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[Eeto Vox]

Okay so I needed to start somewhere and I was driving past an Army Surplus so I stopped in and they had flight suits for $39 which I thought was a steal because I've seen them for a lot more so I picked up a tan one.

First official part of my kit is bought, now it's going to be a journey to figure out and get the rest but at least I made that first step

My goal is to make this tan flight suit into a black flight suit. And since they only had OD Green and Dessert Tan I figured tan would be the best color to dye.

So I picked some of this stuff up


Never used it before in my life and I have no idea if it'll work or if I'll get a nasty color since the flight suit is a nylon texture.

Here is the flight suit




Have any of you done this before? What was the outcome or do you have any tips on getting this sucker black?

Thanks for the help Vode

[JR]

Vode, you are in luck. I have the same flight suit and I followed this tutorial: http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=5038
Our problem is removing the flame retardant coating on it. I found a box of 40 fabric softener sheets at the dollar store. For only a $1, I threw every one of the sheets in with my flightsuit and rain it though at the highest setting twice. It fixed the problem you are talking about.

[Eeto Vox]

Sweet man, thanks!


*heads to the dollar store*

[JR]

Sweet man, thanks!


*heads to the dollar store*

That's what vode are for. Now I didn't need it with the grey color I used, but if you want it to stay a deep black, you may want to try a Dye Fixative such as this one:

[Eeto Vox]

I have to admit I got a child like feeling putting in 40 dyer sheets 

[JR]

I have to admit I got a child like feeling putting in 40 dyer sheets 

So did I! It's great because you know it's overkill, but it was only a $1. I believe it's good to go " Hog Wild " every now and then. So I also enjoyed ripping out all of those sheets and throwing them in! How did it work for you and are you going to use a Dye Fixative this time?

[Dudesir]

I love surplus stores. They are a great source for ... well just about everything. I certainly hope you forgive the untimeliness of this bit of information. However, I found dark grey flight suits at this site 
http://www.sportsmansguide.com in their military surplus section. Granted after you pay shipping the price might be comparable to what you spent on the suit and dye. I do like the flightsuit you chose though.

[D'Larian Ferrel Verda]

For dark colors, I've found leaving it in longer is better. I'd say about an hour should be perfect. Good luck.

[Eeto Vox]

For dark colors, I've found leaving it in longer is better. I'd say about an hour should be perfect. Good luck.

Yeah that's what I'm figuring to. Since I can't use the washer I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to rinse this thing once I dye it without getting black all over the place. I don't think the sink or bath tub will work so I might just hang it above the bucket I'm going to dye it in. it's like 25 degrees in the garage and since the water needs to be hot I have to do it in the house and we have nice carpet so I'm just figuring all this out. 

[D'Larian Ferrel Verda]

A large tote may work. Put the bucket down in it so you can transfer directly then rinse in the tote. Once diluted the dye won't discolor as much. & comet with bleach will clean it right up in the tub. I had dark green in mine.

[JR]

So it's in the washer right now. The tan one came out great, so I went back to the dollar store and got a box of 50 dyer sheets. I figured "eh, if 40 was good 50 should be better"  so we'll see how it turns out.

HA HA HA ... overkill can be so fun!

[Tirilia]

Thank GOD for this thread!! I was about to make the exact same one!

I found the exact same flightsuit at an army surplus store near me (except they told me it was COTTON and charged me $99 -.-).. Its a sort of tanish green.. 

Over the last two days, Ive soaked it in diluted bleach (for an hour before I wimped out and pulled it) and TWO packets of Rit Color Remover..  Neither had any effect at all! Not even on the stitching! O.O!

NOW I get it, it has that coating on it! How on earth do I get rid of this coating? Ive never heard of dryer sheets and I dont own a dryer...?

[Kel Toi]

Nice one, this just made my mind up to dye mines 

[JR]

Over the last two days, Ive soaked it in diluted bleach (for an hour before I wimped out and pulled it) and TWO packets of Rit Color Remover..  Neither had any effect at all! Not even on the stitching! O.O!

I put one of these suits in a 5 gallon trash can, water, whole gallon bleach, and 4 packets of Rit Color Remover. I stored it in the basement and then forgot about it when I found out my Uncle Mike was dying from pancreatic cancer. It was over a month, maybe over 2 months before I checked on it. The zippers and other metal looks like it came from the Titanic, but the fabric looks the same,

[Tirilia]

JR- thats reassuring *lol* so it works okay if you take off the flame retardant first..?

[seugtai]

You may also need to get an acid dye depending on the color you want. They are specifically for nylon, where Rit dye isn't.

[JR]

JR- thats reassuring *lol* so it works okay if you take off the flame retardant first..?

Yeah, and it's funny how I learned this. I was working on my R2 with some friends outside the Mercs and I bought up that I was having a hard time dying my flight suit grey. One of them mentioned that the Ghost Busters wear grey jumpsuits so I gave some of them a call, and they showed me this tutorial:

http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=5038

It's the same flightsuit we are all buying. ( A friend of mine told me that the reason there are so many and so cheap is that the military is phasing these out for new ones this year. )

[D'Larian Ferrel Verda]

Have we found out if they can be dyed? Currently I am sewing mine & my fiance's flightsuits, but my sewing skills are lacking. If I can find one for cheap & can get it to dye the color we want, I may be in business.

Seutai - where would one get acid dye?

A clothes dryer is the counterpart to the clothes washer. If you don't have one at home you could try a laundramat. Dryer sheets ar usually used to help deter static in you clothes. They are also called fabric softener sheets. They are usually scented & you can buy them almost anywhere.

[seugtai]

Seutai - where would one get acid dye?

Best bet would probably be from an online supplier as most stores don't carry it.

I know Eeto Vox was going for black and ended up with dark green. That's usually the result with Rit dye on anything but cotton, it will come out a lighter shade.

[Tirilia]

Acid dye huh? Is there a specific brand?

See.. I dont want to DYE mine.. I just want to beach it down to grey-yellow or (fingers crossed) white from its current grey-green.. but nothing seems to be getting the color out so far.

Is it okay to use fabric softner to get rid of the coating? or does it have to be a dryer and dryer sheets..?

[Mottocd]

check the tags if it is a nomex flightsuit it cant be dyes with regular fabric dyes

[JR]

check the tags if it is a nomex flightsuit it cant be dyes with regular fabric dyes

Normally yes, but we are working on ways. Even though my flight-suit is done, I've been doing additional research for the group. I heard adding acid like vinegar helps, anyone try this?

[OriKad]

Acid reactive dyes are needed for most synthetic fabrics, and yes, vinegar is the most common kind of acid used in home acid dyeing.  When I need to do acid dye, I try to use a 1:3 ratio of vinegar to water, and a long soak (stirring frequently) and then several rinses in clean water.

[Jark'osa Hauza]

Jacquard has a large selection of acid dyes and good instructions to go along with them.

[Dynas]

Doing a bit of thread o mancy and I apologize in advance but this relates exactly to my topic.

Last night i did this tutorial as posted earlier in the thread. I let mine soak for 3 hours and used 12 dryer sheets.

http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=5038


I have a sage green flight suit and used 2 packs of the rite dye pearl gray and it did absolutely nothing.

Has anyone had success with this with the Green flight suits or are only the tans ones dyable. Also, i just cant grasp how dryer sheets can remove fire resistant coating. I mean this stuff is supposed to withstand fires for crying out loud, how can a few Snuggles sheets take that off. Do I need to use more than 12. Bleach? Help needed.  Thanks