How to Dye a Plastic Visor (PETG)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มี.ค. 2014
- Tutorial on how we dye our plastic (PETG) visors for our Zer0 helmets (from Borderlands 2). Overall soaking/rinsing time is approx 45 minutes, using iDye Poly, available at fabric and craft stores. Interested in purchasing a clear visor? You can find them here cosplay4usall.com/shop/
**PLEASE READ THE FAQ BELOW before posting questions. We will happily answer your questions but many are addressed below.**
FAQ
The PETG is 1/16th inch thickness. Yes, this thickness can be shaped with a heat gun, as long as you are very careful and the shape is not too complex or extreme (like our visors).
Once it is tinted dark enough no one can see in from the outside once it is mounted to the helmet as there is no light shining through from the inside. Seeing out of it from the inside is like looking through sunglasses.
We STRONGLY recommend iDye Poly over Rit dye as we have heard repeatedly from those using our tutorial that when they attempted this with Rit instead they had poor results, but once they got a hold of some iDye it worked perfectly (which is why we used iDye and NOT Rit)!
Make sure to heat the water to boiling first, and FULLY dissolve all dye packets (then cool the water to the proper temp). For best results, do not lay the "good" parts of your plastic (ie the outer curve of the visor) on the bottom of the dye bucket, as this may leave extra dye deposits on it. Those can sometimes be buffed out with plastic cleaner (see below). If you can, swish the water around while soaking your plastic.
Meguiar's PlastX is used to clean the visor afterwards.
*Note* This process may not work on motorcycle helmet visors. It depends on the type of plastic used and whether or not it has a coating on it. Many are made from polycarbonate (a thicker, harder plastic) and not PETG. Some are also made from safety glass, which, again, is not PETG and may have a coating on it, which prevents scratches, but will also prevent the dye from being absorbed.
Also, if you comment and ask a question from Google Plus we can not answer your question. It shows as a "Linked Comment" and gives us no option to reply :(
To see what it looks like, looking through the tinted visor from the inside out, check out this image on our Facebook page goo.gl/0lSyMZ - บันเทิง
Thank you so much for making this tutorial. I was scouring the internet on trying to find tinted plastic but this is great!
Glad it helped!
You got it dark as obsidian! Really well done.
Thank You!!! I've just starting to get into prop making "still need a few tools to get started" and this is one thing I've not been able to look up!!!
Great helpful video. I did this with my motorcycle turn signal lamps and was going to use RIT dye until I saw this. Keep up the great work!
I needed a vaguely tainted lilac visor and thanks to this method i learned how to dye it thank you so much 🥰 i laser cut the visor in acrylic and tainted it with Dylon dye since where i live we dont have iDye, and i have to submerge it like 5 times and re-heat the dilution in order to keep the temperature.
Ericka Franco Ha I also need a light purple tint on a visor, what character is is your’s for?
Thanks for the tutorial! I was successfully able to dye some PETG tonight. :)
Just now found this video but it has helped me so immensely! Thank you so much for this great and informative video!!
I've been wanting to do things like a power ranger and daft punk helmet for years! Thank you for this video!!!
You should check out punished props video on this where he makes a visor for Adam Savage as well.
Wow!!! That's amazing.THANKS FOR THE DEMO. Will try it soon.
This is literally the video I needed. Thank you so much for making this guide.
I remember on my first halo suit i did an EVA helmet which has a massive visor. I built my own vaccuform and used PETG to make the visor. however, i did not have the foresight to order idye poly. I needed the suit in like a day and a half so i used turmarec to dye the visor. It gives a really good yellow gold color. I then used alcalie to make it one way.
That looks pretty dang good to me!
Oh dear, this is incredibly useful. I have two visors that I will be needing to work on soon, one of which is in a shape that is absolutely unacceptible for applying window tinting to and the other being a color that is hard to find window tinting in. now if only they had mirror in dye form. ;P
Incredibly useful thank you!
Thanks for the video! I enjoyed watching it and learned something in the process!
