I have this great Innova Champion Roc3 mid-range disc… that I can never find. It’s not because I threw it poorly, mostly, but because I just can’t see it.
You see, I’m color deficient, which is similar to being color blind. I can see most colors just fine, but have a really hard time with reds and greens. That means finding this clear, pink disc can be a challenge and 75% of the time I’m asking my buddies to help me find it, even though it’s 12 feet right in front of me.
Rather than buying a new disc, I decided to dye it to a more visible color. In this case, blue. I’m not real sure how the blue will blend with the pink disc, but if it comes out purple, that will be ok.
Materials
- Disc golf disc – Innova Champion Roc3
- Jaquard iDye Poly blue (JID 1451)
- Enameled pot
- Frying or candy thermometer
- Vinyl/rubber gloves
Cleaning
To start off with, you want to make sure your disc is clean. Just wash it with regular dish soap and water. Now set the disc aside for a few minutes.
This is the part where you want to put on the gloves… unless you want to have dye on your hands for the next week.
Prep the Dye
Now you can start getting your dye prepared. Since I only need to fill the pot with enough water to cover the disc (1- 1 1/2 inches), I don’t need to use the full dye packet.
For this job, I’m only going to use about 1/3 of the package. If I wanted a lighter blue, I could use less. For ultra dark, use more.
Once you have the water and dye mixed, put it on the stove-top on high until it starts to steam.
Dunk the Disk
When they dye and water mixture starts steaming, go ahead and place the disc in top down and let the rim fill with water. Be sure to turn the heat down to a low setting and use the thermometer to check the temperature.
From all I have read on the subject of disc dyeing, you will get best results with the temperature at around 140 degrees. The instructions that come with the dye are mostly useless for this application.
After 15-20 minutes, flip the disc over and let it sit for another 10-15 minutes.
Remove the Disk
Now go ahead and take it out and see what it looks like!
If the color is what you want, rinse the disc in cold water. Remember, you can’t make the disc any lighter, but if you want it darker, put it back in.
If you want it even darker still, you can try adding more dye and putting it back in the dye for another 10-15 minutes. Oh, by the way, determining how long to leave it in is pretty much a guessing game. The times I’ve used are a guess based on other peoples experience (and guesses).
Beautiful Shade of Cobalt
In the end, the disc I ended up with was, as my wife put it, a “beautiful shade of cobalt!” I am very pleased with the result. One thing I learned with this particular disc dyeing is that the original pink really didn’t affect the final color. I’m not sure if this is because I started out with a very light color and went to a much darker color. It was a great experience and a great way to save yourself from buying a new disc if you don’t need to!
Kevin