Lightening Resin - Why Bleaching or Dyeing Doesn't Work

I just airbrushed a white skin head to normal skin to match a body, and it worked perfectly. I did not airbrush the headcap, and you can see the difference in the photo here. I think Tsukidoll is dead on though, I do not think this would work with a body. If you want to do a head only, to match a body, airbrushing worked great for me!

 

I wonder if you could use white pastel to blush it lighter. :3

 

You can, but it WILL chip, rub off at the joints, and scratch, and eventually it will wear off.

 

Intent to blush with white pastel won't work, believe you me.

 

Would it not just work like inverse body blushing? ):
I wouldn't do it expecting it to be solid or go TOO much lighter than the base color, but to work with the base color.

 

Excuse me if there are already a thread about this. I've found many threads about dying, and thus making the resin darker, but I couldn't find anything about lightening it.
Is it even possible?

I own a Zaoll Muse, and she's paper PAPER white. I prefered the CP hands tho, and got those from someone on here. Alas (as expected), the hands are a more yellow white tone, so they don't match (allthough I've seen way worse). The hands have not yellowed, as I've been told they were new.

Is there anyway to get them paper white? Home bleach? Soak? I can't get my hands on Rit dye, and I'm Dutch, so 'typical' stuff from America won't help me xD
Please give me tips or tell me if it is at all possible

 

Well the alternative for Rit dye is Dylon dye, and you can get that in the Netherlands very easily, but I don't think it comes in white. Maybe you could just give them a few layers of white pastels Airbrushing should work too.

 

Hmmm, perhaps!
Thanks for the input

 

Airbrushing would probably be your best bet, I've never had much luck with white pastel and that way it would be guaranteed to be nice and smooth looking.

 

I'll look into that, thanks c:

 

Liquid nitrogen bleached orange tone out of Soom NS resin when I experimented with it. If you have a science-y buddy around, it's worth a shot. Won't really harm the resin so far as I can tell, even while "frozen" it didn't go brittle.

 

Ah alas I don't have a sciency buddy! Know plenty of people that excell in it, but none with access to liquid nitrogen xD
I'll keep it in mind tho, thanks!

 

Actually, if you have a compressed gas dealer near you, where you can buy propane for grills and stoves, and butane for lighters, they will probably have liquid nitrogen. It will probably cost about .5 euros per liter and you do have to have a dewar(thermos) to store it in. But it works quite well for some reason. It will eventually boil away though so you'll have to be quick about how you use it. And for god sakes don't spill it on yourself, although spilling it on surfaces and the floor is actually pretty awsome.

 

Haha, thanks! I'll have a look at that. I'm scared to work with it though, I watch too much tv
But my dad would most likely want to help me, so maybe I can do that!

 

Resin can't be bleached, and dye is not paint; It doesn't come in White. You can paint the hands white, or blush them white, or trade them in the MP for white ones.

 

Hm that's too bad then. Might have to find someone to blush them white for me. Thanks tho

 

o-o Well, I don't know why you say dye 'doesn't come in white'. o-o I saw some white RIT dye at Jo-Anne's the other day while I was perusing the purples. But I doubt you could dye NS hands white, Snow. Blushing or air brush is probably your best bet, unless you just BUY some new hands in white. ><

 

Errr...Rit Dye doesn't come in white. There is no such thing as a white dye. There is a Rit colour remover that takes out dyes, and also a whitener you can toss in laundry to brighten existing whites (like what used to be called 'blueing')...but those are not the same thing at all...and neither of them would work on resin, anyway. LOL


Blushing with layers of white pastel is the easiest way to 'whiten' resin, in my experiece...but of course it comes right off when you remove the faceup/blushing.

 

Uh huh. Well the bottle didn't say 'Colour Remover" or "Whitener". It said "White" and it was with all the other coloured dyes, while the remover and the whitener were waaaay to the bottom of the shelves by themselves. So, apparently it does. But yes, blushing or air-brush will be easier. Or just buying white hands.

