Well I'm Taking the Plunge - Girth Belt dying

I got my 38” mohair girth belt from an online tack shop called the Chubby Pony. It was used so it was only $6 plus shipping it had a few dirt stains but otherwise it is in great shape.

I have finally got the courage to plunge into the dye bath and it is on the stove cooking now. I’m using the liquid dye formula of ½ cup Rit Dark Brown & ¼ cup Rit Wine. Right now it looks real dark, but hopefully it will lighten up once I start rinsing it. I have the stretching board already to go.

I got my fingers crossed.

Alan

Good luck. Hope it turns out ok.

Alan,
Which one are you dying it for ESB or ROTJ?
I'd be curious to hear how it turns out.
Christi

Well it took the dye really well, maybe too well, I was a bit worried as I didn’t do the acetone bath first. I suspected that the belt had been cleaned before I bought it and apparently it had.

I was shooting for an ESB look, but it looks like came out too dark even for that. It’s a real DARK burgundy, but it's still drying out. I have it mounted on a plank and I also tack nailed the three cross stitched areas to keep them from bunching up as well. It looks good, but I don’t think I achieved the right shade for ESB and it is definitely way too dark for the ROTJ maroon.


Don’t know if I’m going to try again or just leave it as is. I may hang it in the sun for a day to see what that will do.

I’ll try and post a pic tonight.


Alan

It came out a lot darker than I expected. I tried to snap a pic, but the burgundy color shows up as black. Not sure what I am going to do yet, it needs more red.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Alan

How bout if you hit it with some of that Rit dye remover to lighten it up?

I sent it through the wash with a little bleach which lightened it up a bit, but not as much as I expected. Then I put in a dye bath of Rit Scarlet for 1/2 hour and it looks a lot better. Now I'll have to wait until its dry to see what I've got.

Alan

I finally remembered to post the final results:

Say, That's where I am now... I used a bottle of liquid RIT wine, and a pack of cocoa brown. Right now it looks very dark burgundy, almost purple-ish. I'm going to try a dose of scarlet too, maybe with a wash in between. The ESB belt is very marroon, so I think I over-darkened it. we'll see how it goes! I'll post pics too, soon.

Shinobi

I think the wine has to much blue in its base. I was a bit ticked with the turn out on mine. So I've stipped it down and am looking into a different dye rather than Rit.
But I'd still be interested to see what happens with yours Shinobi.

Well, It looks like I'm on the same path as wizard, which dosen't make to a nice tutorial. However, Maybe the next time (if there is one) I would start with a mix of scarlet, cocao bown and a tiny splash of wine. Back-tracking is not as easy as getting it right the first try! I'll keep you posted!

Shinobi

After a day of drying, my belt looks kind of light, purple-brown. I dyed it on the stove top at a simmer for about 30 minutes before rinsing. then hung it up to dry. I think that I will not need to fade it before soaking it in scarlet dye. I think maybe I should let it soak in the scarlet dye for about a hour or two at this stage. What does anyone think? I know the water is supposed to be hot, but it will cool down. If it starts out at a simmer, would soaking it for longer be a good approach? Opinion?

Shinobi

I'm thinking that an hour should be about right. 30 min really wasn't long enough and I'm considering putting mine back in the scarlet die for a bit longer to bring it more to a maroon color.
Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

Alan

I really think the "wine" is the wrong way to go.

here's what I did to mine

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/showt...&highlight=rit

If you'll notice, I had similar results to you guys & ended up using "color remover"
It turned out great (I think)

I agree completely, I was very disappointed with the results from the wine color die. Yours came out looking great!! I'm hoping that mine will look a little better with some more time in the scarlet. I'm a bit reluctant to go with the die remover I'm looking for something a bit on the dark side.

Alan

Originally Posted by slave1pilot

I really think the "wine" is the wrong way to go.

here's what I did to mine

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/showt...&highlight=rit

If you'll notice, I had similar results to you guys & ended up using "color remover"
It turned out great (I think)

I agree completely, I was very disappointed with the results from the wine color die. Yours came out looking great!! I'm hoping that mine will look a little better with some more time in the scarlet. I'm a bit reluctant to go with the die remover I'm looking for something a bit on the dark side.

