So I heard iPoly dye would have been a better option for dyeing doll parts ever since RIT changed its formula and I finally got around to testing this theory. I decided to just follow the instructions since I wanted to see the extremes of this first before I try messing with it.
I got the powder version and there was only “Brown” instead of RIT’s expansive range of tan and browns and stuff. I basically boiled a pot of water and dumped in the liquid packet and the brown powder and let it get to a rolling boil, and then dumped in the parts and turned off the heat. I let the pieces soak for about two hours before taking them out and rinsing off under running water for a few minutes.
The parts I used was a vintage Midge head, a Korea Malibu Barbie, a 1974 Hair Fair Barbie, very yellowed Mod era straight arms and legs with a still pink Twist and Turn torso, Fashionista Nikki, Director Barbie head and Barbie Style Raquelle. The modern heads were just there so I could see how theyd work on modern dolls.
A few things to note. Holy crap, the colour is SO much more vibrant and works WAY more quickly than RIT dye has worked for both my Allan and Francie dye projects. To contrast and compare, this is two hours worth of soaking, while RIT dye took over 12 hours yet my Allan and Francie dolls are still relatively light toned.
Another thing to note is that iPoly actually dyes hair fibres, which RIT dyeing has NEVER done, so I was really surprised since every attempt at RIT dye often leaves blonde hair as is. If there was some way of protecting the vinyl, I would love try dyeing some blonde hair to be darker lol.
ALSO IPOLY DYE WORKS ON HARD PLASTICS. I’m sooooooooo very shocked that I was able to get that peachy light skintone as dark as it is cuz RIT dye has absolutely no effect on hard plastic.
If I were to do this again, I would dye the torso separately first then gently dip the other parts intermittently until they were the same tones.
I’ll report back in a week if these parts fade though lol.
