Mintylicious Dyes a Small Centaur

Yes, it's another iDyePoly project; Minylicious aka Mint did the dyeing with some changes from my method--the time in the dye bath was only 5 minutes for the pieces, but the pot and the centaur parts were carefully prepped first. I don't think Mint did a final scrub or sealing afterwards, but because the dye pigment was essentially strained first there may have been no residue to worry about. (My biggest headache with the iDyePoly, besides the smell, was the dissolvable container for the dye--it does melt but there is this awkward transition phase when the thing is melted but still wandering around like a blob of rice noodle.) Here's the article on Tumblr:
http://mintyliciousbjd.tumblr.com/post/149608709449/my-first-dye-job-soom-pyrol-unicenta-years-ago

In case you aren't on Tumblr and can't access the article, here's a clip of the dye process:

Dye Method:

Before continuing further, I created a dye concentrate in hot water then allowed the mixture to fully dissolve before adding it to the bath. I didn’t want to go crazy and over-saturate the water, so initially I only used 1/3 of the dye packet (without intensifier). When I tested the solution I quickly realized that wouldn’t be enough…

So ultimately I ended up dumping most of the dye into my concentrate—¾ of the packet. I should note that I added the dye concentrate to the big ol’ pot through a coffee filter in an attempt to prevent powder clumps from infiltrating the bath.

I continued boiling eight (8) quarts of water in a sixteen (16) quart pot over high heat. I used 100% polyester string to submerge the pieces one by one.

I wanted as close to an onyx black as I could achieve, so I ended up dyeing each part twice. First dip was for three (3) minutes, followed by a quick rinse in lukewarm water. At this point, I could still see the bronze beneath the dye, so once each piece had a trip in the bath I let them all cool briefly before dipping them again for one and a half (1.5) minutes.

I allowed the parts to cure for 48 hours before restringing.

Gloves were worn through the whole process. :D