Imomodoll Dyeing!

Erm.. my question is basically the title!

I'm thinking about dyeing a imomodoll (when i purchase her) and I'd like to know your tips and tricks.

How did the process go? any recommends for dye!

I'm a total newbie to dyeing so give me your everything please!! T-T

 

I'm planning on dying an Imomodoll too! I haven't gotten around to nabbing the body yet
What color are you planning on dyeing them?

8 minutes ago, PlasticJester said:

I'm planning on dying an Imomodoll too! I haven't gotten around to nabbing the body yet
What color are you planning on dyeing them?

I plan to dye mine a darker brown!

How about you?

Pure black for me!
Though I haven't dyed a doll yet, I know a few things. One is to use a dye for synthetic materials, like Rit Dye-more. Another is that, due to the joints being made out of a different material, they'll dye darker. Another big thing is to never make dye in a pot for cooking! You need a pot and stirring thing specifically set aside for dyeing.

39 minutes ago, PlasticJester said:

Pure black for me!
Though I haven't dyed a doll yet, I know a few things. One is to use a dye for synthetic materials, like Rit Dye-more. Another is that, due to the joints being made out of a different material, they'll dye darker. Another big thing is to never make dye in a pot for cooking! You need a pot and stirring thing specifically set aside for dyeing.

I'd love to see how your doll turns out!

Also thanks for the information! I was already looking at dye-more so this works out perfectly!!!

Oh hey!! I dyed my imomo doll a darker brown last year!! If you have any questions let me know! 

18 hours ago, PlasticJester said:

Pure black for me!
Though I haven't dyed a doll yet, I know a few things. One is to use a dye for synthetic materials, like Rit Dye-more. Another is that, due to the joints being made out of a different material, they'll dye darker. Another big thing is to never make dye in a pot for cooking! You need a pot and stirring thing specifically set aside for dyeing.

Just popping in that I spoke to someone who dyed their MDD and they experimented quite a bit and said jacquard idye poly is a better option than rit dye.

Wait really?

I'll look into it then!

14 minutes ago, CreationOdyssey said:

Oh hey!! I dyed my imomo doll a darker brown last year!! If you have any questions let me know! 

I'd love to know how it went and tips please!!

 

Also that brown is sooooo pretty!!!!

Oh wait I see you had a few questions already my bad 😅

First there are a bunch of people who will tell you not to dye the doll because the color will fade which is totally true but the alternatives don’t actually give your doll a brown skin tone. Like I wanted my mini me/OC and I wanted to make a doll after a painting by Camilla D’Errico that I adore. I’m a black American with brown skin and a yellow under tone so using brown leather paint and other options wasn’t working for me. So I dyed my doll. 🤷🏾‍♀️

 

I got my information from a doll artist who dyed a blank MDD doll a few years back.

First know that if you don’t prep your doll correctly she’s going to fade and even still over time the color will fade a little but not anything drastic. My dolls color has dulled a little because I was in the middle of a move and didn’t have time to hit her parts with MSC or any other sealant. So she’ll be going into a refresher before I do her face up.

 

I started with a tan doll right off the bat and feel this is part of the reason her color hasn’t faded too much because there was already pigment in her skin. Totally my own theory btw.

I used a combination of idye poly colors

(I see you mentioned rit dye more, which I would avoid as the dye colors tends to be a lower quality and they don’t always mix well)

brown 1/2 tablespoon

red 1/8 tsp

 yellow 1/4 tsp

Black (a pinch to hold the colors)

 

**please note with the joints a used 1/4 tsp of the red and they soaked it up so with the shell I did less which gave me my desired color

I tested the color for the shell on a paper towel to see if it was what I was looking for and then dipped my parts in with a net and kind of just kept an eye on them until they got to the brown a wanted.

**Mind you I did mess up at first and dyed one of her hands too dark (too much black first round I was trying to calm down the red) 
 

I wiped her down and let her air dry afterwards.

please note I did not seal her color! So it’s not a pretty as it was before.
 

Edited August 14, 2024 by CreationOdyssey
Miss spelled words, poor grammar

3 minutes ago, bunnivin said:

I'd love to know how it went and tips please!!

 

Also that brown is sooooo pretty!!!!

Thank you!! I left instructions above with an updated picture.