Excellent! Glad we could help :)
That is amazingly fantastic, thank you for the video , we love that
this was so helpful to me im a paintballer but making my own mask and wanted to dye the lens so n one could see and this worked perfectly
Okay, this is a great tinting tutorial! Thanks!
Thanks!
No questions.....just a big cyber hug to say thanks for sharing! :)
Amazing, thank you guys, will do my motorcycle windshield 👍😀
it worked, thanks for this tutorial!
david ross YAY!!
That's Beautiful.. I like it translucent.. it looked like tinted glass.
Another effective trick is if you have smaller light yellowish white nylon plastic parts that you want solid black, just get a container and use 100% acetone and add a tone of the iDye Poly and maybe heat it up by using hot water and well ventilation and that works the best.
you guys r just amazing, thanks for sharing
im gonna test this out with a cosplay im doing on halloween with my friend since the helmet visors we ordered had mixed reviews on the tinted-ness ill update if/when I do this. many thanks for uploading this
Clearly I have too many hours in Borderlands. All I see is the thumbnail and instantly knew that that visor was for Zer0, or an Alien dome.
Omg I’m so late but thank you so much this tutorial was wonderful!!
Glad you like it! Good luck with your project!
I just subscribed seconds ago and I already love this channel
+zefshaw 13 :D
Great video!
Thanks!
Wow, that is incredible. Beautiful result.
this was great. im planning on tinting the plastic window on my pc's graphics card. going with a white shroud and transparent light blue window. shouldnt take as many dips and rinses as these did since i only need a light arctic looking blue color, plus the plastic is thicker and its smaller than hese visors are by alot so it shouldnt take as much space and dye to do.
Thanks so much for the video, I was looking all over for information on dying PETG. What type of plastic polish do you use? I can't find info on that online.
Hi! first of all great tutorial I love all your stuff. Just one question, do you know if this would work with acrylic or transparent polystyrene? I saw lightbulb dyes in many shops but they have very strong dissolvents, do you think they could melt acrylic instead of dyeing it?
I don't see why it wouldn't work on acrylic too. Depending on the thickness of the material you could probably keep the water a bit hotter than we did with the PETG. I would try a test piece first. Always better to screw up a scrap than screw up the real thing!
Wow what a great tutorial. I have a couple of questions: 1) Would this dying process work for crystal clear vinyl 5mm? 2) l Which are the ingredients you use in minute 3:26?
Would LEDs show decently through the visor at that darkness or should it maybe be lighter?
Such a great tutorial but just a few questions!
1) What thickness of PETG did you use?
2) Would you be able to use a hot air gun to shape it?
3) Is this the whole process or do you have to do something afterwards to seal it or tint it?
4) If you are looking at the person wearing this, can they see their face at all?
5) How would you go about sticking it to the helmet?
I'm a halo cosplayer and was getting sick of using motorcycle visors that didn't work for the helmets!
Emily Harris If the inside of the helmet is dark then no you won't be able to see into it at all.
Sorry Emily, I never saw this comment! If you are still interested:
1) 1/16th PETG
2) You can use a heat gun to CAREFULLY heat mold a thin piece of PETG, but not something with this complex of a shape. It would most likely get all wibbly wobbly wonky looking (lol). We used a heat gun to form smaller, curved pieces without issue though.
3) No sealing afterwards. We do use plastic cleaner/polisher to remove dye residue and give it a shine (see the expanded details under the video for specific brand)
4) No, you can't see the face of the person wearing it at all
5) If you are talking about sticking it to, for instance, the inside of a halo helmet, you could use strong (like 3M) double sided sticky tape and attach a slightly larger piece of PETG to the inside of the foam/resin helmet. Just make sure you get the GOOD tape, not the wimpy stuff you find in the stationery section. You want the stuff they use for automotive use, etc.
lmao have you never worn sunglasses before
hey emily its a great tutorial but i want an equal product to idye cause i cant found it in my country
Can we also dye thicker plastics, like a motorcycle windscreen? Thank you in advance!
