Whats your dye of choice?

[Jeff Monson]

I have pretty limited experience with dye. I used transtint mixed with water on a maple table a few years ago is my only experience (and it was good).

So I plan on stocking up on some different colors, I see most are $20ish per bottle or pint. I found general dye by the pint, transtint, homestead, mixol. What is the best bang for the buck or you guys that use dye alot I'm all ears.

[Rob Luter]

I use Transtint. I got two or three colors a few years ago. I remember it was kind of pricy. I saw some at my local woodworking store a month ago and they were stupid expensive. Over $20 for a 2 oz. bottle. To be fair (not that I want to) one bottle of concentrate will make enough dye to stain lots of wood.

[John TenEyck]

I must have at least 15 different bottles of Transtint. That should tell you how much I like the stuff. I use it as water based or DNA based dye and add it to shellac and WB topcoats to make toners. I've even added it to some solvent based dye stains by first diluting it in lacquer thinner. It's incredibly versatile.

John

[Jim Becker]

I use both Transtint with water and Angelus leather dye (alcohol solvent).

[roger wiegand]

I use TransTint dissolved in alcohol. Not sure I've ever actually emptied a bottle, but then i really try to avoid coloring wood.

[Jamie Buxton]

Mixol is not a dye. It is a universal colorant. Universal colorants are the goop used at your local housepaint store to color paints.

[Phil Mueller]

I’ve used both TransTint and TransFast (powder). Both work well. I think I prefer the TransTint only because it is easier to measure drops for a consistent mix, versus measuring powder. But if you mix up enough for the entire project it doesn’t really matter…both are good.

[Prashun Patel]

For primary colors or black, transtint.

For color matching wood tones I like wd Lockwood. More work to mix and blend but gets me closer.

[glenn bradley]

Transtint here. You can greatly expand a few colors by also stocking strong colors to alter things like Reddish Brown or Dark Vintage Maple. I keep Lemon Yellow, Orange, Blue, and Black on hand. I will mix with distilled water or alcohol depending on what I am doing. I can say that keeping accurate records as you mix is critical to being able to reproduce colors later. I keep mixes in small mason jars and write the formula right on the lid.

[Alan Lightstone]

I use TransTint. Have about 20 bottles, and make samples of wood pieces with various combinations before tinting a project. Per the suggestion on their site, I use a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol/lacquer thinner which makes a very good NGR (non-grain-raising) dye.

[Stan Calow]

I use Transtint as well. My understanding, confirmed by others here, is that using it in water is more fade resistant than alcohol. I've also heard RIT fabric dye will work less expensively, but of course, a whole other range of color issues.

[Scott Holmes]

TransTint and TransFast. TransFast is a bit more fad resistant.

[Jeff Roltgen]

Point #1 - another thumbs up for Trans-Tints.
Point #2:
My understanding, confirmed by others here, is that using it in water is more fade resistant than alcohol
Do what? As Scott indicated and I've read numerous times, TransFast powdered dyes, (mixed with water) are slightly more fade resistant, but have serious doubts mixing trans-tint with water vs. solvents could make a difference in fade rate. When it's in the wood and dry, the carrier is gone, unless some feel the H2O causes deeper penetration = more stability of the color?
Confused.

jeff

[Prashun Patel]

I agree with you Jeff.

Transtint in water or alcohol will not affect its fade resistance - only its grain raising tendency.

TransFAST is supposed to be more fade resistant than TransTINT. I may be doing it wrong, but I can’t get this powder to dissolve evenly into alcohol. It seems only to dissolve in water anyway.

[Jeff Monson]

Thanks for the help, I have a few bottles of transtint that just showed up yesterday. I do have another question. My original bottle is probably 8 years old and has completely dried up, is there a way to prevent this or is 8 years a good life expectancy?

[Jeff Roltgen]

Prevention: Get a cheap zip-lock vacuum bag sealer. I've used this to extend life of Mohawk markers, polyurethane glues, and other time/evaporation sensitive materials in the shop. I may need to date my TransTint bottles and do the same for the more incidental colors (green, lemon yellow, orange). Had a bottle of honey amber I used last month that was pretty old (4-6 years?), but still liquid. First time I had experienced this issue, but it had stubborn, crusty debris in the bottom of the jar (I prepare it in mason jars) that just would not dissolve any longer, so apparently there is a shelf life. It filtered out and performed fine.
Didn't realize it could dry up completely, but I guess a congratulations is in order: you found the limit!

[Prashun Patel]

My transitint bottles are older than that. Still fine. No special storage. But 8 years is a good run, no? If you need them to last longer, ziplock them.

[Jeff Monson]

But 8 years is a good run, no? If you need them to last longer, ziplock them.

LOL I would agree Prashun 8 years is nothing to whine about. Guess I had my tight pants on when I found my dried up bottle!! Heck 8 years from now there will probably be a new and improved method.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Thanks for the help, I have a few bottles of transtint that just showed up yesterday. I do have another question. My original bottle is probably 8 years old and has completely dried up, is there a way to prevent this or is 8 years a good life expectancy?

Not sure how to prevent it, but I had a Transtint cap come off - unnoticed, and it also dried completely. I had used maybe 5% of it. Being cheap, I added what I thought was suitable amount of DNA to the original bottle. It reconstituted just fine; I've used it and can see no detrimental impact to color, application, or durability.

Presumably the dye does not 'cure', it was just no longer dissolved ...?

[mark mcfarlane]

Prevention: Get a cheap zip-lock vacuum bag sealer. I've used this to extend life of Mohawk markers, polyurethane glues, and other time/evaporation sensitive materials in the shop...

Thanks for the tip of vacuum sealing markers. I need to go do that.