BJD Dyeing: Soulkids + DiM Hybrid
In early August- I, queen of Nervousness, suddenly really wanted to try doll dyeing. Something I've researched billions of times because I have several projects that require it- but setting a day to actually do it was daunting because there was no promise that I wouldn't suddenly chicken out (and then feel bad for weeks.) So, I seized that moment of worry-free clarity! 🤪
Pre-Setup?:
First, I did a "mockup" setup in the kitchen to get a feel for the flow and what supplies I needed at the ready, and then after dinner, armed with my notes and two trusty assistants, I jumped into it. I figured since it was just a hue-shift it would be relatively safe as a first attempt (though a full body doll is still a bit ambitious lol... I think dyeing just a few parts would be even less stressful, like fantasy parts/wings or something.)
Dye subject:
I am dying my Doll in Mind Laia HCE hybrid. She's on a Soulkids New body (from 2021), and both are in normal resin. I believe the head is from 2018 or 2019. For anyone wondering- the default match of these two is excellent! 95+% match with the head being paler, only slightly noticeable in photos. In my opinion, a faceup would be enough to close that gap.
So this doll is shelling a fantasy character of mine; Naelia, an elf mage that has a bubblegum-pink skintone. (Artwork for reference)
Dye Supplies:
- A dedicated "not-for-cooking" stainless steel pot. I got mine at Walmart for 6$ (I have also seen ceramic recommended; avoid non-stick coatings, aluminum, or anything damaged.)
- A long dowel (or in my case, two chopsticks taped together...) to rest across the lip of the pot. This is to hang pieces off of.
- A metal spoon (for measuring dye and some stirring. A longer spoon is welcome but I didn't need it much!)
- The Rit Dyemore colors of choice. I had purple and blue on hand in case the pink hue wasn't right on the peachy resin. I didn't end up needing them at all.
- 1 glass bowl of cool water (I have seen ice water used but I opted for regular cold tap) This is to cool the pieces and pulls off excess dye.
- 1 glass bowl of warmer soapy water. I just used my on-hand palmolive dish soap. This is for- or was for- if I needed to magic eraser excess dye off any of the pieces... I didn't end up using this bowl at all for this project. I was dying a pretty light color though, so I will still set it up every time- better to not use it then not have it in an emergency.
- Cotton balls, magic eraser, & rubbing alcohol- again, on hand to remove access dye, spots, etc.
- Emergency acetone, if I needed to strip a piece completely. I did not have acetone free nail polish remover but I would say based on what I've read, I'd recommend that far more- its safer on pieces and does the job just as well. But in a pinch (or if all else fails) if you rinse your piece REALLY WELL with soapy water very promptly after acetone wiping it should be alright. (I do occasionally use this for removing stubborn faceups and I haven't had any issues, but it pays to be cautious.)
- A clean designated dye towel to lay rinsed parts on (I find this less messy than paper towels, and cushier) I also had some clean washrags handy for drying parts if they needed acetone cleaning so minimize cross-contamination on the towel.
Preparing the doll & dyebath:
First order of business was to unstring her and carefully lay out the left and right sides. (Souldoll kindly marks almost every piece as R or L so I didn't have to worry as much)
I filled my bathroom sink with warm/hot soapy water (palmolive dish detergent again) and laid a washrag in the bottom of my sink to cushion parts from clinking about in the water. I gently washed every piece with a magic eraser, and tried to be as even and thorough as possible to remove any surface dirt, oils, and even out any possible nicks she may have acquired while being my sewing model. Since souldoll does have sanding lines on one side that are pretty noticeable to the touch, I went over them lightly for the hell of it. I accepted that dye may gather here. I laid her out to dry on a towel and went to eat dinner.
After that I strung her left side in white string and her right side in yellow. I tried to pick string that was a lighter color just in case of any color bleeding, and I chose a woven string instead of yarn just in case of any possible melting. (I haven't seen cases of this or anything, its just me.) I ended up threading wire through a few of the pieces (feet, torso) to try out preferences (I don't think I like wire in this case, it kinda dug into her hip joint at one spot.)
At the recommendation of a few tutorials, I initially filled the pot with 3 quarts of warm/hot water. I was measuring the length of the string and pieces in the pot as I went, and ended up adding about 4 more cups of water. This did not have any negative effects that I could see. I don't know if this matters, but I brought the clear water to an almost boil first- that setting is about a 6 on my stove. Then I added 1 tablespoon of Rit Dyemore Super Pink, and turned up the heat to 7 (medium-high) to keep an active steamy boil. I added one drop of dish soap to the top- it's reportedly to disperse surface tension and break up any dye that may be floating, but this dye is liquid so it shouldn't have as much of a risk of that as powder dye would.
