Rit Dye and G.I. Joe Pieces!

This is a project I have been wanting to try for years. Since I was trapped in during this frigid January, I decided to finally give this a try!

See below how I dyed different 1/6 Joe pieces with Rit Dye!

Here are a plethora of different G.I. Joe pieces. They are all defective in their own way with rips, tears, or discoloration. I wanted to test how the dye would affect the different plastics. I also wanted to see how the skin tones would appear when left in the dye longer. Prior to the process, make sure your pieces are well washed to remove residual oils, grease, and dirt.

Here is everything I bought for my experiment: Rit DyeMore (Synthetic), Rit ColorStay Dye Fixative, mini handheld strainer, cooking thermometer, and measuring spoons. At the thrift store, I bought used tongs, a used cup, and an old pot and old bowl (pictured later). Do NOT use anything that you plan to put food into later!

I chose Rit Dye More Synthetic, because I am dying plastic. I have heard that the regular Rit dye works too. I chose chocolate brown, because I am curious about turning some heads ethnic.

This solution is used to dip the heads in immediately after dying. I do not know if it has an actual effect for dying these specific items, but I want the dye to stay in the heads as strongly as possible, so I added this to my process as well.

I laid a towel on the ground just as a precaution. I do not want the dye to get anywhere it should not!

I also wore an apron and latex gloves during the entire project. I do not want this stuff anywhere on my clothing or skin!

I basically just followed the instructions of the bottle. Boil the water to above 200 degrees Fahrenheit, mix in some dish detergent, and then pour some of the dye into the pot.

I then proceeded to mix each part individually into the hot solution for different amounts of minutes.

Once the desired time was over, I placed the head over the old cup to rid of the residual liquid. This is very quick.

I then quickly put the head into a cold water bowl of the Colorstay Dye Fixative.

Once all of the heads went through that process, they went through several waves of rinsing and washing with warm water and dish detergent. I did not want any residual dye on these pieces at all.

1 Minute: This pale Cotswold head stayed in the solution for about 1 minute. He ended up with a tan "Bob the Cameraman" complexion.

2 Minutes: This pale Cotswold head with spots of flock stayed in the solution for about 2 minutes. He is definitely darker than the 1 minute head, and his originally white flock is now a solid brown. The dye also affected the white paint of his eyes.

3+ Minutes: This pale Cotswold head was supposed to only be in the solution for 3 minutes, but my timer did not sound off, so he stayed a little longer. He is extremely dark, and some of his paint was also affected by the dye.

2 Minutes: This flesh colored Classic Collection head stayed in for 2 minutes. He is more reddish brown and dye definitely changed his white eyes and blonde hair.

2 Minutes: The discolored grey Cotswold head and pale foot stayed in the solution for 2 minutes. The head is actually very natural looking and turned out the best of all of my dyed pieces. As for the foot, Cotswold body plastic does not take the dye well at all. The only part of the foot affected was the rivet plastic where the peg broke off.

Also, just to show, the interior of the heads was dyed as well.

Here are the dyed heads. I let them sit away from other plastics for about a day just to ensure there was no leakage of the dye.

I would eventually like to try some more skin colors, especially alien heads! Big thanks to Ray Cairo of Flock Concepts for giving me some of his tips on dying plastic!

Keep fighting the good fight, and stay creative! If something does not result in what you want, try something else! (That is for everything in life!)

G.I. Joe Forever!

-Chuck