 

This will always be true and the answer will never change. You cannot dye anything lighter. You can only dye darker. While there is a Rit "white" dye, it does not make darker colors lighter and it does not cover darker colors.

Snow, you might want to go the other direction, if you are not "married" to the idea of having a paper-white doll. It is possible to yellow your dollbody to match the hands, or at least yellow the arms. Just hang them in the sun and keep comparing them often.

 

Ahhh. I knew I wasn't crazy. It's probably there to mix with other dyes to create lighter, more 'pastel' sort of shades.

 

I was actually thinking about that. It would take alot of time probably, but it could work. Maybe I could get someone to blush the arms and head a bit more yellow aswell.
I'm not that set on a paper white dolls though it doesn't disturb me that much (most of my dolls are hybrids, so none of them match perfectly, hah) but I figured if there was a way to do it, I could give it a try.

And thanks everyone else for teh input

 

I yellowed a BBB head to more or less match a DZ white body. It took about a month, in the winter, in a window, and it came out a little darker than I wanted because I wasn't home to match it perfectly (doesn't bother me to tell the truth). I know someone else who yellowed a BBB body to match a head, it took about one week, in the summer, in full sun. So...not that much time, now that it is summer. You might frighten your neighbors by hanging up a headless body somewhere though, so be careful where you do it!

 

That would be my guess, since since RIT does not come in a lot of "pastel" shades.

 

Haha, my neighbours are used to weird stuff (since most weird stuff comes from their side), so i might give it a try, thank you

 

I think the Doll will probably yellow over time to match the hands better. I know you like the Luts hands, but there may be other companies that make a more pure-white resin and that sell hands separately.

I am still puzzled by the liquid nitrogen trick, but I am not sure it would yield the colour you want.

 

I know MNF white matches BBB/RS white perfectly. I have some white MNF hands as spares for my white RS An, and you can't tell the difference in the two resins.

 

Actually, Twigling, I have a theory about that (science major and a science nut here, btw). I wonder if the dip in liquid nitrogen doesn't either crystalize the resin or create microcracks. In either case that would refract light more, which would make the resin appear whiter. And I fear in either case that would make the resin ultimately more inclined to fracture. The person who did the experiment said that the resin didn't appear more brittle afterwards, but I would give a lot to get a slice of it under a microscope.

 

hehe, actually it doesn;t match at all
I have a WS Ju and a WS Littlefee ante, and the fairyland resin is way more yellow. I'm guessing your An has yellowed aswell. My Ju has MNF hands aswell ad they don't match.
And Luts resin is pretty much the same as fairyland resin.

Twigling, I'm sure she will yellow, like all my white skin dolls. The difference isn't that enormous, so a slight yellowing wouldn't be bad anyway.

 

No other suggestions for this? My Lishe is too 'red' for my tastes, and I'd love some way to 'pale' her out a bit : / i don't think i could deal with the rubbing off of blushing. There must be some way to remove the colouring pigment in the resin? not that i would know how this all works, haha

 

I recently aquired a DZ Hid that I have been after for awhile but Im now unsure of what to do with him.
I'll get some photos soon (the camera battery is dead) but to me, he looks quite yellow. I compared him to my normal skin dolls and he looks totally different. Im thinking of turning him into a snow/winter demon since thats my favorite time of year. I have alot of questions about starting though Ive never modded in any way before, not even a face up. As soon as I saw his yellow though, he seemed to scream project!

I would like his whole body/face to be either a pure white or a very light blue. With his yellowing, how would I go about this? Is it even possible?
When you dye a doll, can you still move it around or does the dye rub/wear off? Should I try and lighten his yellowing first?
Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any advice!

