Purpose:

To determine whether the product Rit-Dye can be used to dye wooden game components. If so, determine the impact of process time and dye concentration on quality of part color produced.

Summary:

Rit-Dye can be used to dye wooden game components. Higher concentrations of dye and longer process times result in darker colors but also accentuate the cross grain ends of the wooden piece, resulting in pronounced variation between crosscut ends and grain parallel surfaces.


Discussion:

Like most of us, there are several games I'd like to ... improve. To add additional player markers, to add informational markers, and in extreme cases - to completely overhaul a game's stock components.

In other words, to pimp the mother out.

In a thread earlier this summer, I asked what people use to color wooden components. Answers were varied, but one product, Rit-Dye, was frequently mentioned. I decided to give Rit Dye a try.

Rit Dye is a cloth dying product (like Puerto Rico's Indigo or Civilization's Ochre). It comes in small boxes which cost about $3us and weigh contain 33 grams of dye.


Equipment Used & Final Results

For the experiment I choose to dye birch plugs, used by woodworkers like myself to fill the holes created for wood screw heads. As such the plugs are not terribly smoothly finished, they are intended to be glued in place and sanded down to flush with the work piece.

Three concentrations of dye were tested, 1/4 teaspoon per 150 mL , 1/4 teaspoon per 50 mL of water, and 1/2 teaspoon per 50mL of water.

Parts were soaked in solution for either 1, 2, or 4 hours.

Solutions we mixed in plastic, recycled yogurt cups. Tweezers were used to remove parts, and a plastic mesh (from a bag used to hold bulk fruit) served as a drying surface.

Unfortunately, the dye is so light that I was unable to measure the weight of 1/4 teaspoon ( less than 1g ). Preliminary results showed that both concentrations based upon 50mL volumes produced quite dark parts. The issue was that as the parts grew darker, the color difference produced in the cross cut ends of the part (where you can see the wood's growth circles) and the grain of the part's cylindrical "side" was found to grow more pronounced. Ultimately, the cross cut ends grew almost black while the grain on the part's OD was a deep red.

The best balance between the part's surfaces was found at the lower dye concentration 150mL case.


2 virgin parts along with parts dyed as follows Left = in 0.25tsp / 150mL for 1 hour, Middle = 0.25tsp / 150mL for 2 hours and Right = 0.25tsp / 50mL for 2 hours

It was also found that most of the part's color was gained during the first hour of the process. Keeping the part in solution for longer led to darker colors, but only marginally so. The dye concentration has a greater impact on the part's final color then the process time.

Personally, I liked the color balance achieved by the 1/4 tsp per 150mL solution in one hour ... maybe 2 hours.


Parts dyed for 1 and 2 hours at 0.25tsp/150mL concentration


Parts dyed for 2 and 4 hours at 0.25tsp/50mL concentration


Parts dyed for 2 and 4 hours at 0.50tsp/50mL concentration

I'm not sure that dying the parts is the ultimate colorant process. The grain of the part is still visible (an issue for some perhaps), and the resulting part has a matte finish, and would require a clear coat of paint to really look great.

A few final comments.

As to the question of whether parts warp when dyed in water. I found that the parts did not warp or change size in any way, but the parts being tested were very short with respect to their cross cut grain. My woodworking experience makes me concerned that water might warp "long" parts. Consider the "roads" used in Catan or the pasture walls of Agricola, such long grain parts might exhibit warpage while being dyed.

It's important to remember that wooden parts will float. Thus the number of parts you can dye as a batch correlates to the surface area of container being used i.e. shallow containers with broad surfaces will let you dye more parts.

Asymmetric parts, like these plugs, will orient themselves such that a certain surface is always on the water's surface. It may even be buoyed proud of the water's surface. Regardless, this upper surface dye quality can be problematic as the dye is wicked to it through the part. It might work better if the parts are forced down into the solution ... like the way that French fries are cooked.

As always your results may vary. Always dye a couple test parts first.

I hope this experiment was helpful / instructive.

Game on !


Edit: corrected photo caption