This next part is important- I had help! My two assistants (my roomie @dolliesanddelights/Caiterprince and my partner Naf/@dyemelikeasunset) were present. Cait was helping me document everything, taking videos, and checking the color-match of dyed pieces in photos as we went. My boo had a stopwatch app open and also ended up helping me hold pieces when I was busy. This probably is the biggest recommendation I can offer to anyone dyeing dolls, for the first time or not. Taking photos of the progress while I was in a mad dash between dipping parts would have significantly slowed me down and disrupted my process, and having someone help me time and hold pieces while I ran other pieces along the assembly line was SOOO helpful. So if you're intimidated to do it all yourself, you'd be right and you shouldn't have to! If you have a friend or relative that you trust then I recommend recruiting them. If you do not, then don't be obligated to make yourself take photos, and maybe do a pretend run-through of it yourself so you know what you need and how much time it takes to rinse or photograph a part, etc. It might be over the top, but being prepared helps my anxiety immensely, haha. (Also! Even though I had everything set up, I reminded myself that if it went awful at any point, I could always just stop!) So that being said, the assembly line went like this: Dip the parts with a timer going, to help figure out how long everything would need. I would bob the parts up and down to check the color change every 10 seconds. After the desired color was reached, I would pull them over to my cool clean water and dunk them, then lay them on the towel and check the color and for any discrepancies. If it was good, I would grab the next pair of pieces and my boo would reset the timer. I opted to do all my parts in pairs of the same type- ie both the left and right shins, feet, elbow peanuts, etc. So I decided I would test the flat feet first, on wire. I ended up dipping them again later as they were a touch lighter than the rest of the other pieces!)
This photo doesn't even do it justice- it was already lovely!!!! 😍😍 I had only read one report about dyeing Souldoll resin and that it didn't take dye great, so I was extra vigilant. But it looked good, so onward we went- a 30 minute rush!!! I worked my way up from the feet, doing shins, knees, thighs, etc. I ended up dipping all the body pieces for 45 seconds- even the torso pieces!
The DiM head took dye significantly faster- around 25 seconds. Since it was a faceplate, I threaded string through the eyewells- it did not have any ill effects!!! I decided to leave her faceplate a half-shade lighter so when I blush her, she'll have a natural highlight in her cheeks... no idea if this is "correct", I just really didn't want to risk it being too dark. Another important highlight: Someone had recommend using nylon socks or a fishnet to dip parts, especially small pieces. I grabbed one of these at walmart to give it a go.
I LOVED this thing. if it was bigger, I would've used it for everything. I used it on all the peanuts, hands, heeled feet, and my boo even fit both the forearms in it with no consequence. I was very attentive about any mesh imprinting on the resin, but nothing like that happened- even if the parts didn't move around much, they all dyed evenly. This thing could probably hold everything for tinies, and most pieces for YOSD except maybe the torso/head. I preferred this way more then trying to string them- the little pieces made me nervous because this pot is deep so this was a blessing.
Finally done! (The lighting in my kitchen is affecting the final color a lot, so read on)- The outcome was: her elbow peanuts, flat feet, and face are a touch lighter, but not enough for me to care about. The tops of her hip peanuts have a darker hue from the friction in her hip socket, so that's fine- and absolutely no dye collected on any of her seamlines. Well ok then! 😵
Some things I learned: - Between wire, string, dowels, fishnet, and free-handing- I liked string, it gave me a lot of control. Wire was ok, but I noticed afterwards that it had dug into the thinner resin around her hip socket, so I probably will use it less- wire works well for small bits so they don't get thrashed around in the boiling water, but IMHO the fishnet was awesome and way faster.
- The water WILL evaporate!! 😂 Even though I filled it even more than needed, I started to notice pieces that were formerly submerged started to peek out when hanging on the dowel. This is when my boo and I started to just hold the strings above the pot- but the steam WILL get to you after a while. (Don't be me. Bad bee.) Hook the string onto a piece of wire, hold it with forceps or tongs- whatever you can find. - Keeping up a quick pace is important. The water is evaporating, the dye to water ratio will change over time. This might get complicated if a part gets splotchy or has residue- but I think it's better to run through and dye everything in one pass, then go through and clean/strip the parts that didn't turn out and redye those. (Unless you have an assistant! but I can't speak from experience yet. Guess I have to dye more dolls and find out! 👀) Anyway, without further ado-
(Since tumblr is limiting posts to 10 photos, expect more photosets in the future...)
I can't believe how lucky this first attempt was lmfao. I keep having moments of "but is she TOO pink?" but then immediately marveling in how lovely she is in all lighting conditions. I need to get apoxie for her elf ears and start on her faceup, and I'm still hunting eyes and a wig to modify for her, but she's sitting on my craft desk in all her pink radiance.
I was ALMOST tempted to jump into another dye but didn't want to soil my good fortune so quickly, LOL! That being said, I have several other dye projects planned- one girl that needs to be blue, a dip dye, a deep dark elf purple, and a few dark brown hues, so I will do my best to document those too. I find this kind of resource very precious so I'm happy I can finally contribute. 😭 If anyone has any questions I didn't think to address here, feel free to ask. (I will also be cross-posting this to DoA and instagram when I am able to.) Otherwise, thank you for following along, and I hope this was helpful.