Hi, cool method. I tried this but am getting a little warping, could I die at a lower temperature or should I heat up the plastic parts before putting in the hot water?
i was wondering what was those visors for lol, then i saw the descriptions.... i love zer0 lol
Awesome video, was looking for the metal wash basin on amazon and having problems finding it, also what is the dimensions? Any help would be awesome
Great video! Where can I buy these iDye packs from? I only recently found out about this visor dyeing method, and I can't wait to try it out!
Thanks!
If you're in the US you can find the iDye at JoAnn Fabrics. Outside of the US I would suggest any store that sells crafts or fabric :)
Thanks for the tutorial! Any insight as to how durable and lasting the dye will be on the PETG? I am using the plastic to create stencils that will be used to paint signage with latex paint, and so the PETG stencil will be continuously cleaned off. Would I ever be running the risk of cleaning off the dye or is it permanent? Thanks again!
The dye is permanent. It soaks in to the pores of the plastic, which is why it is important to get the temperature right (plus you don't want to warp the plastic!). Once it is rinsed in the cold water and then cleaned, it should be pretty well set for good!
Thank you for the tutorial! Would you mind telling me the brand of the plastic cleaner you use?
Meguiar's PlastX is what we used on our visors. Works great!
Hello! Thank you for the video and I have one question, Ive been thinking of building a helmet and across the visor there is an X Pattern (for example sakes lets make the helmet pink and the actual X black).
Do you think its possible to just dye the outside with the X pattern and dye the inside grey so I see a uniform color and not a big X in my face?
Learned a lot! LIKED & SUBBED. Thanks for posting. Have A Super Blessed Week!.....Gus
Hello! What would be the best approach for giving a petg domed lens a slightly chrome finish? My friend tried the "spray chrome in the inner surface" method, but due to the increase of humidity in the mask, when he touched the lenses he accidentally wiped off the paint. My friend recommended me to simply spray the front of those back lenses (think of the build as outer PETG lenses and inner painted PETG lenses with a fabric mesh sandwiched in between), but from my understanding the shiny effect only appears on the opposite side of where you've sprayed, while the sprayed surface retains some visibility. I was thinking of using a chrome dye for a pot (if those even exist), or to apply a clear antifog film like the ones used for mirrors in the inner surface of the sprayed lens, if that won't ruin the way the chrome reflects. What do you think? What dye type should i be looking for? Because i might even try to paint the petg white.
thx for your démonstration
you need mask for protect émanation ? or not dengerous ?
your ckitchen is note black because steam ?
Thank you!
how many dye packs would you recommend to achieve that shade of darkness for doing just one normal size motorcycle visor ??
Idk your channel name sold me
SUBSCRIBED
Nice video, but watching the boiling dye I have to wonder about what sort of fumes end up in the air from this and how safe it is to breathe. Shouldn't there be a window open with a fan blowing the air out? Also, is there a target ratio for # of dye packets per gallon of water?
Can something like this be done to an ABS/Polycarbonate plastic that's kind of transparent and piano black colored? the whole plastic shell color looks similar to this one and kind of transparent, so I think something similar was maybe done at the Sony factory where it mas made. If was painted I dont think it wouldve looked transparent at all.
Hi guys! Looking to dye some clear pvc/vinyl heels bright bright red-- what's been your experience in getting color vibrancy? Should I add the four packets like they did in this video-- or would that only deepen the color? I'm looking to get a bright cherry red result.
awesome video, i have a question about last two pack of liquid that you add into a pot, what is it? In Thailand we don't have both Rit and iDye, can i use another dye like a "Dylon" to dye plastic?
The iDye Poly is a two pack dye. One is a pack you just drop in the pot, the other is a liquid that helps keep the color true and make it grab the poly (or plastic) better....I think, lol. I would think any dye that specifically states it is good for fabric that contains plastic fibers, like polyester, should work. I am not familiar with Dylon so I'm afraid I couldn't answer that specifically.
Could you use a sous vide cooker to keep the dye water at a constant temp?
THANK. YOU.
Wow amazing I have thermoformed a lot of PETG over the years this looks promising
May I ask if you did any prep work to the plastic first or did you just remove the covering and submerse in the dye?
