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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:
Chris Skidmore
"I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe"
SergeantTK1028@aol.com
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:
Chris Skidmore
"I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe"
SergeantTK1028@aol.com
Last edited by a moderator:
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. 
