Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 11:46 am, by: Ben Daniel(Lexustt)
Hey guys, My soarer has black interior but actually came with all spruce floormats. I dont really wanna spend $300+ getting new ones made up as i like the look and thickness of the factory ones so i thought about dieing them black. how would i do this ? and is there any certain type of fabric die i need ? what about prepping the mats ?
Saturday, May 27, 2006 - 10:38 pm, by: Adam Underwood(Adam_underwood)
I am also in the same situation. Some of the guys who coloured their interiors black dyed their carpet black, I would imagine you could do the same thing with the mats.
Monday, May 29, 2006 - 03:19 pm, by: Bill Terry(Sideburns)
Ben, In the past i have used a product from autobarn/supercheap. Its simply a carpet die in a spray can. Need at least 2 cans to do floor mats. Costs about $8 a can from memory. Just make sure you give the mats a good clean first (i used omo dissolved in warm water) and make sure you have a hard bristle brush to rub it in into the fibres. I also recommend wearing latex gloves. Hope this helps, BT
BIll, how does the spray hold up with time? I've read on here to hit them with a gurney/high pressure hose to get rid of all the little bits stuck in the mats.
Joes, just take them to car lovers and clip them on the wall, wash them with the high press soap and then rinse them with the clean water. After they look clean taken them to the vac and suck up the water and then they are touch dry. Then leave them in the sun for a day and they will be clean again.
Monday, May 29, 2006 - 09:04 pm, by: Iain Morrison(Iain)
I dyed the mats in my last car. Colin's idea sounds good for washing (although water blasting isn't good for the fabric and will weaken the pile). I'm lucky in that I work in the laundry industry and just threw my mats in a 90kg washing machine on a cold wash. Came out like new. I am pessimistic as to whether a spray on dye will last over time (sounds like glorified spray paint). For dye to take to a fabric, heat is required. For the fabric to hold the dye, a fixative is needed eg. salt. As car mats are made mainly of nylon I used Dylon Multipurpose dye and added some vinegar (acid). Most pharmacies and supermarkets stock it in several colours. You will need to weigh the mats first to know how much dye you will need. From memory its 1 pack of dye per 0.5kg dry weight material. Follow the instructions on the pack. Unfortunately you will need a vessel large enough to completely immerse the mats. Top tip...lay out plastic or an old tarp to catch drips when you dye and dry. This all sounds like a lot of effort but for a dye job that will last it's worth it.
Monday, May 29, 2006 - 10:12 pm, by: Iain Morrison(Iain)
About a teaspoon of vinegar per 5 litres of water. The vinegar just aids the dye in getting into the fabric. I used vinegar because Dylon Multipurpose dye doesn't have enough acid in it for nylon. You can get dyes with higher acid content if you want to look for them. I should add that the final fixative is extremely important (don't want dye on your shoes on a rainy day). You can get fixative when you buy your dye. If not, a couple of tablespoons of table salt well stirred in at the end does the job. Also, if you don't feel confident in doing the mats yourself, pull out the yellow pages and look under "Dyers". Don't know how much they charge.
Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 04:02 pm, by: Ben Daniel(Lexustt)
Rang a couple of Dyers today and they both told me that unless the mats are Nylon or Wool they cant be dyed. Most car mats are made of acrylic or polyester and the Dye just wont hold to them. I dunno, might just have to get some made up.
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Just a question tho, how much vinegar did you add to the Die when doing this ??
