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Coloring a Tyvek Suit


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  • #1309293
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    I remember a previous thread, and since I wanted a cheap, ultralight wind/rain layer, I ordered a Tyvek suit from Amazon for less than $8 (first picture). Thing is, I look like the Michelin Man or the Pillsbury Doughboy in it and took quite a ribbing the first time I used it camping. Plus, that ultrawhite Tyvek material shows every bit of dirt or stain.

    So I got some black Rit dye, Kiwi leather dye, and some acrylic ink. Per the previous thread, the Rit dye barely did anything (second picture), and the suit came out a very light gray. So I tried the leather dye, and it worked OK for a darker gray (top part of the third picture). But the acrylic ink worked best of all, and came out nearly black (bottom part of third picture). Plus, it is much easier to brush on than blotting on the leather dye with the little sponge applicator on the bottle. The acrylic ink is $8 for a 5 oz bottle from Amazon.

    Hopefully this is not all old news, but I wanted to share it in case it's not. $16 for a windproof, waterproof, breathable, ultralight, head-to-toe rain suit. Haven't decided yet whether I will keep the booties on and wear them inside my shoes, or cut them off.

    .suit

    rit

    dye and ink

    #2039543
    Valerie E
    Spectator

    @wildtowner

    Locale: Grand Canyon State

    Not sure if that suit has a waterproof zipper — if not, you could always glue on a storm flap (inside or outside).

    Also, I suspect that diluted acrylic hobby paint (the type used for painting pictures) would also work like the acrylic ink, and it can be bought in any local Michael's/Jo-Ann's, etc.. Diluted hobby paint is permanent on most wool, cotton, and poly fabrics.

    #2039546
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    A storm flap. Great idea. What kind of glue would you use?

    I will make a trip to Michael's and try out the acrylic hobby paint too. Maybe I'll do a camouflage suit too. Thanks for the tips.

    #2039566
    Valerie E
    Spectator

    @wildtowner

    Locale: Grand Canyon State

    Folks on this site have recommended 3M Super 77 glue for tyvek. I haven't tried it myself, but it seems to be the most often mentioned product…

    #2039624
    Justin McCabe
    Member

    @justinmc

    Locale: Southern California

    I like Super 77, just be careful on the overspray, it gets everywhere.

    #2039646
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I'm not sure that kind of tyvek fabric could be considered waterproof by any means, perhaps moderately to highly water resistant.

    Yes, i did the same thing, but i cut off the lower leg parts. Haven't used it too much because it needs to be pretty cold for me to use it and unfortunately VA doesn't get too cold much of the time.

    I also don't mind the color, i like white, so haven't tried to dye it. Good for blending in the snow. Cool that you found a way to dye it though.

    It's fairly fragile material, so any kind of bushwacking is kind of a no no.

    #2039654
    William S
    BPL Member

    @wsafley

    Locale: Eastern NC

    I have played around with coloring tyvek using acrylic ink. I found that Speedball brand burnt umber produces a very nice color, more natural than any of the greens or blues I tried.

    The only problem with the acrylic ink that I found was that it can tint what it is rubbing up against (e.g. skin or a white shirt). This is another benefit of the burnt umber color – it doesn't make you look like a Smurf. And while I didn't test it for a long period of time, it seemed to hold up fairly well to abrasion, unlike some of the other coloring methods I played with.

    tyvek colored with Speedball burnt umber acrylic ink

    #2039658
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    >" I look like the Michelin Man or the Pillsbury Doughboy"

    Claim to be from the 101st Airborne in winter-camo gear.

    #2039674
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    "Claim to be from the 101st Airborne in winter-camo gear."

    I like it. I just need to cover up the DuPont label on the left breast. Maybe if I stitch on a piece of material with my name on it…Tyvek man

    #2039678
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    "The only problem with the acrylic ink that I found was that it can tint what it is rubbing up against (e.g. skin or a white shirt)"

    William, did you try washing the tyvek suit? It would be interesting to know if the color survived and whether it reduced or eliminated the color rubbing off. I'm planning to hand-wash mine when I'm done coloring it, to see how colorfast it is and to hopefully eliminate the rub-off issue.

    #2039696
    alex hansen
    Member

    @holden425

    Instead of glueing storm flap, I used tyvek tape to seam seal and creat a two sided storm flap on my tyvek jacket, also, packaging tape would probably work fine

    For the inside seams, I cut 2" tape in half lengthwise to create 1" strips, then applied them to all seams

    For the flap I took 2" tape and folded it in on itself 1/3 of the way, then taped in down the zipper line, repeated process on the opposite side so the flap closes both directions.storm flap

    I also recommend a zip tie to elongate the zipper pull .