8 minutes ago, CreationOdyssey said:

Oh wait I see you had a few questions already my bad 😅

First there are a bunch of people who will tell you not to dye the doll because the color will fade which is totally true but the alternatives don’t actually give your doll a brown skin tone. Like I wanted my mini me/OC and I wanted to make a doll after a painting by Camilla D’Errico that I adore. I’m a black American with brown skin and a yellow under tone so using brown leather paint and other options wasn’t working for me. So I dyed my doll. 🤷🏾‍♀️

 

I got my information from a doll artist who dyed a blank MDD doll a few years back.

First know that if you don’t prep your doll correctly she’s going to fade and even still over time the color will fade a little but not anything drastic. My dolls color has dulled a little because I was in the middle of a move and didn’t have time to hit her parts with MSC or any other sealant. So she’ll be going into a refresher before I do her face up.

 

I started with a tan doll right off the bat and feel this is part of the reason her color hasn’t faded too much because there was already pigment in her skin. Totally my own theory btw.

I used a combination of idye poly colors

(I see you mentioned rit dye more, which I would avoid as the dye colors tends to be a lower quality and they don’t always mix well)

brown 1/2 tablespoon

red 1/8 tsp

 yellow 1/4 tsp

Black (a pinch to hold the colors)

 

**please note with the joints a used 1/4 tsp of the red and they soaked it up so with the shell I did less which gave me my desired color

I tested the color for the shell on a paper towel to see if it was what I was looking for and then dipped my parts in with a net and kind of just kept an eye on them until they got to the brown a wanted.

**Mind you I did mess up at first and dyed one of her hands too dark (too much black first round I was trying to calm down the red) 
 

I whipped her down and let her air dry afterwards.

please note I did not seal her color! So it’s not a pretty as it was before.
 

Thank you for all the information!!

I might have to add alittle more red dye since my under tone is redder and I just find it funny that we are kind of doing the same idea!

I'm making a mini 90s anime me too! so this really helps out a lot!!!

Do you have any recommendations for like items to use for dyeing and everything?

Also how many extra hands should I get for testing the dye color?

I actually think I have more questions but I'll start of with those!!

I've only dyed fabrics, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I would recommend a paper plate + paper towel for setting the doll pieces on after they've been dyed. A pair or two of hands for testing out both the joints and the vinyl might be smart? And make sure to write down the blend of colors you end up using and their amounts if you wanna dye anything in the future! Dye can also save in glass jars for quite a while. If you're going to seal her with MSC, make sure to use a respirator as well! A 3M one for organic vapors runs you like 30 bucks and can be reused, don't damage your respiratory health! I've also seen some people use pastel to clean up patchy areas of dye, that will definitely require some sealing. But mostly, try to babysit the pieces as much as possible.

Luckily for my future in dying, I want pure black, so I'm not worried about going too dark.

1 hour ago, PlasticJester said:

I've only dyed fabrics, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I would recommend a paper plate + paper towel for setting the doll pieces on after they've been dyed. A pair or two of hands for testing out both the joints and the vinyl might be smart? And make sure to write down the blend of colors you end up using and their amounts if you wanna dye anything in the future! Dye can also save in glass jars for quite a while. If you're going to seal her with MSC, make sure to use a respirator as well! A 3M one for organic vapors runs you like 30 bucks and can be reused, don't damage your respiratory health! I've also seen some people use pastel to clean up patchy areas of dye, that will definitely require some sealing. But mostly, try to babysit the pieces as much as possible.

Luckily for my future in dying, I want pure black, so I'm not worried about going too dark.

Want to avoid putting the doll parts down on anything as while they dry they can pick up patterns, during my testing I had my doll hands drying on a paper towel afterwards and the pattern of the paper towels is still there after redoing it. I put my parts up on dowels after that to dry.

2 hours ago, bunnivin said:

Thank you for all the information!!

I might have to add alittle more red dye since my under tone is redder and I just find it funny that we are kind of doing the same idea!

I'm making a mini 90s anime me too! so this really helps out a lot!!!

Do you have any recommendations for like items to use for dyeing and everything?

Also how many extra hands should I get for testing the dye color?

I actually think I have more questions but I'll start of with those!!

So I didn’t have any extra hands 😅😅 so one hand is definitely off but I would say 1 set of extra hands should be fine. I only needed to do two test before I dipped the rest of the doll body.

 

Also forgive me but what are the like items you would be referring too? 

25 minutes ago, CreationOdyssey said:

So I didn’t have any extra hands 😅😅 so one hand is definitely off but I would say 1 set of extra hands should be fine. I only needed to do two test before I dipped the rest of the doll body.

