Custom Tutorial: Time to Dye! Dye is a lot of fun to experiment with, especially when you start messing around and mixing colors. I use RIT powder dyes, and I always try to keep a number of colors on hand. Here's my basic set-up: Remember to put down plenty of newspaper if you're working somewhere that cannot be stained (like your mother's kitchen countertop). Most customizers I've known tend to do their dyeing on the stovetop, but I'm too lazy innovative for that. I fill a small, microwave-safe tea kettle with water, heat it in the microwave, and pour the water into that heat-safe plastic bowl. Make sure everything you're using is heat-safe; you don't want your bowl giving out halfway through and spilling dye all over. o_O And remember that a plastic bowl like the one I use will get stained, so don't use anything that's too new. I also keep plenty of rags and paper towels handy, and I work near a stainless steel sink (I wouldn't do anything dye-related in a porcelain sink, yikes!). MintyTip: Rit is also available in concentrated liquid form. I've been told that dye jobs done with the liquids are less intense, but I've never tried them out for myself. The liquids would be easier to work with than the powders, which tend to get all over the place, and especially on my hands. Don't touch your bait if you have dye powder on your hands! For Minty, I'm going to use some Evening Blue dye. There's absolutely no need to use the entire dye packet; less than a quarter of the packet will make a very strong dye. I don't measure exact amounts; I just have a feel for how much powder to use. Then I save the rest for a future custom: And here we go! The dye is mixed: That's the heated-to-boiling water, a few sprinkles of dye, and a pinch of salt. I don't know if the salt is necessary, or if it helps at all when dyeing ponies. It's mostly superstition on my part. And I always make sure the dye is completely mixed. Now it's time to make pony soup dye the bait: Please note: the only reason the body isn't completely submerged is for the sake of the picture. It's important to keep the pony as evenly submerged as possible. I also tend to slowly stir to keep the dye job even. The bowl I use is pretty small, but it's just large enough to fit an entire pony. MintyTip: I usually do a quick, light dye first to check for glue spots. I put the pony in for a few seconds, then rinse her off and look for any places that aren't taking the dye. It's easier to spot excess glue (especially around the neck) at this point, and such spots can be lightly sanded before the final, darker dye job. It's much harder to deal with such spots after the dye job is complete. To demonstrate the change in color, I dyed the head and the body separately: It can be hard to keep track of how much the color is changing -- look at the difference here, after the body was in the dye for about a minute. Now the head and the body are the same dyed shade: At this point, I give the pony another really good scrub to remove the dye residue. Had I been coloring the hair at the same time, I would've shampooed the hair about half a dozen times (yes, it really can take that many washings to get the excess color out). Some customizers swear by setting the dye with vinegar to prevent fading, but in my experience, fading is completely random and cannot be prevented with vinegar or any other trick. Sometimes I put fresh dye jobs in a very weak bleach or Oxy-clean bath to help remove the excess color. If your bait is badly stained or otherwise undyeable, you might consider doing a full-body paint job instead. I'm not fond of these, so I'm not including instructions here. Frankly, I'm not very good at them. Tutorials that cover full-body paint jobs are pretty easy to find, anyway. And then it's time to rehair. Rehairing :main tutorial page: :prepping the pony: :rehairing: :symbol painting and final prep: :home: :ponies: :purchasing guidelines: :FAQ: :order: :links: :commissions: :sketchbook: