TK9336
Active Member
Hello, I need help dying/painting a pair of Adidas Nizza Hi Tops.
I am currently dying a pair of shoes. Seems simple enough, I had Nizza Hi tops with white rubber soles (think Chuck Taylors white.) So they needed to be flat black, and thankfully the bottoms were already black as well. So just the sides. Nothing crazy being attempted. But right now I feel like I am trying to recreate the wheel.
Easy enough right? So after doing more research on the topic than I care to admit scouring a number of message boards (mostly cosplay) about doing it. After reading that acrylics would crack I immediately turned towards doing it with RIT dye, which I am using for dying the visors which is already more than proven to work well. Finding a “How To” with pictured Chuck Taylor’s I followed the instructions and giddy at the mere simplicity of the project. It really was simple enough, prepare a bath of dye and let it sit two hours and bam you’re done.
These were the results on my brand new pair of Nizzas-
20121101_192732 by TK9336, on Flickr
I was really unhappy, as those sat for two hours. However it did say in the tutorial for additional dying sessions to achieve a darker color. Well at this point I was already in so let’s do this. There is absolutely no information on doing this on the soles on a pair of shoes. Dying fabric shoes like Chucks is very straight forward and works well. Not what I was doing. I saw what a fella did for dying plastic wheels for a RC car, it was done over heat.
I was ready to try anything at this point. I wanted nothing more than to finish these shoes so I could 1) replace my worn out shoes and wear these comfy ones (regardless if they are for my Daft Punk costume) and 2) Move onto doing the important parts of the costume.
I bought yet MORE dye and more pans. Did another session at my buddy’s house here on campus (he had a stove). Sat for 30 minutes until a roommate got really hungry. The results were pretty good and I was determined to keep doing this until I got the color I wanted.
Fast forward to past Saturday at another friend’s house. I got more pans at Wal-Mart. One pan was cracked and until it was FULL of dye did I know this; plus this stuff will forever be burned into my memory of its difficulty to clean up. Windex works REALLY well, spray immediately and wipe right after. Otherwise your F*&%’d, this stains WHATEVER it touches except what I actually need it to dye of course. Eventually I used my buddy’s old pans he was going to toss (since the pan was cracked). Important to scrub them with soap and water so not to get unwarranted results in your shoes. Same with the shoes, otherwise you get blotches. You gotta sand that crap, and it looks awful. Thankfully being factory fresh I only had one discoloration.
20121103_210633 by TK9336, on Flickr
This time it was on low heat for 3 hours. Then figuring might as well keep going to get a rich deep pure black color I left them off heat overnight until I awoke 8 hours later. If you like math, it’s 11 hours total. Plus 2.5 more and you have a cumulative 13.5 total hours dying rubber soles. This is the current state of affairs.
20121104_162125 by TK9336, on Flickr
20121104_162052 by TK9336, on Flickr
Do I think a few more dying sessions would eventually reach the color? Sure. But I think the best I will get is a really dark purple/grey and that already black strip between the midsoles and soles will still stick out. This costume when done is getting professionally photographed by 2nd Story Photography by a fellow Punk. Sure would it be acceptable from a distance? Yeah. But up to the scrutiny of the professionalism I going for on the rest of the build (and the amount of money dumped on this project to LOOK professional, well I refuse to skimp out now.)
So I have come up with other solutions- remember, acrylics paints are out.
Plasti-Dip: Saw a recommendation on a costume site for a cosplay. I researched heavily into it. Primarily used by car people for rims, exterior logos. Easy to work with but ultimately as the can says- it’s not permanent. Plus if it gets punctured it peels en masse. I bought a can but held back on doing it. I am promptly taking it back. I got really excited since it is rubber but a massive waste of time.
VHT Epoxy All Weather paint: Also looks promising. Flexible and used for a myriad of surfaces. Plus it would harden and be impregnable. Give it the cure time it needs and seems really promising. Sadly I cannot find any examples of it actually on something. Not very forgiving it seems, but this seems to be the toughest spray paint out there.
Krylon Fusion Paint: After googling “spray painting shoes” and some critical analysis I think I might run with this choice. Little to no prep and on Krylon’s site shows a pair of shoes spray painted with the stuff and looks good. It's getting popular with costumers and shoes. The whole key here will be to give it a crap load of curing time. Basically spray and forget for a month (48 hours will cure, but not touching them for a month, and those will be fully adhered to the top layer of rubber and be fully hardened.) Additionally it’s water resistant, corrosive resistant, etc.
