How to Apply Vinyl Dye

   First of all, if you are going to dye something that is colored black, or some other relatively dark color, you need a white vinyl dye as well as your colored dye. If you try to apply a color to black, you simply get a black piece that is tinted in the color that you were shooting for. It works like you were trying to dye a black t-shirt red. You can't use red dye on a black t-shirt, you have to use bleach to make it white, and then you can dye it red. So use the white dye to get a light gray color, and then apply your color coat.

   Fortunately, vinyl dye is newbie proof, for the most part, unlike spray paint. Since priming, clear coat, and sanding are eliminated, the process is pretty strait forward and quite simple.

   The dye is extremely useful for all plastic parts including: bezels, drive covers, cd-rom faceplates, floppy faceplates, buttons, fan housings, monitors, case feet, and pretty much anything made from plastic.

Painting Timeline

   On the first coat lightly spray the entire piece down until you have approximately 75% coverage.

   Wait five minutes, second coat, spray the piece until you can no longer see the original color. Wait for another ten minutes.

   Ten minutes after your final coat, and you can handle whatever you were painting. Vinyl dye is dry to the touch in five to ten minutes and fully cured in 12 hours.

   Third coat, spray down any area that is discolored, or still shows the original color, and then lightly spray down the entire piece.  Wait ten minutes.

   Fourth (optional) coat, repeat Third coat.

The finished product, no sanding, no primer, and no clear coating

   *NOTE* The plastic that you were dying could be soft in the first 12 hours. This may happen because some of the thinner that is in the dye could also seep into the plastic, and this causes it to go soft until it cures. As long as you don't pull a Garth on a donut to the plastic, you should be fine.

   People often panic when they get a run with vinyl dye. It’s a lot easier to do than with paint. If you get runs in the surface don’t try to fix them. Any raised areas in the dye will seep into the plastic over time, and the runs will vanish.

It’s damn near impossible to make a dye job look bad.