye my belt today. No go. The color I think would be right on if I could get it to take. Every time I tried the dye washed out 100%. Has anyone else had this problem? The belt is supposed to be mohair. Got it from the last run here on the board. No reason it shouldn't dye. I'm wondering if there is some sort of treatment on it that prevents the color from penetrating.
 
It sounds like you needs to run it through an acetone bath to rinse off the "stain guard" that some belts have. I know the method is posted somewhere on the board, I'll keep looking.

Basically if I remember correctly you have to soak it in acetone for 5 to 6 hours and then rinse it really good with water. This should permit the belt to take the dye.

Mine didn't need it, since I bought mine used I suspect that it was cleaned first.

Alan
 
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Yeah, I really don't wanna play with acetone... I'm still waiting to hear back from Christi. I got the belt from her mass order. I don't think she had the same problem I did with the dye. If she did, she didn't mention it. The only other thing I can think of, is that my dyebath didn't get hot enough. I used the procion fiber reactive, which has a little different method to it than the rit.
 
Hey DM, do you know where the belt came from? I got mine from Stateline. 100% mohair, and mine didn't need acetone rinsing first. Though maybe they vary from lot to lot. Here's my results, and how they stack up against the reference, keeping in mind the different lighting, and that I do need to now "dirty" it up:

Belt-1.jpg


Belt-2.jpg


MoM_Belt.jpg


ESB-Belt.jpg
 
Yes. The top two are mine, the third MoM, and the fourth ESB production still. I don't know whether it's been determined if the belts were the same from movie to movie. After all, the pre-pro belt(s) were definately brown. Since the ESB & ROTJ belts are both maroon, they would've at least been dyed with the same process, whether or not they were physically the same belt.

Hey, in a related question, where do the ESB belt pouches attach to? The ammo belt, or the girth belt? In ROTJ, they're clearly on the ammo belt, and you can see the loops for them. On the ESB, they appear to come out from under the ammo belt, overlapping the girth belt. Any insight?

Shinobi
 
So I'm now convinced that the dharma dye simply doesn't work. I just practically boiled it for an hour.. Once again, washed out white. White... Weird. Seems it would have at least stained it. Nope. This stuff must suck. I'll have to try plain old Rit. See if it does the same thing before I make the final verdict on the Procion.

Chris
 
So, the Rit dye seems to have been the way to go. Not only did it take, I got a pretty good match to the MoM color (see pic below). Looks even closer in person, as my camera skills aren't the best. The camera seems to have killed the nice red tint too the belt.

The recipe I used is as follows:
First you need a pot big enough to hold enough water for the belt to sit in and move freely. I used a 20qt stock pot that I got at Big Lots for $6.99. There needs to be probably at least 2 gallons of water in it for the belt to move freely. Put it on the stove and turn it on high.

In a smaller container like a 1 qt pyrex cup, add:
1 package (6 tsp) Rit Scarlet
3/4 package (4 tsp) Rit Cocoa Brown
2 tsp Rit Wine
Gradually add small amounts of hot water. Just enough to work the powders into an even paste. Add 2 cups hot water and mix until dyes are dissolved and add to dyebath.

Dissolve 1/2 cup plain salt into 2 cups hot water and add to dyebath. Be sure to do this after the dye has been added and mixed into the dyebath.

Add belt and stir frequently until dyebath reaches just below boiling and simmer there for 10 minutes.

Add 2/3 cup white vinegar and simmer an additional 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Remove from dyebath and rinse belt until water runs clear. If it doesn't look dark enough for you. Put it back in the dyebath and let it stay in longer this time.

Hope this helps.

belt 002.jpg
 
Well Chris and I have been communicating back and forth and hard at work to get a formula down for you guys. I think between the two of us and much grief we may have a good result.
Heres mine below.....
I had tried to dye mine with the wine and dark brown as stated before, so I took a bleach wash to it and the results are below. I just let it sit till it was as light as I thought it was going to get and washed it really well and dried it.
Belts001-copy.jpg

Really pretty huh?? Nice shade of violet.. :puke
Then I redyed it with a combination of the RIT cocoa brown and scarlett.
I did the same as Chris, I used a large stainless stock pot I use for dying stuff and make sure there is room for the belts to move other wise the color is uneven.
I filled the pot to within 4 inches of the top about 2 gals or so, brought the water to a rolling boil like when you cook pasta.
I added the cup of salt and 1 tbls. of detergent as stated on the box.
I added a full box of the cocoa brown and 1/2 of the scarlet box, stirred really well to mix. Then add your girth belt and be sure you wet it, don't put it in dry.
I brought back up to a boil and turned it down to a simmer, voila girth belt soup. J/k sounds like a receipe. :lol:
I let it simmer for and hour and keep it moving, guys in other words don't leave it sit for an hour, stir it occasionally to keep the color even too.
Oh and one other note becareful to not stretch it whilst in the hot water, it may have sag on some of the strands in the end, like on mine on the bottom strand at the right.
Be sure what ever you stir it with is either metal so it won't stain or something you can throw away like a wood paint stirrer you can pick up at Home Depot. Be aware anything including your fingers will stain!!! So don't splash the dye.
After my hour was up I took a big glass bowl to move them out of the pot to the sink. Give them a good rinse with HOT water first, so have the hot water running. Gradually turn the temp down to cool as your final rinse this will help set the dye. Just be sure the water runs clear. Be sure to clean your sink if its white right after you rinse them!! I put them back into the bowl to take outside.
I didn't get much shrinkage, not noticable at least. So I hung mine outside to dry yesterday in the 85 degree heat! Along side my ESbbjumpsuit to try and lighten the dye on it a bit, my neighbors must have thought I was nuts!
So here are the final results;
Belts003-copy.jpg

It is sooooo much better than the results I got with the Dark brown and wine.
Its a great auburn shade, and I am relieved its over.
Thank you Chris for all your input as well, and trying different dye options.
So hopefully with the above results from Chris's and mine you can come to some sort of conclusion as to how to approach the issue.
Any ???? just drop me a pm, and have fun its a messy job and your going to have to do it. :lol: :lol:
Christi
P.S. Pete yours is the one on the left, hope you like.
 
This may be a dumb question...I found a nylon version of the girth belt and was concerned whether or not I could dye it?

Is this possible or does anyone think it would be problematic?
 
MacRory said:
This may be a dumb question...I found a nylon version of the girth belt and was concerned whether or not I could dye it?

Is this possible or does anyone think it would be problematic?

It won't take the dye as well as mohair. It will take a little color, but not much.

Your best bet - Try it and see what happens.
 
Ripcode said:
It won't take the dye as well as mohair. It will take a little color, but not much.

Your best bet - Try it and see what happens.

It's only $4 plus s/h so I'll try it out. Besides it being nylon it is perfect.
 
Ripcode said:
It it doesn't take dye, you can spray paint it with very good results.

The spray paint won't rub off will it? Or is there a specific brand that you would recommend in this scenario. Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated.
 
I used automotive fabric paint for mine that I got at an auto parts store after I found out that my girth wouldn't take the dye. I think it'll wear better than spray paint.
crop0016vf.jpg
 
Christo Fett said:
I used automotive fabric paint for mine that I got at an auto parts store after I found out that my girth wouldn't take the dye. I think it'll wear better than spray paint.
crop0016vf.jpg

Nice... I didn't know they had that! :)
 
mrgr8ness said:
I bought a mohair girth from the chubby pony, mine cost me $12. I used DM's method and got great results.

100% mohair girths are hard to find. I've yet to find one. :facepalm And trust me, I've been looking.
 
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