    I made mine into a pullover jacket with 1/2 zip weighs about 3.5 ounces

    edit: uploaded image.

    #2039819
    William S
    BPL Member

    @wsafley

    Locale: Eastern NC

    I should have specified I was playing with homewrap, not one of the suits. I did not wash it in a washing machine, but I soaked it in water and used wet paper towels to intentionally try to scrub off the color. The first couple of times I tried, moderate amount of bleeding of the color was evident. But afterwards the tyvek still held color and only very small amounts of color bleeding was evident.

    I have not tried it in a real world environment, though. I did start to color a tyvek bivy but due to stupidity on my part, I ended up abandoning that particular project.

    #2039834
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    "I'm not sure that kind of tyvek fabric could be considered waterproof by any means, perhaps moderately to highly water resistant."

    Put the suit on and got in the shower this morning. Definitely not waterproof. Just ordered some silicone fabric spray to try. We'll see how that works with another shower test.

    #2040448
    david b
    Member

    @db90

    Unfortunately the water resistance of soft tyvek is about 50 inches compared to normal Gortex with hydrostatic head of 1100 inches. There are many different types of tyvek and lots of good (yet confusing) info in the old posts.

    #2040563
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    Finished coloring the suit. 2 applications of acrylic ink producing a dark charcoal…er…graphite gray. Next I'll try the silicone spray waterproofing, then give it the shower test again.tyvek man dark

    #2040593
    todd
    BPL Member

    @funnymo

    Locale: SE USA

    Wow that looks great David!

    #2040606
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    Thanks! $8 worth of ink and 3 hours of labor.

    #2040642
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Looks very nice.

    Interested in if the silicone spray will stick to the tyvek or not.

    #2040645
    Ken Thompson
    BPL Member

    @here

    Locale: Right there

    Dupont does make them in colors other than white.

    Tyvek® chemical suits are available depending on the design in the colours white, blue and green.

    Blue

    http://www.safetysourcenortheast.com/products/PROTECTIVE%20CLOTHING%20AND%20FOOTWEAR/BLUE%20TYVEK%20COVERALLS.aspx

    #2040710
    William S
    BPL Member

    @wsafley

    Locale: Eastern NC

    That looks so much better than the bright white. What brand of acrylic ink did you end up using?

    #2040714
    Kevin Schneringer
    BPL Member

    @slammer

    Locale: Oklahoma Flat Lands

    Nice job on colors but like Ken said colors have been available for a while in the chemical sector.

    As for silicone spray sticking , it will. I have sprayed my tyvek ground sheet until saturated with sil spray.
    Let it set in the sun for a few hours and it is good to go!

    #2040813
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    The ink brand is "Liquitex". Ordered from Amazon:

    http://www.amazon.com/Liquitex-Professional-Acrylic-5-1-oz-Carbon/dp/B004RGINNE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1383504145&sr=8-4&keywords=liquitex+acrylic+ink

    It's also available in other colors: Dioxazine Purple, Naphthol Crimson, Phthalocyanine Green, Prussian Blue, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, and yellow/medium azo. And they can be mixed to get particular shades or hues. I may try making a camo suit next.

    #2040818
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    Good to know the silicone spray will work. I guess the last thing will be to seal the seams.

    I wanted to have a black suit, and haven't been able to find that color ready-made. Although I am thinking now that my black may have turned out blacker if I had started with a blue suit. I'm also guessing that the colored "Tychem" suits may be more water resistant, since they are advertised as having "splash resistance".

    #2041043
    Delmar O’Donnell
    Member

    @bolster

    Locale: Between Jacinto & Gorgonio

    Any dye I've ever applied to clothing has a nasty habit of bleeding forever more onto under and outer garments .

    #2041056
    David Gardner
    BPL Member

    @gearmaker

    Locale: Northern California

    A legitimate concern.

    The Liquitex ink is advertised as permanent and water-resitant, but we'll see how that goes. I plan to give the suit a wash in cold water on gentle cycle with a swatch of white cotton in the load, to see how much ink washes and bleeds out, before I apply the silicone. Then after the silicone is applied I will give it the shower test wearing a white tee shirt, and see what happens.

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