Rustoleum Truck Bed: The attendant at Lowes recommended this paint. I read that people liked the results with the Krylon fusion over the Rustoleum. Plus it would leave a texture I am sure. Not looking for that.
Sharpie: Thought about it since it be really easy, and permant. Plus who hasn’t taken a sharpie to their Converse Chuck Taylor’s before? While it be cool on fabric, it’s a no go on the rubber (I tested a part of the bottom of the shoe, it looked amateur to me.) Would it work? Possibly. Could it work. Most likely. Do I want to risk my $100 Nizzas? No. Plus it would fade over time and have to be redone (from what I read.) Does it help I have a dark base to go off of? Yes. It could work, and I haven’t fully canceled this out as a viable option…yet. Meaning, if I am going to spray paint them matte black anyways it wouldn’t hurt to try. Holding back for now though.
Permanent Paint Pen: Tried. Massive fail. Just too runny and could dry unevenly without it being smoothed out with a paper towel (or used painter’s tape in my case.) I didn’t like it at all on the rubber. On fabric I am sure it work much better. But again, not what I’m trying to do here.
Save Your Soles: Save Your Sole - The Shoe Care This is really expensive (at 19.99 UK Pounds) but is made for touching up designer shoes. I am not sure those expensive shoes' soles are rubber. I emailed them today with my inquiry. Far too expensive for my tastes for what I am doing (since I will be spray painting, but correctly with alot of cure time). Just tought I'd cover all available bases in the off chance someone does this too.
So where does that leave me? Well. A trip back into town to take stuff back and buy a can of Krylon Fusion Matte Black spray paint. Then a very, very long curing time. I am estimating 2-3 light coats in 15 minute intervals, and then letting it dry FOR-EV-VER and get back to the actual parts of this costume while this is in curing purgatory.
If you have any tips, or advice…or have done this before please don’t be shy! If I am doing this completely wrong…let me know I am not made of money and absolutely want to finish this time vampire.
Either spray paint or just let them soak in dye for a few days until it comes out jet black? Maybe even see a cobbler about it?
I am currently dying a pair of shoes. Seems simple enough, I had Nizza Hi tops with white rubber soles (think Chuck Taylors white.) So they needed to be flat black, and thankfully the bottoms were already black as well. So just the sides. Nothing crazy being attempted. But right now I feel like I am trying to recreate the wheel.
Easy enough right? So after doing more research on the topic than I care to admit scouring a number of message boards (mostly cosplay) about doing it. After reading that acrylics would crack I immediately turned towards doing it with RIT dye, which I am using for dying the visors which is already more than proven to work well. Finding a “How To” with pictured Chuck Taylor’s I followed the instructions and giddy at the mere simplicity of the project. It really was simple enough, prepare a bath of dye and let it sit two hours and bam you’re done.
These were the results on my brand new pair of Nizzas-
20121101_192732 by TK9336, on Flickr
I was really unhappy, as those sat for two hours. However it did say in the tutorial for additional dying sessions to achieve a darker color. Well at this point I was already in so let’s do this. There is absolutely no information on doing this on the soles on a pair of shoes. Dying fabric shoes like Chucks is very straight forward and works well. Not what I was doing. I saw what a fella did for dying plastic wheels for a RC car, it was done over heat.
I was ready to try anything at this point. I wanted nothing more than to finish these shoes so I could 1) replace my worn out shoes and wear these comfy ones (regardless if they are for my Daft Punk costume) and 2) Move onto doing the important parts of the costume.
I bought yet MORE dye and more pans. Did another session at my buddy’s house here on campus (he had a stove). Sat for 30 minutes until a roommate got really hungry. The results were pretty good and I was determined to keep doing this until I got the color I wanted.
Fast forward to past Saturday at another friend’s house. I got more pans at Wal-Mart. One pan was cracked and until it was FULL of dye did I know this; plus this stuff will forever be burned into my memory of its difficulty to clean up. Windex works REALLY well, spray immediately and wipe right after. Otherwise your F*&%’d, this stains WHATEVER it touches except what I actually need it to dye of course. Eventually I used my buddy’s old pans he was going to toss (since the pan was cracked). Important to scrub them with soap and water so not to get unwarranted results in your shoes. Same with the shoes, otherwise you get blotches. You gotta sand that crap, and it looks awful. Thankfully being factory fresh I only had one discoloration.