Alan

Originally Posted by slave1pilot

I really think the "wine" is the wrong way to go.

here's what I did to mine

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/showt...&highlight=rit

If you'll notice, I had similar results to you guys & ended up using "color remover"
It turned out great (I think)

That looks pretty spot on S1P! That's the color I'm looking to get! I think te right forulaa is a mix of the dark or cocoa brown, scarlet and a little bit of wine to add a little marroon to it, but not too much. When mine comes out of the scarlet, I hope it looks something like yours, S1P! I think yours is getting there, too, Wizard. A little more scarlet should work nicely! I am reluctant to use the color remover yet, becuase mine came out very light the first time. I'll get some snaps soon!

Shinobi

I found a color of procion dye thru dharmatrading.com that is called "maroon brown". I'll let everyone know how it turns out when I get it in my hands. It's on it;s way in the mail as I type.

Well, still with no progress pics posted (d'oh) I have gone to the second step of a scarlet dye bath, and it seems to have come out the perfect color at this point. It's hanging to dry for about a week I'll give it. I did this in two stages, but potentially it could be done in one. I used RIT liquid "wine" and powdered cocoa brown. Simmered that in a pot on the stove top for 30 minutes, rinsed it. let it dry 1 week. Then, I simmered it in RIT scarlet for 30 minutes, then let it soak for about 30-40 minutes, rinsed it, and hung it up, where it will dry for a week. Once fully dryed, it should be the right color. I'm very curious to see DMs test with the Marroon brown dye. That seems exactly the right color to start with.

Shinobi

Shinobi Fett
Let us know how the results are once its dry. I followed the same path with the RIT(drk bwn and wine) and actually tried to strip it out with the color remover and it didn't even budge yesterday. I had more sucess with a bleach rinse.
I am going to try the cocoa brn and scarlet later this week, as of right now it is very purple and the color is inconsistent.
So we'll see, I am anxious to see Darth Mule's results as well.

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.

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:

umm....
also one ref pic is ESB & one's ROTJ, time may have changed the color somewhat if it's the SAME belt.

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.

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.

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.
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;

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.
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?

Originally Posted by MacRory

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.

Originally Posted by Ripcode

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.

Originally Posted by MacRory

It's only $4 plus s/h so I'll try it out. Besides it being nylon it is perfect.

It it doesn't take dye, you can spray paint it with very good results.

I followed these instructions to dye my (ebay $10) mohair girth belt. (rit dyes ($5)


came out perfect!

Originally Posted by Ripcode

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.

I bought a mohair girth from the chubby pony, mine cost me $12. I used DM's method and got great results.

Originally Posted by Christo Fett

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.

Nice... I didn't know they had that!

Originally Posted by mrgr8ness

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. And trust me, I've been looking.

They had just sold the mohair girth at Chubby Pony when I looked yesterday but I saw the nylon one there as well and figured I'd better see if I can fix that up. All the other tack shops online that I looked at didn't have these "corded" girth belts.

I've emailed a few people and they ask me if I'm making a Boba Fett costume because that's usually why they get solicited LOL

Here is another source for girth belts http://www.horseloverz.com/Centaur-N...pr-179174.html . I bought 2 of these one 38in (on backorder) and one 40in (38in buckle to buckle after dyed). The 40 in dyed great didn't have to use acetone either. I used Darth Mule's recipe loosly as a guide . I will try to post a pic and the actual recipe I used in the next couple days.
Mark

Then I used liquid RIT dye 4 table spoons of Dark Brown and 3 table spoons of Scarlett



Are you talking about the powder for of Rit dye or the liquid kind in a bottle?

I used the liquid form that comes in a bottle.
Mark

when dieing these do you have to take shrinkage into consideration? I was tole mine is from crazy4bobafett and it was kind of died, very pink, looks to be cotton.