Dying a Rucksac

[GearGuru]

Hi Folks

I have an old rucksac that I want to use for bushcraft but its bright yellow/Blue. The blue I can live with but the yellows too severe. Anyone got any sugestions about how I might change this to green. Do dyes work on cordroya ???

Cheers Chris

 

[GearGuru]

The fabric is called Cordura

 

[sandsnakes]

Ah... you may have a problem. Dyes need a high temperature which will probably seperate the flexible plastic coating from the back of the material if it is coated. Some synthetics wont take dye at all.

The best method would be a pack of blue or black washing powder based dye made by dylon, you can get it at tescos. The little tins are dead tricky and not reccomended.

Method

1 Scrub sack with nail brush for encrusted crud, not forgeting to remove frame and as many metal bits as possible. Padded straps can be a problem as the foam will be full of dye
2 Wash sack in machine to get it clean and wet, this enables the dye to get into the fibres.
3 Throw in the dye pack and do a high temperature wash.
4 CAUTION THE DYE POWDER GETS EVERY WHERE WEAR GLOVES!
5 Immediatly after washing hang out to dry- then remove gloves.
6 Run an entire bottle of bleach through the maching to remove residual dye.
7 Mop down door of machine and surrounding area with a mild bleach solution.


The blue should give you a green tone and the black probably a green/brown in the yellow areas. The blue will do the same but deeper tones. Who knows it may actually dye it deep enough to hide the lot.
When dry apply a couple of coats of silicone based water proofing and thats it.

Most military clothing will take this method and it will last a long time.

All this is based on my exwifes desire to change the colour of everything... madness!

The dye is cast

Sandsnakes

 

[GearGuru]

Hi thanks for the advice. Is there a way to do it that won't remove the coating as this is surely for waterproofing? Also getting dye everywhere is bound to happen to me - mr non domestic. Do cold dyes work? Is it possible to paint?

Cheers Chris

 

[Cairodel]

As Sandsnakes said, if the material is nylon/cordura/man-made, it will not take dye at all. These materials are produced with the colours impregnated in the fibre....

 

[Neanderthal]

Have you considered a rucksack cover?

 

[leon-b]

sorry i am not trying to steal your thread but
i have an old rucksack i would like to use for bushcraft but it has these brand names printed on it made of sort of a plasticy stuff does anyone know how to remove these
thanks leon

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

GearGuru, Hi if the dye doesn't work, i've sucsessfully painted a rucksack and some PLCE webbing pouches from DPM to green and black.

i went to the local model shop and asked for a paint to spray on nylon, there wasn't one but they gave me one that was flexable enough not to flake off or rubb off. the best version was olive green (which came out slightly lighter and greyer than suggested but still good.

the one i used is:

Humbrol
Hobby spray
100ml
No. 30 matt dark green
(this covered 3 large pouches with 2 coats and some left over you would need a larger ammount)
when dry it gives a slight rough texture but it works!

leon-b
is it like a transfer(sticker) or more of a plastic stuck on thing?
if a transfer you could get most of it off with wire wool(though careful not to damage the fabric).
nail polish remover or paint thinner will remove the glue residue.
be carefull though you may ruin the return policy! and if you ever sell it, you can't prove what make it is!

you could always just mask it with tape, or put a BCUK badge over it!

 

[4040]

I think what i'd do is spray paint it. I have used a matte black paint on an old bag of mine that was a faded black cordura and it came up looking good. It does fade with time tho. Its not a perfect solution but its quick, non messy and would work ok.

 

[leon-b]

im not sure if its a transfer sticker or a plastic stuck on thing
i will try and remove it with wire wool and then if that doesnt work i will try the other method
thanks mate

 

[Goose]

Leon, another way to remove stickers is to use hot/boiling water, obviously carefully, you don't want to damage your bag or yourself. Get the sticker hot and the glue should melt and allow you to peel it off.

