Girth Belt Pre Dye Acetone Bath?

[wizardofflight]

First off, sorry I know that this topic has been talked to death, but I have searched through all of the ‘How to Dye a Girth Belt’ threads that I could find. So, I have the Rit Dye formula and the dyeing procedure, but one thing that I am still a bit mystified about is the per dye 5 hour acetone bath. In some posts it indicated that the acetone bath is intended to remove the existing color in others it implies that bath prepares the belt to accept the dye by stripping off some kind of protective coating.

So, the question is: Is the acetone bath required prior to dyeing a natural/white girth belt? And of somewhat less importance, if so: Why? What exactly is the acetone doing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Alan

 

[E2K13]

Ok, I may be of some assistance.
One of my suppliers used to carry treated girthbelts which have a little bit more of a coarse feel to them then the untreated ones. It is sort of like a stainguard or scotchguard that they are treated with. You need to strip it off of them some way and Acetone seems to be the magic potion. However, it is always best to try and dye the girth first to see if it accepts any dye and that will determine whether you have one of the treated girths or not.
I had poor results with the girths I soaked in Acetone overnight because they are treated with fairly heavy amounts of the stain resistant. So when I ended up dying them a burgundy, they would come out a pale lavender instead of burgundy.

 

[wizardofflight]

Thank you! I'll give it a go. The girth I have has a great feel to it, kind of silky smooth.

Alan

 

[E2K13]

It probably won't need the acetone bath then. Let me know how it works out.