20121103_210633 by TK9336, on Flickr
This time it was on low heat for 3 hours. Then figuring might as well keep going to get a rich deep pure black color I left them off heat overnight until I awoke 8 hours later. If you like math, it’s 11 hours total. Plus 2.5 more and you have a cumulative 13.5 total hours dying rubber soles. This is the current state of affairs.
20121104_162125 by TK9336, on Flickr
20121104_162052 by TK9336, on Flickr
Do I think a few more dying sessions would eventually reach the color? Sure. But I think the best I will get is a really dark purple/grey and that already black strip between the midsoles and soles will still stick out. This costume when done is getting professionally photographed by 2nd Story Photography by a fellow Punk. Sure would it be acceptable from a distance? Yeah. But up to the scrutiny of the professionalism I going for on the rest of the build (and the amount of money dumped on this project to LOOK professional, well I refuse to skimp out now.)
So I have come up with other solutions- remember, acrylics paints are out.
Plasti-Dip: Saw a recommendation on a costume site for a cosplay. I researched heavily into it. Primarily used by car people for rims, exterior logos. Easy to work with but ultimately as the can says- it’s not permanent. Plus if it gets punctured it peels en masse. I bought a can but held back on doing it. I am promptly taking it back. I got really excited since it is rubber but a massive waste of time.
VHT Epoxy All Weather paint: Also looks promising. Flexible and used for a myriad of surfaces. Plus it would harden and be impregnable. Give it the cure time it needs and seems really promising. Sadly I cannot find any examples of it actually on something. Not very forgiving it seems, but this seems to be the toughest spray paint out there.
Krylon Fusion Paint: After googling “spray painting shoes” and some critical analysis I think I might run with this choice. Little to no prep and on Krylon’s site shows a pair of shoes spray painted with the stuff and looks good. It's getting popular with costumers and shoes. The whole key here will be to give it a crap load of curing time. Basically spray and forget for a month (48 hours will cure, but not touching them for a month, and those will be fully adhered to the top layer of rubber and be fully hardened.) Additionally it’s water resistant, corrosive resistant, etc.
Rustoleum Truck Bed: The attendant at Lowes recommended this paint. I read that people liked the results with the Krylon fusion over the Rustoleum. Plus it would leave a texture I am sure. Not looking for that.
Sharpie: Thought about it since it be really easy, and permant. Plus who hasn’t taken a sharpie to their Converse Chuck Taylor’s before? While it be cool on fabric, it’s a no go on the rubber (I tested a part of the bottom of the shoe, it looked amateur to me.) Would it work? Possibly. Could it work. Most likely. Do I want to risk my $100 Nizzas? No. Plus it would fade over time and have to be redone (from what I read.) Does it help I have a dark base to go off of? Yes. It could work, and I haven’t fully canceled this out as a viable option…yet. Meaning, if I am going to spray paint them matte black anyways it wouldn’t hurt to try. Holding back for now though.
Permanent Paint Pen: Tried. Massive fail. Just too runny and could dry unevenly without it being smoothed out with a paper towel (or used painter’s tape in my case.) I didn’t like it at all on the rubber. On fabric I am sure it work much better. But again, not what I’m trying to do here.
Save Your Soles: Save Your Sole - The Shoe Care This is really expensive (at 19.99 UK Pounds) but is made for touching up designer shoes. I am not sure those expensive shoes' soles are rubber. I emailed them today with my inquiry. Far too expensive for my tastes for what I am doing (since I will be spray painting, but correctly with alot of cure time). Just tought I'd cover all available bases in the off chance someone does this too.
So where does that leave me? Well. A trip back into town to take stuff back and buy a can of Krylon Fusion Matte Black spray paint. Then a very, very long curing time. I am estimating 2-3 light coats in 15 minute intervals, and then letting it dry FOR-EV-VER and get back to the actual parts of this costume while this is in curing purgatory.
If you have any tips, or advice…or have done this before please don’t be shy! If I am doing this completely wrong…let me know I am not made of money and absolutely want to finish this time vampire.
Either spray paint or just let them soak in dye for a few days until it comes out jet black? Maybe even see a cobbler about it?