Also whats the consistency like?
Is the finish streaky looking in anyway or is it uniform?
Thanks Steve (Australia)
No prep to the plastic. There are sometimes a few random spots where the dye settles more than others but most can be buffed out with the plastic cleaner. The finish looks perfect from the outside and good from the inside. There's a link in the details to pictures taken from inside looking out.
+Cosplay4UsAll Thanks for the quick response love your work will be sure to checkin again soon
I did a vac form visor for a robocop helmet i sculpted, the visor for the movie they used a see through silver paint, i bought krylon mirror like effect as pointed in a youtube vid for halo helmets, but i saw a rit dye silver color, gray, i wonder if i use that gray dye on a visor wich result i will get? Maybe ill try it, since i dont know how this will work with gray color
The krylon paint is tricky, you apply too much you wont see through, you apply too little they can see your face thru
great video so instructional i was going to buy a electric burner to help but this method seems a lot easier lol.
Hey do you think toy can do the same with Lexan??? And what kind of diy did you use for plastic?
Informative video. I had a question, though.
Do you think this method would work on a clear acrylic globe? It's similar to the kind that you would put on a street light.
+BrHa Couldn't really say for sure, since acrylic is quite different from PETG. Different chemical compound, different temperature range for deformation and absorption of the dye. If it doesn't work, there are paints you can buy that are transparent and can be used on acrylic, like the stuff used to make stained glass, or to frost glass. Check your local Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc. And if you try to dye it, would love to know if it works!
Question: Can this method also dye photochromic pigment visors?
Subscribed! Hey will this work on acrylic?
Hello Cosplay4UsAll, how do you dispose of the dye water? Worried that it will stain my sinks or toilet.
Loved the tutorial. Big question, because I've racking my brains trying to find a way to do it. Do you think there's a way to add something like fine glitter to the tint so it would stick to the visor? Going for a tinted but also slightly sparkly effect on our visors and would value some input. Thanks!
Probably late for ya, but you could use a clear coat with glitter. I've used a glitter clear spray can I purchased from Autozone or you could even use a nail polish clear coat with glitter
Is there a way to put a design over it that'll still be transparent? I wanna do a future spartan Tron thing and I wanna put a spartan helmet design on the visor, it a full face visor.
Amazing
Hey cosplay4us, I'm currently working on zer0s visor with transparent worbla it's such a pain lol... I'm wondering what other methods are there?
This is a really good tutorial! Gave it a go yesterday but had mixed results. Some reason the dye just didn't seem to fully disolve and remained gritty in the pot which then stuck to the PETG which left big blotches on it... Any tips?
This has happened to us on occasion, as the dye sometimes will "settle" to the bottom of the dye container and if your PETG touches it, it can add "extra" dye to that spot. Also, if your plastic has scratches on it, it can settle more in those areas. We used Meguiar's PlastX to clean our visors afterwards. With some effort, you can often get most of the heavy spots off the PETG. Hope this helps!
hello and thanks for tie video. i was looking for a way to dye my icon visor using a photochromic pigment powder what's your thoughts on that? do you think it will work or can you post a video testing that type of process
What did you come up with?
I'm in love.
HEY! thanks a lot!
i bought the idye poly (4 packs as your tutorial says)
the pack looks the same as you were using (size an looks) but when i opened it the powder bag looks much smaller than yours!
mine is 49 oz/14g pack. can you please tell me the capacity of the dye you were using? maybe i should get some more...
Those are the same size as the ones we used :)
There’s natural and polymer dye
hi, this was a great video! do you know if DYLON will work?
Sorry, I've no idea. Have not heard of that.
I just discovered this video, and its brilliantly simple. I'm wondering though; could this same process be used to tint an acrylic dome too??
As long as it's not got a safety coating on the acrylic, it should work. Find out the deformation temperature for the acrylic you're using, and make the water just a bit cooler when you dye it.
