Painting Plastic: The Joys of Vinyl Dye

Do you have a scuffed toy at home? A plastic patio chair in a hideous color? A plastic product of any kind that you'd like to touch-up, or have in a different shade?Well, vinyl dye can make the fix or change a whole lot easier. It's marketed as a product for changing your vehicle upholstery's color, but vinyl dye works on many plastics and vinyl surfaces. It's superior to regular spray paints because it actually seeps into the surface of whatever you're spraying...giving you a clean color that won't chip, flake, or scratch off. If the surface has been painted previously with anything but vinyl dye however, the dye will not work. Paint clogs the microscopic pores in the plastic that the dye would normally occupy. Dye may be used over dye, though the underlying color may affect the top-most coat...particularly with lighter shades of dye such as white or yellow.The thing to remember when applying the dye is to start and end each spray *away* from the surface you're dying. Spattering occurs most frequently when the spray starts, and when it stops. Use light coats. Don't attempt geplete coverage with each coat! If patches of the original color remain, don't sweat it. Wait fifteen minutes between each coat, and apply anywhere from three to five coats. Do NOT use a primer! Vinyl dye doesn't require one!Vinyl dye is pefect for: drive faceplates on geputers, toys, plastic furniture, some vinyl surfaces, car interior parts, plastic bathroom fixtures and accessories (toothbrush holders, soap dishes, etc.) and who knows what else. It doesn't work on every kind of plastic, so test it by spraying it somewhere unobtrusive before going whole-hog. If, twenty minutes later or so, you can scrape it off with your fingernail? It's not gepatible with that plastic.I've seen vinyl dye in red, blue, white, tan, black, brown, yellow, desert sand, silver, and gray. A search for VHT or Duplicolor will often turn up something.The best place to find vinyl dye is in automotive stores, or online. Krylon markets a 'plastic paint' but I'm unsure if that's vinyl dye or just specially formulated spraypaint.