 

Are the dolls you are comparing your DZ to also from DZ? Keep in mind that different companies use different dyes for their resin. Also, resin color may vary from batch to batch.
ie: My HZ Hui Ka is yellow compared to my other dolls, although he is brand new. My DiM girl is more pink from my DiM boy, even though they come from the same company. The reason is that they came from two different batches, and Arden evidently came from the pink one >.<


If I remember correctly, DZ NS is pretty yellow. Didn't they have two different shades of NS, one that was called "NS yellow" and one that was called "NS Normal/Pink"? Also, is your DZ Hid brand new? Or did you buy him secondhand? If he is brand new, then he probably came from a more yellow resin batch; if you bought him secondhand, then it is possible that he has yellowed slightly from age.

As for dyeing dolls, there's a great dyeing/tanning tutorial out there that uses Rit Dye. You can go about this in two ways.
1) You spray the doll first with MSC, and then dye the doll. This is not a permanent dyeing method because you are just dyeing the MSC layer. It is possible to scrap/chip the MSC and thus the dye. On the plus side, you get a nice, even color that is easier to remove.
2) You can do what I did for Cait Sith, and dye the entire doll without coating it with MSC first. This is permanent, and the dye won't scrap off as easily. You might possibly remove the dye, but only with extensive sanding and cleaning. So if you want to go for something permanent, this is the way to go. If there is some unevenness in tone, you can even it out by spraying the dyed doll with MSC and then dipping it in the dye bath once again. I haven't tried the first method, but I find that this one really works well. So far, Cait Sith has had no wear at all, and he gets moved around a lot!

Now, as for working on your doll. From the looks of your post, it sounds as if his resin has a yellowish tint to it. I would not recommend dyeing him blue, since that might turn him green; plus from the pictures I have seen, Rit dye has a tendency to be vibrant. You could try tinting him blue with some blushing, or lightening him with some white blushing. I don't know how well the blue blushing will turn out though.

If you bought your DZ Hid secondhand, and he has yellowed from age, don't worry! There's a doll whitening/de-yellowing tutorial out there somewhere as well, and while it won't completely take the yellowness away, it helps considerably. I have not tried it yet, but from the pictures that I have seen, it appears to work quite well.
You can also try sanding the surface of your doll very gently. This won't help much if your DZ Hid is brand new, because the actual resin would have been tinted yellow. However, if only the surface of your doll has yellowed from age, then this might help. If I recall correctly, most yellowing is only on the surface and can be removed through sanding. You just have to be careful, especially with the face. If you bought your doll secondhand, I'd try doing a test patch on a spot that can't easily be seen, like on the headcap. If you see a patch of pinker resin after sanding, then that means that he has just yellowed a little; if nothing really changes, then it's just the resin.

But once again, keep in mind that some companies just use really yellow resin.

 

Thanks, Im going to try and lighten his yellow first! He is second hand and over a year old from what I can gather. I had a DZ Hong and the colours are different =/ If he is a yellow skin tone, would I still be able to lighten him somehow?
I had a look at the dye tutorial but the link was broken for me ;_; I'll try it again soon!
Thank you!!!

 

You cannot dye anything lighter. You CANNOT dye anything LIGHTER.

It is absolutely impossible to dye LIGHTER. Only darker. Yes, there is white dye. It is meant for mixing with darker colors to get pastel shades. It will do nothing to a yellow (or darker) doll.

You CAN airbrush the whole body and head with white paint. This will eventually chip off at the joints and wear off elsewhere and will have to be periodically renewed.

You can try to remove the yellow with several chemical processes that are listed here in the forums. None are guaranteed to work. Some are dangerous and should be embarked on with caution and careful preparation.

 

DZ has two colors for their 'normal' skin tone, yellow and pink. If your Hong was a pink skin tone and your Hid is a yellow skin tone they would look completely different because they were cast in different colors. It's not a defect, that's just the color he is.

 

@Victoria - Thanks, but I was only asking, I dont think there is any need for the capitals or the repeated sentence ^^; I wasnt sure if there was a way or not, now I know.

@Amet - Yes, I know. When I brought Hid, I wasnt told which skin tone he was. Now looking at him, he has to be normal yellow. Im not sure what to do with him because I wouldnt have brought him if I had realised

 

Hi Nathaldron...

