red dye fading from sun

[crabcreekind]

I made a red knife blank for someone, and they said that after a while in the window of a store that it was no longer red. This was cast with alumilite.

Is there any way to prevent this? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[KenV]

Ultra Violet - most dyes are not color fast and some, like food coloring fade very fast.

I have been dying with metal acid dyes (TransTint is one sold for wood working) which are the most color fast dyes marketed for general use. I have been running the dyed wood through Cactus Juice after it is dry. The heat of the pre-dry helps set the dye.

There is a little bleed into the cactus juice, but not much. Fading is very slow with metal acid dyes.

 

[low_48]

What dye?

 

[79spitfire]

I ran into this with the alcohol based inks. They are not fade resistant. Red is also one of the colors most prone to fading, as it tends to absorb UV spectrum light. I do not have a solution off hand, other than to not place the finished objects in the sun, or use dyes that state they are UV resistant. I do not know if the Red Alumilite dye is. It seems to me many of the Perlex colors are UV resistant, but again, it may not extend to reds.

 

[VotTak]

I wanted to create a thread but than found this one.
My story is simple. I have double dyed(red and blue) blanks from my last batch and I just left them on table. Table and blanks were exposed to sun for couple hours everyday. after some time I noticed that the side turned to sun have faded colors. And it is very noticeable. Opposite side of the blanks looks normal. That is the story. Now it forces me to ask some questions, as maybe you are acquainted with that issue.
I was using alumilite dyes for stabilization(probably most of us do the same). Question is how to fight the issue. I have never seen that on the pen, just on the blank. Could it be that layers of CA protect dye from fading. Regular glass protects from UV, so maybe CA works the same way?
Actually I do not even know whether CA protects dye from fading, it is just a guess.
Anyway, I appreciate any input. Thanks

 

[Sylvanite]

My experience is that Alumilite Red Dye is not color fast. It fades fairly rapidly with exposure to UV light. Therefore, I don't cast red blanks with it anymore. I haven't found a replacement dye, so I dropped red from my opaque blank offerings.

I hope that helps,
Eric

 

[1080Wayne]

Not just Alumilite . Most if not all reds are not light fast . That includes the fungus produced red in box elder . Make sure your customers are aware of what exposure to light can do .