 

[PJMCBear]

Fabric paint n a spray gun.

 

[Cormac]

bog standard spray paint????

 

[sandsnakes]

Cold water dyes dont take very well. You could use a spray paint. One method would be mix the paint with liquid silicone wax, that way it will be carried into the fibres and will not rub off on you. If its a cheaper sack chances are, and older, that it will not be cordura. More likely to be a heavy grade nylon or polypropylene, which will take a dye to an extent.

Even if you do spray you will need to wash it first so the paint keys in/on, then waterproof spray.

One the paint is between the fibres or strand it want mater wat it is made out of if you seal it. Sealing it will also give you some flexability back to the material. In fact you could cut a stencil out of news paper and do pretty patterns if you fancy!

sandsnakes

 

[Dougster]

I used to work in the outdoor trade. I've never met anyone who managed to change the colour of a rucksack succesfully. And Leon-B: I suspect that getting the letters off will permanently damage the bag. It may create a weak point on a prominent (stress taking) area.

I'd keep the bags for ordinary stuff and think about buy one of these - until you can get a Sabre or something. They aren't much more than the dye will set you back, even with postage. They may not be great but they are green and look alright, are they the swedish army ones people rave about?

http://www.surplusandadventure.com/ishop/800/shopscr2592.html

Richard

 

[Toddy]

This is going to sound totally flakey, but there are dyes made specifically for net curtains. These are made from nylon, as is cordura.
I seriously doubt that the colour stripping agent, used as a pre-dye wash, will have much effect on the cordura but it will at least help prepare the surface of the fibres to accept the dye.
I can't think of anything else that you could use other than the paint that other folks have suggested.

Cheers,
Toddy

p.s. Leon-b, you can probably remove some of the lettering by covering it with an old tea towel and ironing it. *carefully*! the cloth ought to absorb some of the plasticy paint, then get some dab-it-off (dry cleaning spot remover) and use that to help remove the final traces. It could go very wrong and leave a nasty smear though I have used this method before quite successfully.
It might be easier just to buy a permanaent marker pen in a suitably muted colour and over write the lettering.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[GearGuru]

The bag is an old berghaus and has life left in it yet. I don't want to replace it, just wanna tone down the bright yellow colour. I have another large pack too so can't really justify buying another. There has to be a limit. The one I have is not worth much but I know its a very good quality pack and still has plenty of life left. It is definately cordura as I've seen the spec for them and they were top of the berghaus range a few eons back. I think I might have to try the paint/rucksac cover as the dying seems to be a non starter. Cheers for the advice.

 

[Ryan Woods]

this thread reminds me of McNabbs bergan he painted so it had desert colours... looks lik he just used spraypaint... any clues anyone?

 

[East Scout]

Hi Folks

I have an old rucksac that I want to use for bushcraft but its bright yellow/Blue. The blue I can live with but the yellows too severe. Anyone got any sugestions about how I might change this to green. Do dyes work on cordroya ???

Cheers Chris

If its a man-made material forget it the dye will never stay properly if it stays at all.......Paint is the only way to go and that too will not stay put forever.......If its linen or a cotton type fabric you should be able to dye it w/o problems..

ES

 

[Big Steve]

To cover up the more garish colours of your rucksack, I can recommend the use of agricultural stock marker dye paints, which come in a handy spray can (a la car paint) in various colours. It has the benefit that it does not rot the rucksack material, which I think is possible with other paint types and seems to be permanent. Being ex-forces, I had sprayed a green Berghaus Munro 35L rucksack for use as a patrol sack with a simple DIY 'fractured' pattern nearly 15 years ago and the pattern has only dulled down with use and abuse in the field.

The colours range included black, green and yellow. The latter is a little bright to begin with but soon settles down into a duller light sand colour and I think I might have gently oversprayed it lightly with the green to take the loudness out of it. I bought mine from my local West Midland Farmers shop for a few quid, as I recall.