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Technique: Stain PVC Any Color You Like
Permanent color that won't flake off.
- Author: Sean Michael Ragan
- Time required: 15 minutes
- Difficulty: Easy
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PVC is great: cheap, common, easy to work, and easy to join temporarily or permanently. Only problem is, it's kinda ugly, much of which owes to the fact that it only comes in white, gray, sometimes black, and (if you're willing to pay through the nose) clear. "Furniture grade" PVC pipe can sometimes be found with integral color, but you're limited to factory shades and if you want matching elbows, tees, or other fittings, you're out of luck, because fittings only come in white. Sure, you can paint it, but PVC doesn't take paint all that well, and the paint is prone to flake and screws up the dimensional tolerances. With stain, you get color that doesn't flake or add thickness, so you can stain pipe and fittings different colors before assembly and still expect them to fit. You can even take them apart and reassemble them in some other way without affecting the finish.
Tools (continued)
- Paper towels
- Pipette, measuring, 1 mL
- Safety goggles
Relevant parts
- PVC cleaner, Clear
- Solvent dye
- View:
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Edit Step 1
— Gather materials
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"Clear Cleaner" is a product used to prepare PVC pipe and pipe fittings for gluing. Chemically, it is very similar to "Purple Primer," but without the added purple dye. Check the label and make sure it contains tetrahydrofuran.
"Solvent dye" or "fuel dye" is an oil-soluble chemical intended for colorizing oily products like gasoline. I found one-ounce bottles of Rekhaoil Red HF, Rekhaoil Yellow HF, and Rehkaoil Blue HF from Narad Marketing on eBay by searching "petroleum dye." Note that these dyes are very strong; one ounce goes a long way.
Rekhaoil Red HF is a trade name for Solvent Red 164. Rekhaoil Yellow HF is a trade name for Solvent Yellow 126. Rekhaoil Blue is a trade name for Solvent Blue 98.
If the color you want happens to be purple, of course, you might as well just buy "Purple Primer" and use it as a stain instead of mixing your own.
Edit Step 2
— Add dye to cleaner
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Work in a well-ventilated workspace and wear nitrile gloves and goggles at all times when handling the solvent or the dye.
Using your volumetric pipette, draw up the required volume of each dye and transfer it to the container of Clear Cleaner. Be careful not to cross-contaminate the dyes.
Here are the volumes of red, yellow, and blue dyes I added to 4 oz cans of Clear Cleaner to get the colors shown in the photo:
Red = 1 mL red, Orange = 1/2 mL red + 1/2 mL yellow, Yellow = 1 mL yellow, Green = 1/2 mL yellow + 1/2 mL blue, Blue = 1 mL blue, Indigo = 2/3 mL blue + 1/3 mL red, Violet = 1/2 mL blue + 1/2 mL red
Brown = 1/3 mL red + 1/3 mL yellow + 1/3 mL blue
The "black" is actually very strong blue, with fully 1/2 oz (15 mL) of blue dye added to 4 oz Clear Cleaner.
Edit Step 4
— Apply stain
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Although the photograph shows me using a gloved finger to support the fitting during staining, I recommend using a holder, such as a piece of bent wire hanger.
Generously slather the stain onto the pipe or pipe fitting using the can's built-in applicator. Work quickly, rotating the piece and making sure to smooth out any streaks or drips of color before they have time to dry.
Spilled dye can usually be cleaned up with lighter fluid and a paper towel. Dye that has dripped off PVC pipe will be harder to remove because it will have dissolved polymer in it; loosen it with a copper dish scrub and lighter fluid, then wipe up with a paper towel.
Edit Step 5
— Let dry
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Set the stained PVC aside, on a safe surface, to dry. In point of fact the solvent will dry up very quickly. Under most conditions, an hour will be more than enough.
Once dry, the stained PVC should be able to pass a "white glove test" and not transfer even a small amount of color to anything that touches it.
This guide has been completed 11 times.
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Comments Comments are onturn off
Guide
Jim Crowell, · Reply
Wanted to thank you, belatedly, for linking to the MSDS, Jim. While not wanting to discount the hazards of THF or any other volatile solvent, I would point out that PVC cleaner is not pure THF; it's usually mixed with acetone and/or cyclohexane and/or other hydrocarbon solvents, and the safety profile of this mixture is considerably different from that of pure THF. Here is one provided by Oatey, one of the largest manufacturers of this product:
Question.... Can the Cleaner/Primer, be put into a glass beaker type and then dipped into the solution or is it one that is brush on only?
Just asking cause dipping would be alot eaiser cause I have the stuff in a big can, and I havent used it in a while(dont do PVC anymore), and Would be nice to actually do this quicker and in bulk via dipping.
I have tried dipping and found that it is very sensitive to surface contamination of the pipe or fitting--so if you've touched it with bare fingers anywhere, for instance, on dipping your fingerprints may turn out a different color than the rest of the piece. The mechanical action of brushing really helps to prevent splotchy color, but if one were to carefully clean the pipe first, dipping might work. Might be worth experimenting with dipping in untinted cleaner followed by tinted cleaner to see if that helps.
Does the dye actually dull the material? It is hard to tell from the picture, but I am assuming from your description above 'THF actually dissolves the outer layer of the PVC plastic, just a bit, so that the dye molecules can be absorbed into it' makes me think it does.
I am asking because I am trying to dye 2" PVC Slip Caps to be used as a scoreboard "peg" and want to retain the original PVC finish.
It does, yes. If you start with a glossy fitting, it will end up "satin" or "matte."
Nice guide, i really want to test this.
I have one concern though. The OATEY Clear Cleaner (#30805) you use in the guide seems not to contain any tetrahydrofuran
As you say that tetrahydrofuran is the key product, i'm wondering if there is a mistake in the OATEY MSDS or if you used another product.
I noticed that, too. In point of fact, the four-ounce cans of Clear Cleaner that I used are product #30779, but my understanding is that they contain the same material as #30805, and indeed the Oatey MSDS you've linked to includes both product numbers. The label on the #30779 cans I used lists Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Acetone, Cyclohexanone, and Tetrahydrofuran
Does anyone know of a source for Rehkaoil dyes? I don't see them on EBay or Google (other from Narad.) I wrote Narad asking about retailers, but they didn't reply. Thanks!
n/m, I found it here: http://stores.ebay.com/NaradCorporation?...
I want to use 3 inch PVC as guide rails for my counterweight system for my funicular project (I just added the guide). The wife was concerned about the white PVC, but I was able to tell her I can make it whatever color she likes. We will be shooting for a brown to blend in with the outdoors. I don't suppose I can get the clear cleaner in one gallon containers, huh? This is a great guide. Thanks. Jeff
Thanks, Jeff! I think the largest size Oatey product is 1 quart. It's important to note that the chromophores in these solvent dyes are not designed to be UV-resistant, so they may fade with sun exposure. Probably best to do some small-scale tests, first.
Never tried it, but my guess is no. It might "colorize" the gray so that it becomes a gray-green or gray-blue or whatever, but it will not "cover" the gray.
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguideline...