Dyed My Seat Belts

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1969VADart

1969VADart

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I decided to try to recolor my seat belts in my 69 Dart. Didn't want to spend the $400 necessary to get new belts for now. I used the Rit Fabric Dye. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, just time consuming. Here are a few pictures.

Before:

http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/W...E-45CC-9205-428B02257BA4_zpszgbmbrnh.jpg.html

During: Boiled them in a big pot then rinsed them each several times then let them soak in a cold water bath for a little bit.

http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/W...1-46E9-AB1A-743A5AFFB545_zpspsjqnq0i.jpg.html

http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/W...C-4F14-BEFA-4DB5D1F8D5B9_zpspuoh8me9.jpg.html

After:

http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/W...3-42BF-96C6-EC083888A9D7_zpsgqghmmky.jpg.html

http://s1364.photobucket.com/user/W...4-4292-B1F6-4437181F59C8_zps7bx6hs2j.jpg.html
 
how about a few more details
how long to soak?
rinse twice...warm and then cold?
i pkg. dye?
 
They do look much better.no faded blueish look anymore.layout directions for us step by step to get your results.i wanta try it too!
 
ir3333 said:
how about a few more details
how long to soak?
rinse twice...warm and then cold?
i pkg. dye?
Click to expand...


Here is what I did step-by-step.

1. I used two boxes of the Rit Dye (each box has a 1 1/8 oz. package) because I wanted to make sure they dyed dark. I had read that one package might leave them too light.
2, I found a big damn pot (probably about a 5-6 gallon pot).
3. I filled the pot with 3 gallons of water and put it on the stove to heat. It took a long time to get the pot of water hot, probably because of the type of pot.
4. Once the water in the pot was close to a boil, I took a clean one gallon jug and poured in four cups of hot water out of the faucet (two cups per package of dye).
5. I then shook the jug up really well to mix the dye.
6. I added the mixed water to the pot of hot water on the stove.
7. I then added two cups of distilled vinegar (one cup per package of dye) to the pot. The vinegar was recommended when dying nylon.
8. After using a large serving spoon to mix the pot, I added the seat belts to the pot. I used a large set of grill tongs to constantly stir and move the belts in the pot.
9. I soaked them in the pot for 30 minutes.
10. After 30 minutes, I removed the belts from the pot and dropped them in a luke warm bath in the kitchen sink.
11. Then one-by-one, I rinsed them with cold water.
12. After one rinse, I soaked them in cold water.
13. I rinsed them a second time each until no more color was draining out of the belts.
14. I then soaked them in a clean, cold water bath again to see if they would still bleed.
15. After a few minutes of soaking a third time, I rinsed each of them in cold water and then laid them outside in the sunlight to dry.
16. I flipped them over once during drying. After the completely dried, I got one of the belts wet and rubbed it on a white t-shirt to see if it would bleed, and it did not.
 
Love to see people thinking outside the box! Why spend big bucks on something that still works. Good on you buddy, and you I am looking at going the same direction with the belts in my 68 Dart.
 
1968dartman said:
Love to see people thinking outside the box! Why spend big bucks on something that still works. Good on you buddy, and you I am looking at going the same direction with the belts in my 68 Dart.
Click to expand...

I figured if I messed it up I could still fall back on buying new belts. But I didn't want to have to spend $400 unnecessarily, particularly since I can use that money to buy the last couple other items or put it towards something else with my car. I will probably still have to paint the buckles. The hot water cleaned up a lot of the grime off of the metal though.
 
I have done this also. I used a standard cooking pot about 2 gallon with one box and didn't use vinegar. I did a few belts at a time and soaked for 20 to 30 minutes each. I followed up as stated cold water rinse etc.. I just hung them up to dry in the garage for a day. They came out awesome.
 
They look great. My concern is are 50 year old belt going to do the job in a head on crash?
 
67cudafb said:
They look great. My concern is are 50 year old belt going to do the job in a head on crash?
Click to expand...

I have read a lot of posts that discuss this subject. The belts look to be in good shape with no fraying and none of the stitching coming apart. I suppose there is a risk but opinions certainly vary on the topic. I think I will try to avoid the head-on collisions as a precaution.
 
I did mine almost 30 years ago and they still look great .

I just put them in the kitchen sink added two packages of black dye and poured in boiling water and let them soak for 30 minutes.

You would never know that they had once been black.

Cleaned the sink with comet cleanser when I was done
 
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