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Tinting Clear Plastic

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Fiberglass, Fabrication, and Interiors
Forum Discription: Fiberglass Kick Panels, Subwoofer Enclosures, Plexiglas, Fabrics, Materials, Finishes, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=113647
Printed Date: March 29, 2024 at 9:36 AM


Topic: Tinting Clear Plastic

Posted By: dvlman
Subject: Tinting Clear Plastic
Date Posted: May 06, 2009 at 10:00 PM

   Hello I'm new to this forum but have been messing with car audio for about 12 years. I read in many other threads on here about looking for tinted plexi glass. Well it isn't that hard to tint it yourself, all you need is the part or a peice of plexi glass, a large metal pan that you can fill up with water a cover the peice, a stove and a box of Rit brand dye(the color of you choosing). This will work for any clear plastic as far as I know. I have never tried and not got it to work.

1.) First you need to clean the part I usually use windex or other surface cleaner and clean the part really good.

2.) Next fill the pan up with water and stir in the dye, bring it to a boil.

3.) Place the part in the water dye mixture and keep the water boiling with the part in there.

4.) The longer you boil it the darker it will get but it does take a while. I usually check it in ten minute intervals.

5.) Rinse the part of and let it cool on its own.

  Its just that easy. It is a long lasting durable finish that will last for a long time. I smoked the face sheild on my motorcycle helmet, done a bunch of dome lights in cop cars in red.

Sorry if this is somewhere else on this site, I went through many pages before posting and didn't see it. 




Replies:

Posted By: tommy...
Date Posted: May 14, 2009 at 7:21 AM
Hmmmm...interesting...

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!




Posted By: d_rock_81
Date Posted: June 10, 2009 at 10:56 PM
i have used this to dye plastic parts but never thought about smoking with it, i'll have to give it a whirl. thanks for the tip and heres one of my own. If anybody decides to do this make sure you lay down newspapers and have lots of paper towels handy, its very messy and the wife might get made if your doing this in your kitchen and your counter tops end up colored!!

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Dustin Rockney

Rockstar Autosports




Posted By: boogeyman
Date Posted: July 23, 2009 at 8:35 AM
 I am very interested in trying this.....Where can you buy the dye online.




Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: July 23, 2009 at 9:01 AM

boogeyman wrote:

 I am very interested in trying this.....Where can you buy the dye online.

Walgreens, any grocery store...........





Posted By: diverdown269
Date Posted: September 20, 2009 at 4:02 PM

I use transparent vinyl. It comes in several different colors I't looks like window tint, but is applied like a bumpersticker

Look up Oracal 8300 Transparent Vinyl



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Some fear the Abyss... Other, chase it into the DEPTHS !!!




Posted By: pubwoofer
Date Posted: November 11, 2009 at 1:28 AM
Tamiya also do a tint paint, it is called "smoke" the more you spray on the darker it gets but my choice would be the modern alternative of using vinyl trim as mentione above.




Posted By: soildcustoms
Date Posted: January 31, 2010 at 2:19 PM
d_rock_81 wrote:

i have used this to dye plastic parts but never thought about smoking with it, i'll have to give it a whirl. thanks for the tip and heres one of my own. If anybody decides to do this make sure you lay down newspapers and have lots of paper towels handy, its very messy and the wife might get made if your doing this in your kitchen and your counter tops end up colored!!


same process for abs and pp? or does it change at all




Posted By: ledmodman
Date Posted: October 06, 2010 at 2:47 AM
I read this post and thought " OMG why is somone putting so much workinto somthing simple?" Ok so plexiglas can be tinted easily with transfer fild but it is is curved or heat formed plexi thats not a realistic option. However you can tint plexi with two parts clear and one part black auto paint ( autocolor or PPG). Spray the inside of the pexi to give it a perfect finish and on the inside you wet sand with 1000 grit till you recieve the tint you desire, after you spray it the more you wet sand the less tint the plexi will have. This really has to be done carefully if you get carried away just on one side of your project you could end up with uneven tint but I will tell you it hides much much better when you pray from the inside of your project.

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If you can cut it and get me DC power I will mod it.




Posted By: joseph.lapointe
Date Posted: March 13, 2011 at 3:00 AM
hey can you do this with sunglasses too. i cant fine the red glasses from xmen. i want the same sun glasses from xmen.




Posted By: INSTALLER_MSS
Date Posted: March 24, 2011 at 2:20 PM
I would like to try it with other plastics as well. I'm sure it would work with almost any plastic but obviously the darker the original color the more you're limited to new color options. I really want to give this a try and props to you dvlman for this post. To ledmodman...you should maybe refrain from bashing someone else's tactics. The whole reason for 12volt is for installers and DIYers to share info and techniques including different ways of obtaining the same or similar results. Actually dvlman's way seems way more professional anyway and i know it would be more durable than paint as it isn't susceptible to scratching off the color. Also sanding and painting is more work than filling up a pot and boiling water/dye and is way more reliable for even coloring, especially for beginners.

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"If a man made it, another can modify it...it just takes some thinking."
"If you ask questions, you're a fool for 5 minutes; if you don't, you're a fool for a lifetime."




Posted By: plainbroke
Date Posted: March 28, 2011 at 4:27 PM
Does it leave a dull finish on the outside or gloss?

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Jeff




Posted By: plainbroke
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 12:03 AM
I have since done this to my clear taillights, buffing them with really fine buffing compound makes them as glossy as my paint on the truck.. really nice looking..

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Jeff




Posted By: tommy...
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 2:33 PM
[QUOTE=plainbroke] I have since done this to my clear taillights, buffing them with really fine buffing compound makes them as glossy as my paint on the truck.. really nice looking..

Are we talking about the boiling method...?

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!




Posted By: tommy...
Date Posted: July 19, 2011 at 2:34 PM
...Maybe a pic...or two...?

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M.E.C.P & First-Class
Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!




Posted By: dvlman
Date Posted: December 13, 2011 at 1:41 AM
I will be makeing a tail light for my motorcycle soon, I'll take some pictures of casting it and dyeing it.




Posted By: plainbroke
Date Posted: December 13, 2011 at 7:14 PM
I am sorry I did not making it clear, I used spray tint then polished to the tint darkness I wanted the finished product to be.. The 2 parts clear to one part black is pretty close to the tint spray I used..   I will try to get some pics later this evening..

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Jeff





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