@@Cosplay4usall clarify "safety coating." And I don't know if I'll be able to find out the deformation temperature; it's for a totally different type of product. But, it says it's "impact resistant," and appears to be fairly thick, so I don't think it would deform under heat easily. But I figure if I stay within the 140º range, like you guys used, it 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be fine. *crosses fingers*
@@evanmorgan3573 safety coating like what you might find on a visor for a motorcycle helmet, or safety glasses. If it has a coating on it, the dye can't penetrate the plastic. I would start at the 140 degrees and if it's not working, add some hotter water and get the temp up a bit. If it looks like the dye is being repelled from the plastic (it's not taking color and/or appears to just bead off) then it has a safety coating and you won't be able to dye it.
would it be possible for you to make a custom deadmau5 mouth visor?
awesome!!!!!!!!
Nice Kitchen
I'm looking to do this, but I want to mask certain areas so they aren't affected by the dye. What would be the best solution? This would be for PVC flexible tubing. Thanks for the helpful demo.
Hmm. I really couldn't give you a definitive answer on that as we've never had to do that. I would suggest lots of experimenting on some scrap stuff first! Try masking off sections with various types of tape. It will be hard though, as the tape will need to be waterproof. You could possibly try using liquid masking tape too. Or maybe some sort of solvent/cream/ointment that is water resistant (baby diaper cream??). I don't know....just shooting ideas here, lol. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
I want to repaint my already black windscreen but i want the honda logo to stay. The logo is not on the surface but in the middle of the plastic. Will this cover the logo? Thanks and good job!
No idea really. The dye penetrates the plastic, so it is possible it will darken the Honda logo too.
If you were to dye the plastic with a lighter color, like say a red, would people be able to see your eyes from the other side of the visor?
Hi there! Will this work with white? I'm trying to cosplay a character that has a white mask, and I was wondering if it's possible to make a one-way see through mask with white. Thanks for the tutorial!!
Probably! I would do a test run on some extra PETG first.
So i already have a helmet that's purple/blue and it said that the face cannot be seen from outside which when I got it, I can clearly see my face. Will this method work on a helmet that is already a colored visor? I was just hoping to tint it more or make it where outside can't see my face. I don't needs that much, probably only on the outside of my visor, i was wondering if there was like maybe a spray or some sort of paint i could just put on the outside of it
There is spray tint (sold at Walmart) but that will pretty much destroy the visibility you currently have. There is a link in the video description where you can see the visibility difference between the spray tinted version versus the dyed version.
Okay off topic here but.... it would be cool... if you made a small hole in a plastic tub next to a tree or large plant in your front yard for a slow drip watering method, turning that bush/tree black! Could be great advertisement for your company! Just an idea... Elementary school science project that went BIG! You would have horticulturist stopping by for sure!
Thanks
Thank you so much for this. It's the best video of its kind on the internet.
I am dyeing a protogen visor for my child's halloween costume tomorrow.
I know I can get Rit DyeMore graphite locally. Unfortunately there don't seem to be any local vendors of iDye Poly in black.
What issues are people reporting with Rit?
Also, my first attempt to do this failed last night... the visor deformed and curled up. I note that yours remained perfectly formed. I assume this happened because I was heating the dye pot directly and failed to remove the pot from the burner. (I shut off the burner, but the residual heat from the coil probably made the water near the bottom of the pot too warm?)
I plan to re-try this tonight with a new visor. Do you have any advice for me to keep the visor from curling and get the best possible results with Rit dyemore liquid dye?
I can't comment on the Rit dye. The only thing I know is that the idye poly is formulated specifically for plastics (ie polyester etc).
As for the deforming, sounds like you definitely had the great too high!
Make sure you get the water high, as the dye directions state, but then you MUST cool it down before putting in the visor. So remove from the great source and allow to cEool to right below the deformation temp of the plastic you're using (you can Google it, if it's not PETG). Let it soak but be sure to keep swishing it around or you'll likely get dye spots on the plastic.
Good luck and Happy Halloween 🎃!
Will the idye ware off/bleed off over time? If so, how do I make the dye stay permanent?
