After a record 20 YEARS of procrastination Liz and I finally made a palette of all the different fabric dye colors we recommend (a a few we don’t) for our skin on frame kayaks.
It’s taken so long to get around to this because the variables of time, water to vinegar ratio, liquid to dye ratio, and mixture temperature need to be tightly controlled so the results will be reproducible. Normally we mix a maximum of 4 teaspoons of powdered acid dye with 5 cups of water and 2 cups of vinegar brought to a boil. The mixture is then rapidly painted on the nylon cloth and the excess quickly wiped off with a towel. The result, when it goes well, is a rich, uniform, translucent color that looks great inside and out. For these experiments we used 7 tablespoons of boiling liquid and 1/4 teaspoon of dye. (I hope that’s right?!).
A zillion tiny cups and foam brushes later, we peeled the tape and I applied 3 coats of 2 part polyurethane. Because the 2 part polyurethane coating we use naturally yellows over time we typically stick to warmer earth tones that will compliment, rather than clash with the aging process. I included a bright red, a blueish green, and a purple here specifically so I can show people what UV does to those colors and why to avoid them.
Next step in the project will be to photograph each test patch and add it to my boat plans with commentary and the exact recipe for each color, then we will pick our favorite colors and offer them as custom mixes that can be included with our kits.
Next summer we will tape off 1/2 of each square and put the whole palette in the sun for 3 months and re photograph so people can see how each color weathers the UV.
Fabric dye is just one of several ways to color a skin boat, and other methods have advantages and disadvantages. This is just what we do, so I’m hoping to make the process as predictable as possible for people.
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See the original post and discussion here.