I too have made the same mistake purchasing a Yellow skin...the girl (who arrived last Friday) is slowly growing on me...I'm working on peach and brown tones on her face up and using a touch of red (let me tell you red really pops)...and a working in layers...she has lighten somewhat...MSC tends to lighten with layers too.

My original concept has changed...instead of being the ice queen ideal I had...I'm working with a sky pirate...hence re-working my knowledge making her more summer than winter.

Basically what I'm saying is make a mistake into an oppuntunity...

Or maybe put him up as a trade in the Marketplace for the skin tone you want

Good luck in what ever you decide to do!

 

He is growing on me now Ive unstrung him and cleaned him up ^^ Im wondering if I can blush him with some white and very light blue maybe, so he still has skin tone but he is lighter in places? Im not sure if that will work ^^;;;
Thank you, Id love to see photos of your doll! This will be my first time doing a face up/blushing and Ive got to wait for the MSC to arrive, Im very impatient XD;;

 

Hi

I know I saw a thread about blushing a doll white before somewhere....but I can't find it for the life of me to see if there was the talk of Dyeing a Doll White? Such as a normal skin doll into white skin.

I don't even know if Rit Dye carries white either...or who carries white dye... . __.;; erm... ORZ

- Lum Out -

 

That is because you cannot dye anything white. You CANNOT dye anything white. This has been said many times. Dye is an additive process, not a subtractive process, and you cannot, cannot, cannot take color out of resin with white dye. Yes, there is white dye. NO it will not dye anything white. White dye is meant to dilute darker colors into pastels so that people can match existing shades.

The only way to make a darker resin white is to airbrush it with white paint (which will chip and scratch and wear off) or blush it with white pastel (which will chip and scratch and wear off).

 

Ahh, ok. @D@;; So, I cannot use it to dye a resin color to be lighter? I don't need it to be pure white...just paler. But, that sucks. I know this was probably said many times just couldn't really find the right thread...also I fail at finding anything... =bad at keywords= orz

And, ok. Thanks for the information.

 

Resin cannot be dyed lighter. As Victoria said, dying resin is an additive process.

 

Ahh, ok. Thanks both of you. XD Just was confused with what Victoria said after she said it was not possible. Oh well. I'll just have to deal with her being NS because the company doesn't offer WS. =wants to make the dolly albino= lol

 

An alternative could be to get a whiteskin body from a diffrent company and blush the head to match. I blushed a Delf Head lighter to mach the Obitsu body I had and it worked fine. The sealer chipped a little inside the socket at the neckjoint, but it was not visible if you did not tilt her head up and looked right inside the joint.

 

Just to clarify what Victoria and Kate have already said, since you seemed confused: No, you cannot, ever, in any way, dye resin white. Dyeing means adding dye (usually RIT dye) to boiling water and dipping the pieces of your doll into the pot to change their color. You can't make anything white by adding more color -- think of it like mixing paint. You always add the dark to the light, not light to dark.

HOWEVER, you aren't without options... just without the option of dyeing. Like Ookami said, one option is to get a body in the shade you want, and blush just the head to match. Other options, as Victoria mentioned, are to blush, airbrush, or paint the doll another color. Blushing uses chalk pastels, which you shave into powder, then dust onto the doll, slowly building up the layers of color until you reach the shade you want. Airbrushing and painting are the same concept, only using acrylic paint and not chalk pastel. You'd either need an airbrush, compressor, acrylics and an appropriate thinner to spray a fine, even coat of color onto your doll, or a paint like Tamiya spray paint (make sure it's resin safe!!!) to replicate the same technique.

After either brushing or painting, you're going to need to seal with an appropriate sealant -- usually MSC or Volks ZM. Lke Victoria said, this is where you run into trouble. BJDs have joints that rub against themselves when they move, as well as the small bumps and bruises that occur when they get dropped, bumped, knocked around. Any of those are going to wear away the sealant and chip the paint or blushing. You'll have to patch, and maybe recolor entirely at some point. Otherwise, you're going to have to keep her in clothing that covers her knees, elbows, hips -- all of those will wear back to their normal color when you pose her. However, with some careful upkeep, these options WILL give you the beautiful skin tone you want.

