Coloring a Tyvek Suit
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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.
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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.
"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…
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.
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.
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.
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