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How to: Use Alcohol Dye
By DugFinn
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I've gotten lots of questions about how I dye my wigs, flowers, plastics, leathers, etc. So, I created this quick little tutorial to show how easy it is to use Alcohol dyes. I still use RIT for fabrics, but I pretty much use Alcohol dyes for everything else in life now.
Especially wigs. Dear cosplay gods, this makes dying wigs SUPER easy! Just put the wig and dye in a zip lock bag, shake-shake, and presto! That, or put the dye in a spritz bottle and spray away! Great for creating pastel colors, vertical gradients, or using multiple colors that need to blend into each other in strange patterns.
I buy my ink at Jerry's Artarama, but I also order the 4oz versions (super amazing for wigs) off their web site, since they don't carry the "larger" sizes in store. www.jerrysartarama.com/discoun…
Please Like my FB Page!
www.facebook.com/dugfinncospla…
Especially wigs. Dear cosplay gods, this makes dying wigs SUPER easy! Just put the wig and dye in a zip lock bag, shake-shake, and presto! That, or put the dye in a spritz bottle and spray away! Great for creating pastel colors, vertical gradients, or using multiple colors that need to blend into each other in strange patterns.
I buy my ink at Jerry's Artarama, but I also order the 4oz versions (super amazing for wigs) off their web site, since they don't carry the "larger" sizes in store. www.jerrysartarama.com/discoun…
Please Like my FB Page!

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Yes, but you'll need to put the dye in a spray bottle. The problem with pleather is that it's a plastic and most plastics tend to repel water. So if you dip or use a paint/foam brush, the dye will tend to bead up, like water drops, because the pleather is repelling the water in the mix (about 9% water). Not all pleathers do this, so you could do a test first. However, if you put the black dye in a spray bottle (the more it comes out like mist the better!), then the beads are too small and the coat is too fine for it to bead up. It will dry near instantly and will give great coverage. Just make sure to allow the dye to dry between coats. About 5 to 8 seconds between sprays for the best coverage. Also, black alcohol dye has a VERY unique property in that it has a red/brown sheen if it's too thick. So it's better to water it down and build up the coverage, than to apply too much black and have it shine red/brown. XD Good luck!

I always find 91% at Walmart and pharmacy stores like CVS and Walgreens. Try those places?
It's worth finding. 91% gives WAY better color stay because it dries quicker, before it has time to drip off, so the color grabs a hold before dripping off. 70% and 50% tend to stay wet longer, so the ink just drips off and the scalp area ends up lacking in color. Good luck!
It's worth finding. 91% gives WAY better color stay because it dries quicker, before it has time to drip off, so the color grabs a hold before dripping off. 70% and 50% tend to stay wet longer, so the ink just drips off and the scalp area ends up lacking in color. Good luck!
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