Dyeing acrylic

[cimafish]

Needing to dye a critical piece of acrylic, or make the item over with plastic, I searched all over the Internet for an answer.  I visited this forum as a non-member searching for answers.  I read one thread where most posters said it cannot be done.  It has been archived.  Being a tad bit hardheaded, I began trying various solvents and dyes.  I determined that if I discovered something that worked, I would come back and join the forum and share it with everyone.  Early this evening, I applied some Fiebing Leather Dye to a scrap piece of acrylic and left for several hours.  Much to my surprise, when I returned the dye had impregnated the acrylic.  I made certain of this fact by attempting to rub it off.  Hopefully, this will by helpful for some of you folks who are trying to add color to acrylic.

[cimafish]

A word of caution; all of the dye does not react the same on acrylic.  I discovered today that the yellow does not appear to work very well at all.  I wiped on some dye prep before applying another coat of yellow, which made it perform better.  The white should not be wiped on since it softens the acrylic.  However, when the white dries it seems to be smooth except for the wipe streaks.   The light tan and other browns did very well.  I haven't tried black  This is probably necessary advice, but one should experiment with some scrap before applying the dye in a critical project.