Dyeing DPM uniform

[Damascus]

Can any one help, I would like to change the colour of a couple of DPM shirts (95 pattern), I am off on a trip to S. America and the shirts are ideal to travel in but the only let down is the colour. I don't mind it being green just not DPM. It would kind of give people the wrong idea and some places do not like you wearing military uniform.

Answers on a Post Card !!!!!!!!!!!


Many thanks

 

[Dougster]

Sadly I have never heard of anyone having success with this process.

 

[commandocal]

Im sure normal dye works mate aslong as its a dark colour, seen someone dye a field jacket DPM ripstop on here before for when they went shooting, dyed it let it dry and redied it from a distance it just looked like a real gucci black jacket, from close up all you could see was the Ripstop pattern and the faint shapes of the DPM, have a crack at it worst that can happen it will change colour ey ?

 

[bazil]

would soaking them in potassium permanganate work?

they would be purple though!!

 

[stotRE]

I would recommend that you buy some new shirts mate as i have tried dying DPM before and it was a complete disaster.

You might be able to dye some desert DPM shirts but the temperate issued shirts forget it.

 

[Grooveski]

Didn't manage it here either, but did end up with a nicer jacket. Black dye hit the different colours in different ways and mellowed out the pattern quite a bit. It's kind of shades of greeny-grey now.

 

[tommy the cat]

Well many moons ago I managed to dye some dpm shorts black.
Now if memory serves I used one of those colour strip dyes then dyed it black with a dylon black (i think the cold water one)
Now they were black but you could see if you looked closely the pattern still.
I have had hit and miss results with this procedure....I would say to follow the instructions carefully put the right amount of salt in etc.
I would have a go it wont cost much and whats the worst that can happen?
Dave
Ps The colour did slowly start to fade/wash out but this did take quite a long time.

 

[maverick moocher]

I tried to dye a DPM Ventile Smock green but it just came out a darker DPM. It works quite well in british woodland though.Have a look on the Tracking forum re Shadowhawk and there's a picture of it on one the courses.No good for travel abroad though, best buy some new ones

 

[Nat]

It won't work. As has been suggested, buy some new ones.

 

[combatblade1]

You could always have a go at dying them black and if they dont take well you could get rid of them in the swap shop. What have you got to lose?

 

[Jedadiah]

As per Tommy the cat, i dyed a DPM windproof that was faded beyond belief (almost white!). I used Dylon Black and it did a job of sorts. You could still see the DPM, probably better than before i dyed it actually. Yup, i'd get some others and forget about dyeing.

 

[Singeblister]

same as above really , I used the dylon washing machine dye on a dpm jacket , I liked the way it came out just tones it all down a bit go for it

 

[hedgepig]

Anyone tried bleaching first and then applying a dye?

 

[rancid badger]

Can any one help, I would like to change the colour of a couple of DPM shirts (95 pattern), I am off on a trip to S. America and the shirts are ideal to travel in but the only let down is the colour. I don't mind it being green just not DPM. It would kind of give people the wrong idea and some places do not like you wearing military uniform.

Answers on a Post Card !!!!!!!!!!!


Many thanks

You should be very wary of using any form of military kit-dyed or otherwise- in S America.
when you say;"some places do not like you wearing military uniform" well, lets just say that that is a massive understatement.
You may experience anything from being held up at customs for a while right the way through to- who knows?
Ok, so ray mears has been filmed with all sorts of green kit in the jungle etc-well yes but he's also in the company of maybe 10 other people from the bbc with local "fixers" tagging along to boot.

Most of the replies seem to have completely missed this point- in fact, you would almost certainly be better off consulting the "know before you go" government website and don't waste your time and money faffing on with dyes etc and just buy a couple of inexpensive cotton shirts-in my experience, the soldier 95 shirts are not all that good anyway, the underarms tend to start to fall to bits after a few weeks of tropical sweat!

don't want to put a damper on your trip but you really should go check out the site mentioned above for information on where ever it is you intend to visit.

R.B.

 

[Jedadiah]

Anyone tried bleaching first and then applying a dye?

I tried the Dylon 'Stripper' on a pair of windproof trousers (DPM); did not make much difference, just faded it a bit. I tried over dying but it came out the same. Then i stripped them again and dyed them olive green and the same happened, just muted the pattern. $orry.

 

[Tourist]

You should be very wary of using any form of military kit-dyed or otherwise- in S America.
when you say;"some places do not like you wearing military uniform" well, lets just say that that is a massive understatement.
You may experience anything from being held up at customs for a while right the way through to- who knows?
Ok, so ray mears has been filmed with all sorts of green kit in the jungle etc-well yes but he's also in the company of maybe 10 other people from the bbc with local "fixers" tagging along to boot.

Most of the replies seem to have completely missed this point- in fact, you would almost certainly be better off consulting the "know before you go" government website and don't waste your time and money faffing on with dyes etc and just buy a couple of inexpensive cotton shirts-in my experience, the soldier 95 shirts are not all that good anyway, the underarms tend to start to fall to bits after a few weeks of tropical sweat!

don't want to put a damper on your trip but you really should go check out the site mentioned above for information on where ever it is you intend to visit.

R.B.

I have a German mate who did Kilimanjaro a couple of years ago in the company of a couple of French guys, all three being ex-military. They naturally had a fair collection of 'green kit', with one of the French guys having a camo goretex jacket. Some African States, like some South American States, have images of mercenaries and unauthorised military presences when confronted with camo gear...........the French guy binned his camo goretex to do away with the hassle he was getting, and my mate said next time he would use blue and khaki gear avoiding OG and camo like the plague.

I know its not camo, but look at the hassle the Brit Mil caving expedition had in Mexico not too long back, accused of all sorts of spying and subterfuge........smile a lot and do not take any dodgy happy snaps of military or police installations.

 

[Damascus]

Thanks for the advice on the dye front and was very aware of the military issues having only a shortwhile ago returned front Venezuela. I have found some thing though and for those who are interested is the Fishing Shirt by John Norris well worth a look.

 

[Native Nathan]

the IRR coating on the dpm material stops the dye adhearing to it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news