Can you dye tires?

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yoothgeye

yoothgeye

I build stuff.
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I am building a little chopper type bike for my son, I'm assembling and just waiting to find a girls 16" bike with white tires to finish it off.

I was thinking I'd like the tires to not be bright white, but maybe a cream or something. I was wondering if I could dye them.

I dyed a pair of Converse Chuck Taylors a few years back, I used brown RIT dye and I didn't think it would, but it tinted the rubber all over the sneakers.

Can I apply this mistake to tires?

I understand it will wear off on the tread, but I think the sidewalls will stay tinted if it takes.
 
It may be possible to dye them in a crawfish boiler. I'm not sure if Vinyl dye would work or what bicycle tires are actually made of. We do know that tires can easily become stained and white tires do take up the environment (red clay). Seems like you could potentially do this, but I'm way out on a limb here.
 
I've used white acrylic paint to paint whitewalls. It worked well on a set of old tires on this blue Phillips, but on a set of new Kendas, it didn't stick, The tires must be able to absorb the paint, and the Kendas had a slightly oily consistency. I'd like to see how your dye works.

4t6jb5.jpg
 
If a set of tires is new, they have an oil coating on them from production, so for a new set I'd say before dying or painting you would have to give them a good scrubbing (dish detergent and a scouring pad).

If you've ever accidentally gotten spray paint on a car tire, you will know it sticks good.

As for the dying, I know on bmxmuseum.com I've seen where they are dyeing old plastic seats with just RIT fabric dye. Saw one write up where a guy took a neon green seat and turned it black, and you couldn't tell it had ever been green.

So I might try this. Wish now I had saved the old rotten white tires for a test.
 
I had a pair of whitewalls that were too white. I used brown shoe polish. I wiped it on and used some paint thinner and a rag to get it back off. It worked okay.
 
bikebuilder said:
I had a pair of whitewalls that were too white. I used brown shoe polish. I wiped it on and used some paint thinner and a rag to get it back off. It worked okay.
Click to expand...

I went for the same look on my rat.....I just rode threw a few puddles and cleaned the rims.....lol. :mrgreen:
No just kidding actually I got them that way on a used bike and I'm too lazy to clean them. :wink:
 
Use spray paint. Not regular spray paint, but vinyl and fabric paint. Or automotive trim and upholstery paint.

Duplicolor sells vinyl paint and you can get the SEM brand at NAPA. It's great stuff, sticks well and won't come off. I've done quite a few bicycle seats with Duplicolor semigloss black.

You probably won't find it at a regular auto parts store or hardware store unless they have a really good paint selection. An automotive paint supplier can probably help you. Normal paints will crack and come off of vinyl and rubber.

And as noted a lot of tires if new come with mold-release agents on them, leaving them oily until cleaned with a good detergent. I'd recommend Castrol Super Clean and warm water.

Have fun!
--Rob
 
a budy of mine actually dye's disk's (disk golf) he just uses ritt, and soaks them for a long time.
wouldn't surprize me if it work on tires also.
 
i'm on a roller skaing forum where people talk about dying urethane wheels all the time. never tried it myself but a rubber tire and a urethane wheel ought to be close enough that if it works on one, it woud work on the oher.
 

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