SOOOO after two days of trial and error I finally found the formula I like for two types of ways to dye a hose. Thank you to everyone on the board for the help and research done.
A. Refer to zacharybroyles recipe for excellent results.
B. For the second hose I boiled water and prepared half a pack of Golden Yellow RIT Dye with ¼ salt.
Place the hose in a plastic container; make sure you have a little room to move the hose around.
Wait for the water to cool down just a bit, a BIT. Fill the container just enough to cover the hose and then pour in your DYE and pour in ½ to ¼ of yellow food dye.
Leave the hose in for 15min while stirring occasionally, or till you get the right color. When done rinse in cold water.
As always, formulas vary person to person and I just wanted to share my findings. Please let me know if you come up with a better way to dye your hose. I’m always looking to improve the formula and learn new techniques.
My hose turned out a bit more yellow (like hose “A”) than is accurate (in my opinion) but I really like it, and don’t see myself changing it. There are a few bits of my uniform that are “unique” to me that I like making my own.
I’ve tried both methods several times to no anvil. I get a very light foggy yellow no matter how long they sit. I’ve done four so far and one would not take at all. Could have been the coating on the tubing. Might be better off just buying one for the amount of time and money I’ve spent to make this work I would be better off just buying one.
Oddly enough I’ve been having this problem with the last few batches of hoses that I’ve been attempting to dye. About three (and seven) years ago, when I first dyed the hoses our group uses, I’ve gotten perfect results using the RIT dye technique. Now, using the exact same hose and materials, I simply cannot get the hose to hold the dye.
I though it might be the particular coating on the hose now (both Home Depot and Lowe’s vinyl tubing), but neither is working anymore.
Forgive me if this question just negates the reason for this thread or I’m missing something, but, why not just buy the yellow hose from GBfans? Is it not the right color? Is it to save money or to diy it? I have one in shipping right now.