Jdoesstuff once you dye it, then clean it with plastic cleaner, it's set and will stand up for all typical use. We did ours about 5 years ago and it is still the same dark shade :)
that's awesome!! if i wanted to dye the petg red do i use red dye the same as you did here?
Ian Yorick yup
Will this work on polycarbonate plastic, too ?
I am not using the plastic specified. I am experimenting with a Face Shield from "Home Depot" and when I dye beyond 15 min below 140f I am getting a smokey effect and misc specks appearing in my plastic visor. Making visability not fun. Any troubleshooting tips you can offer would be immeasurable.
Excuse me but two quick questions. What kind of plastic did you use to mold your visor? Where did you get the plastic to mold? I'm using a vacuum seal on a mold of my daft punk helmet visor. These two questions can save me so much time. Thank you ahead of time! Loved this video as well!
We used 1/16th PETG plastic (like what they make soda bottles out of). We buy it in 4' x 8' sheets from a local plastic manufacturer. You can google plastic mfg in your area or sometimes sign making shops have very thin plastic. I am sure you can probably find some online but I couldn't point you to one particular site
as we just take a short drive to get ours :)
Sorry. Replied to you via our other TH-cam account, lol. But the answer is the same :)
Cosplay4UsAll thank you very much!!! ((:
great stuff,Can idye poly work on hard plastic (like a corner light for a car)
tryin to put some color on it,have the lens off already
I don't see why not! Plastic is plastic :)
thx alot,love the video
I have a Nolan helmet and purchased the silver mirror visor. Problem is it's nothing like the mirror visor on my old fulmer helmet and I can see my reflection. Can I use this process to smoke that one or do I need to use a clear shield.
I have no idea. It would depend greatly on what material is used to provide the mirror effect. If it is sprayed on, possibly? If it is a sheet of mirrored surface applied to the visor, probably not. All I can suggest is to make a very small batch of the dye mixture and test it on a small, inconspicuous portion of the visor (keep an eye on your water temp!).
what i want to know is if their able to make a wetwork visor so i can start building my wet work set
I know its a dumb question ,but cant you get pre-coloured petg?
Thats great, what thicknes is the petg sheet you used for that visor? I will try it on mine
1/16"
i have a very strong perscription on my glasses and becouse of this i cant use masks with visors unless thy match hat perscription.
i have a custom made helmet with slots for my lenses to go in but the need tinting to match... wpuld this method work!????
Unknown. It would depend on the material (type of plastic) that your lenses are made from. Certain plastics respond to the dye better than others do. Also, if you have any kind of anti-scratch or anti-reflection treatment on the lenses, then it most likely would not work.
I usually would say to experiment with some scrap and see how it goes, but I don't think that would be possible in your situation :/
Do you know if this method also works on other kinds of plastics? I am having a bit of trouble getting them to dye at all, I've tried rit dye and window stain and neither have turned out any good. (I'm using clear plastic rc car parts)
RinNagaraboshi the iDye poly is specifically formulated to work with synthetic/polyester fabrics and is really the best dye option for plastics. That being said, not all plastic is the same! If the plastic you're trying to dye has any kind of coating on it (safety coating, anti-scratch, non-glare, etc) it won't dye well, if at all. You also need to make sure you're dying at the proper temp for your plastic type. They all have different chemical makeup and different temps for dyeing or deforming. You want it hot enough that the dye will bond to the pores of the plastic, but not so hot the plastic becomes malleable. Too cool and it won't grab the dye, too hot and you'll have a warped piece.
I think if I could use it for a protogen head bc I don't want to see through small holes cutted off from foam
hi guys that vid looks great about using ipoly idye on petg does it work on lighter dyes ??? and also if I add acitone to the colour would it come out better I really need to colour some petg plastic is it that easy you see in the vid I'm looking at doing bright colours as well can anyone help me many thanks Paul
I have no idea what adding acetone would do to either the dye or the PETG itself, but it is something I myself wouldn't try. The iDye Poly is formulated to work on plastics so it is already pretty darn good at it. We have seen people have good results with pink, red, green, yellow and of course the black. Always, always try it on a test piece or two first!