All of these methods for changing skintone have been covered in detail on this forum -- try searching blushing or airbrushing I hope this cleared up your remaining confusion.

 

There are companies that make absolutely stark white resin, Bobobie/Resinsoul for example.

 

Most real albino people have skin that is a soft or even a dark pink, with white hair and violet like, grey or blue eyes. You can still make your doll albino. Just give her/him white hair and light eyes, and be sure to find them some little sunglasses!

 

What about vinyl? O_o Can you dye vinyl white?

 

As Arashiko said, just a couple of posts ago:

And as Victoria Victrix said, a few posts before that:

I'm not sure what's so confusing about this. Even though the main example for discussion has been resin, "anything" means anything. The principle and the chemical process remain the same, no matter what the material is. Maybe you didn't read through the thread before posting?

 

You cannot dye anything white. Not vinyl, not resin.

 

You can't dye it... but it can be painted, yes.
In this thread I asked about a product called vinyl dye, but I didn't really hear anything back. The ingredients are listed on that site, and it does contain acetone, but most spraypaints do... but as it's formulated for use on vinyl specifically, I wouldn't think it would be harmful to it. I'd still really like to hear if anyone has used it with any manner of success on a BJD, as it comes in white. It sure would be nice if there were something to make the "Dyeing lighter" problem disappear.

 

Depending on the company, some normal skin can look fairly close to albino, with a bit of blushing. Airbrushing might be another option~

 

Does anyone have experience with changing their doll's color?

Do you prefer dying your doll or using sprays? Also, what materials have you used?

I was thinking of changing the color of my Ophelia Licorice from black to a dark grey. Is it possible to change the color of a dark doll to a lighter color? She's made out of resin, so which medium do you think would work better?

Any advice/tips would be helpful!

Thank you!

Here is a photo of the doll in question for reference:

 

I don't think you could DYE her lighter...

you could probably spray her white, then spray her again in the grey you want. But this will never be permenant... xD;

You are probably best with MSCing her to lighten the colour a little C:

That's my opinion as someone who has two dolls i have spray painted~ C:

 

Bringing on a thin layer of white or gray pastel might work...then applying loads of MSC.

 

This might sound a bit weird, but I've intentionally sprayed a head with MSC in a bathroom that was very humid from just having taken a shower. (Be careful with the breathing thing, ie. don't inhale) It makes the MSC get a very frosty appearance, so it worked well for the color change I was trying to get and it might work for you. You should be aware that it is not the most durable, but on the plus side, it's easily removed.

 

You cannot dye a doll lighter. The best way to change her color would be to have her airbrushed. It would take sooooo many coats of pastel and I doubt the coverage would be enough. The only issue with air brushing is the wear on the joints but you get that issue with body blushing too. I know there is a product they use on heads when they are being developed, that is like a gray primer that you could use but I dont think the color is very nice. Too flat and dull. Go with the airbrushing, plus if you dont like her gray you can remove it in the future and it will not damage her resin.

On another note, I adore this girl. You are so lucky to receive her. I really wish CCC was still making this girl because I really adore her. I love your outfit/ style so cute.

 

I agree with Tsukidoll, you're fortunate to have her, and I don't see any reason
why you would want to change her color. So in response to your question: No,
you shouldn't. But it's your doll. I would just highly recommend that if you do
choose to alter her you do so in a way that isn't permanent or damaging, so no
sanding/dyeing. There's a good chance CCC will never make more licorice pigs.
*shrugs* Oh well.

 

There is no way to dye a dark color into a light one. You can only go darker (unless it is already black of course). You can spraypaint and blush her with a lighter color tho. It will be a lot less permanent.

 

It does not seem like it would be possible to lighten her, I think only applying a coat of something over the resin would do the trick, but I have to agree with other posts, shes great the way she is!