 

Also forgive me but what are the like items you would be referring too? 

Like things you used to make the process run smoothly!

like for instance you said you used a net with the doll parts! stuff like that and why/what I need them for!

9 hours ago, bunnivin said:

Like things you used to make the process run smoothly!

like for instance you said you used a net with the doll parts! stuff like that and why/what I need them for!

Gotcha!! 
 

I have a cheap stainless steal pot that I purchased from wal-mart

I used a fish tank net (purchased brand new)

For dyeing I used a gallon bottle (not the entire thing) of distilled water. I did this to ensure that the water wouldn’t have an effect on the dyeing process. As tap water can sometimes have chemicals/impurities in it that affect dye colors.

I gave the parts a good cold water rinse and dried them with a microfiber cloth and then I had them standing up on wooden dowels to dry to they wouldn’t get any texture patterns or pooling on them.

I let them air dry close to a sunny window.

Also sealing when you’re done as I mentioned before my girls color has dulled a little because I didn’t.

As someone mentioned before when using sealants always wear a ventilated face mask. Also best to do it outside as well. 

 

10 hours ago, CreationOdyssey said:

Gotcha!! 
 

I have a cheap stainless steal pot that I purchased from wal-mart

I used a fish tank net (purchased brand new)

For dyeing I used a gallon bottle (not the entire thing) of distilled water. I did this to ensure that the water wouldn’t have an effect on the dyeing process. As tap water can sometimes have chemicals/impurities in it that affect dye colors.

I gave the parts a good cold water rinse and dried them with a microfiber cloth and then I had them standing up on wooden dowels to dry to they wouldn’t get any texture patterns or pooling on them.

I let them air dry close to a sunny window.

Also sealing when you’re done as I mentioned before my girls color has dulled a little because I didn’t.

As someone mentioned before when using sealants always wear a ventilated face mask. Also best to do it outside as well. 

 

So would it be best to do all this in winter since it's violently hot right now?

also do I spray them once they have dried or as soon as they come out?

and does the sealant effect face-ups?

any recommended sealant btw?

and where do I find distilled water?

 

56 minutes ago, bunnivin said:

So would it be best to do all this in winter since it's violently hot right now?

also do I spray them once they have dried or as soon as they come out?

and does the sealant effect face-ups?

any recommended sealant btw?

and where do I find distilled water?

 

You want to spray sealant when it’s the least humid outside. So depends on where you live. Wait until the doll is dry to seal the body.

Sealants like MSC (Mr. Super Clear)and Citadel Munitorum Varnish are both something you need in the faceup process (I suggest looking more into faceups more before you even proceed dyeing the doll as there are lots of products and safety equipment you will need first)

** BE SURE YOU PURCHASE A PROPER VENTILATION MASK**

https://a.co/d/fuTbbws

 

Distilled water is something found commonly at grocery stores in the US I’m unaware to find it in other countries.

24 minutes ago, CreationOdyssey said:

You want to spray sealant when it’s the least humid outside. So depends on where you live. Wait until the doll is dry to seal the body.

Sealants like MSC (Mr. Super Clear)and Citadel Munitorum Varnish are both something you need in the faceup process (I suggest looking more into faceups more before you even proceed dyeing the doll as there are lots of products and safety equipment you will need first)

** BE SURE YOU PURCHASE A PROPER VENTILATION MASK**

https://a.co/d/fuTbbws

 

Distilled water is something found commonly at grocery stores in the US I’m unaware to find it in other countries.

I'm actually planning to send her to a face up artist hopefully since I want my actually first doll done nicely before I start doing everything myself!

33 minutes ago, bunnivin said:

I'm actually planning to send her to a face up artist hopefully since I want my actually first doll done nicely before I start doing everything myself!

Before you dye the doll I would reach out to artist and see if they would prefer you seal her first or if they would rather do it themselves.

1 hour ago, CreationOdyssey said:

Before you dye the doll I would reach out to artist and see if they would prefer you seal her first or if they would rather do it themselves.

Okay I'll do that!!

So I've returned with a small question..

Do I need to seal the innerframe?

3 hours ago, bunnivin said:

So I've returned with a small question..

Do I need to seal the innerframe?

The inner frame shouldn’t matter as much as the joints.

On 9/8/2024 at 8:11 AM, CreationOdyssey said:

The inner frame shouldn’t matter as much as the joints.

So I just need to seal the joints and the outer layer?