A G-Shock to dye for

[macspite]

I would like to dye one of my jelly bands and bezels that has yellowed.



Not done this before and it seems an easy job. Only problem is that the articles I have come across on the net are from guys in the States and the products mentioned are not available here in the UK.

I would like to know the UK equivalent of using RIT in an aluminum saucepan while eating Tootsie rolls and Oreos and drinking Grape Ne-Hi.

I think it may be using Dylon in an aluminium​ saucepan while munching on a bacon buttie and drinking monkey tea but would like confirmation before I do something irreparable.

 

[rutteger]

My one and only attempt at a dye job (which you now own!) was using dylon from woolies. As best as I could tell at the time this was the same sort of stuff.

You going to dye one or both? Going with a bright colour?

Suggest you get the band and bezel as clean as possible, could see a couple of patches on the set I tries where the dye hadn't taken so well..

 

[macspite]

Ok, but was your ex a solid colour or a jelly?

I'm thinking of dyeing the ICERC with the blue lettering, the yellow lettering one will not need dyeing - as the band yellows it will look deliberate. Think the blue ICERC will be a decent mid-blue rather than a pale colour - unless the yellowed strap turns it green of course.

Doesn't Dylon come in various flavours depending on what you want to dye with it - one sort for cotton, one for nylon sort of thing? And does vinegar enter into the recipe somewhere?

I will of course post pictures of the whole disgusting mess once I do it.

 

[rutteger]

Ok, but was your ex a solid colour or a jelly?

I'm thinking of dyeing the ICERC with the blue lettering, the yellow lettering one will not need dyeing - as the band yellows it will look deliberate. Think the blue ICERC will be a decent mid-blue rather than a pale colour - unless the yellowed strap turns it green of course.

Doesn't Dylon come in various flavours depending on what you want to dye with it - one sort for cotton, one for nylon sort of thing? And does vinegar enter into the recipe somewhere?

I will of course post pictures of the whole disgusting mess once I do it.

I dyed it yellow to black. Don't recall which dye, it was just black dylon and baically followed the instructions on the pack. Also referred to a few thread on other sites. Might be worth asking sharkfin, the dyed jelly red Frog he's done looks great.

 

[macspite]

I wimped out and did a search for RIT in the UK. Got some from The Cloth Shop in North London via Amazon. Bit the bullet this afternoon and tried a poor unsuspecting G-Lide before giving my ICERCS a go.





First try moderately successful.

The two ICERCS went a little better with one major problem - tell you later

- while writing this there was a ring at the door, Royal Mail with a 9" cardboard cube from the States. The watch I got for free via winning an Amazon gift voucher, all the way from the States in 9 days and, best of all, snuck past the VoPo's at the border - no duty!

So you will have to wait for pictures of the ICERCS - if anyone is reading this or the remotely bit interested - I am playing with my new watch!

 

[rutteger]

Nice work! Bezel look to have worked really well, strap looks good too. You'll have to do a guide for the site at some point

Look forward to seeing the ICERCs. And the new watch from Amazon, e-ink display per chance

 

[macspite]

ICERCS tomorrow - new watch boring old analog only. No digi, black and boring

 

[macspite]

I would like to dye one of my jelly bands and bezels that has yellowed.

View attachment 1936

Not done this before and it seems an easy job. Only problem is that the articles I have come across on the net are from guys in the States and the products mentioned are not available here in the UK.

I would like to know the UK equivalent of using RIT in an aluminum saucepan while eating Tootsie rolls and Oreos and drinking Grape Ne-Hi.

I think it may be using Dylon in an aluminium​ saucepan while munching on a bacon buttie and drinking monkey tea but would like confirmation before I do something irreparable.

Ok so I tried, used RIT in a teflon coated aluminium saucepan, no bacon buttie but a large mug of monkey brew. And I did do something irreparable ...


A naked DW-9200K showing the yellowing of the strap.

Blue one first, using the same pan of dye as for the G-lide shown on the left



Hard flashlight gives contrast to white lettering - now light blue and original blue lettering, unchanged. Quite pleased with effect, not an overpowering blue and the transparency of the "jelly" remains.

View in natural light:


In the words of Ian Dury:

Good sense told me, once was enough. But I had to cock an eye on more of this stuff

So, rather than leave my yellow lettered ICERC alone with its almost matching yellowed band I poured away the Royal blue RIT, washed out the pan and added another flavour with, long story short, this result:



Previous quantities were one third packet of RIT in a 9 inch pan and enough water to cover the components. About 6 minutes in the solution. This time I went for broke and added a whole packet in a similar amount of water. Tangerine flavour. About the same time of immersion, colour didn't seem to get any deeper after the first couple of minutes.



The yellow lettering on the strap hasn't changed much but the white lettering has changed colour to match:



Last shot of this one:



Those few who have reached this far will notice a blue, disassembled ICERC in the background. In fact it is not yet reassembled - put the orange together before the blue.

Has anyone got the knack of strap spring bars? Getting them out is easy enough with the correct tool is easy enough but these were little b***ers to get back. The neighbours were treated to some old fashioned free-form swearing for about thirty minutes. (Mind, they got their own back with a party spilling into the street followed by a domestic around 02:30 this morning).

Remember I mentioned irreparable damage? The keepers seem to be made of a different material (maybe true for all G's which is why they seem to be the first bit of resin to fail). The keeper for the blue one shrivelled into a little ball in the hot - not boiling - water and couldn't be rescued. The keeper for the orange one shrank to about half proper size but was resurrected by expanding with a pair of pliers as a former.

i had the keeper from a fake jelly which I dyed. Lost its transparency and when I took the blue ICERC off this morning I had a nice blue imprint of the keeper on my wrist - no dye transference from the strap though


Next time, if I am rash enough to try, I will shave down a bit of wood to fit snugly inside the keeper so it will keep its size and shape in the hot dye, obviously will have to weight it to get the keeper immersed.

So here are the three amigos after their makeover:



*Not shown - newly decorated orange and blue kitchen worksurfaces, utensils, walls ...

 

[rutteger]

Nice work, both ICERC jellys look really good following their make over. Am keen to give this a go myself at some point now

 

[agentzigzag]

Great results there, they look completely refreshed