dyeing hqg1c

She did turn out a very pretty bronze color, but I'm not sure why she went that way either? I've never used gray dye before though. How peculiar.
 
Leave a Whisper said:
She did turn out a very pretty bronze color, but I'm not sure why she went that way either? I've never used gray dye before though. How peculiar.
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Bronze is a good description. Its actually quite pretty!
 
minticat said:
well, both of the roomies left for a date night so i just got in the kitchen to do some dyeing and i have an...interesting development.

i used dark gray rit dyemore. i have no idea how she ended up this color. she has a reddish brown hue.
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i followed all the tips and she stayed in the dye for almost 40 minutes. i may put her in longer just to see what happens...
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I think it’s the pony itself? I used black (graphite) on mine which is the same one and it has a purple ish hue. More so in the glitter bits

Regardless- she’s looking great!
 
Leave a Whisper said:
Wow! He's like the a sunny day and a starry night! :ponylove:
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that's the idea! he will have a sun and moon theme.

Draco said:
I think it’s the pony itself? I used black (graphite) on mine which is the same one and it has a purple ish hue. More so in the glitter bits

Regardless- she’s looking great!
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interesting! maybe i'll find a plain white blank and see if it takes that color better. and thanks!
 
Lilykin said:
Littleponyguru is sharing her dyeing experiments on Instagram if you wanna reach out to her. They look like they're going pretty well.

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Lilykin said:
Np! She's also on tumblr as littleponyguru and I think @MonsterIceCream on here.
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minticat said:
well, both of the roomies left for a date night so i just got in the kitchen to do some dyeing and i have an...interesting development.

i used dark gray rit dyemore. i have no idea how she ended up this color. she has a reddish brown hue.
View attachment 67639

i followed all the tips and she stayed in the dye for almost 40 minutes. i may put her in longer just to see what happens...
Click to expand...

You are so kind to think of me, thank you @Lilykin !! I definitely meant to reply to this thread way earlier than I did, but March seems to have zoomed by!

WOW, what a stunning bronze color! I'm not sure I could even replicate that on my own! I'm strongly tempted to try that out with the dark gray now, I want a bronze pony too! I can commiserate though; every attempt with the 'Kentucky Blue' I've tried has turned out a sort of muddy yellow-green.

I'm definitely not a dye expert, but I have dyed a fair amount of ponies by now, and I've sought advice from doll customizers who are better at dye than me, LOL! So here's my tips, although it looks like you don't need it anymore! But, just in case anyone happens across this thread later and would like some bonus tips:

1. Use the right dye! If you get regular Rit Dye, it will not take properly. You need Rit Dyemore, which is their line for synthetics, or another dye like iPoly from Amazon, which is what my customizing friend recommended.

2. BEFORE you put the pony in the dye, you want to make sure they're clean! HQG1C ponies especially sometimes arrive feeling slightly tacky, which I suspect is some kind of releasing agent from the molds, and will hinder the dye absorption. A quick scrub with Dawn or another anti-grease dish soap will work!

3. You need heat to open the pores of the plastic to allow the dye to get in, so what I use is a boiling pot of dye, which I'll bring down to a simmer if necessary. I boil a big pot, then once it's at the rolling boil stage, I'll turn down the heat a little, add my dye, mix a little bit, then add ponies. I'll also let it just keep rolling if I'm working on a really dark color, since it'll need all the help it can get. (Make sure you keep stirring the ponies with some regularity; if they get squished or stuck on the bottom of the pot, they'll get scorch marks!) When I added (light) dye to hair, I poured the cold dye on, covered it with plastic, and put a microwave heating pad on it, which was sufficient to get the dye to stick. So you may not need a boiling pot, and may be able to make do (at least with paler colors) with very hot water.

4. Boiling ponies will close up their hair holes, if they have any; you may want to leave a little bit of hair in the head if you are planning to rehair them after.

5. Make sure you take the head and body apart, so that the pony can fill up with dye and won't float, which can create weird splotches.

6. I was told that adding some vinegar to the boil will help the color adhere more effectively. Not sure if it works for ponies, but it can't hurt!

7. You want to dye a shade or two darker than your goal color; that's because the dye will naturally fade in the coming weeks/months, and the color you get fresh out of the pot will most likely not be the color you end up with.

8. Once your pony is done dying, you want to (carefully!) remove them from the dye bath, pour out any dye from the head/body, then place them into a bowl of ice water with some vinegar. The cold water will shock the pores closed to hopefully keep most of the dye trapped inside, and the vinegar should help to set it as well. Again, advice from my friend, and it seems to work well!

9. Side tip, but don't be like me and buy a set of tongs with plastic tips; it'll just soak up the dye and transfer it between ponies! You want an all-metal set, as well as a pot you will never use for food. Dye isn't safe to eat!

10. This is a tip I don't see a lot, but let your dyed ponies sit for at least a few weeks before you do anything to them. The dye will be fading and settling in the plastic, and if you add hair or paint too soon, the dye will start coming up through the paint, or potentially stain the hair. I let mine settle for several months whenever I can, just to try and avoid that, as well as see the 'real color' that I'm going to end up with.

11. Finally, once you have finished your dyed pony, make sure that they are never stored touching another pony directly. Even once the dye has 'settled', there is a risk that the dye can travel, because pony plastic is considered a very 'thirsty' material. It'll try to suck up dye from any source, including the custom ponies!

Best of luck with your dye adventures, dye can be a very unforgiving but also very fun medium! I've had a good time, but I also try to make sure I have an extra body or two if I'm on a deadline - just in case things go haywire!
 
Fun fact: I was literally just looking on this thread at some of the bookmarked tips because I’m about to dye a HQG1C for the first time. Thank you for more tips @MonsterIceCream !
 
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