Another do-it-myself disaster in the making
May 1, 2010 1:15 PM Subscribe
Is there a reason I shouldn't change the color of some bricks in my house with Rit dye? It seems to work fine, and doesn't smell nearly as much as wood stain does.
My fireplace is faced with ugly orangish-pinkish bricks. I'd like them to be a different color. Wood stain seems to work just fine on a test brick, but so does Rit dye, and the dye doesn't bring the fumes and flammability that wood stain does.
I can't find anything on the internet about doing something like this, and I'd like to know if I'm going to do something bad and hard to fix before I start it. The bricks get warm if we make a fire, but not hot - it's just the fireplace facing I want to change, not the firebox.
And if the dye is really a bad idea - is wood stain any better? Or something else?
My fireplace is faced with ugly orangish-pinkish bricks. I'd like them to be a different color. Wood stain seems to work just fine on a test brick, but so does Rit dye, and the dye doesn't bring the fumes and flammability that wood stain does.
I can't find anything on the internet about doing something like this, and I'd like to know if I'm going to do something bad and hard to fix before I start it. The bricks get warm if we make a fire, but not hot - it's just the fireplace facing I want to change, not the firebox.
And if the dye is really a bad idea - is wood stain any better? Or something else?
Best answer: This is not a very good idea. Rit all-purpose dye is composed of two types of dye, an acid dye that can bond to wool or nylon, and a direct dye that can bond to cotton and wood. Neither one can bond to brick. It also contains a great deal of salt (far more salt than anything else), which will act to absorb moisture from the air whenever the humidity is high, plus detergents and dyes, but no binder of any sort. There is nothing that will attach the dye to the brick. With time, the dye will rub off on anything that touches it. This will ruin any clothing or furnishings that rub against the brick.
It would be much better to buy a brick stain that can actually attach to the brick. Any paint at all would be more suitable for bricks than Rit dye, because the binder in which the pigments are suspended to make paint will essentially glue the pigments to the brick. There is nothing in Rit that will similarly glue the dye particles to the brick.
In contrast, a quick web search turns up Dyebrick, a product that contains sodium silicate and iron pigments. Sodium silicate, also known as water glass, is a very interesting material which dries to form a glass. Knowing nothing about the product than what the Dyebrick page describes, we can immediately be sure that it is a far more suitable and permanent way to color bricks. Once it dries, the pigments in it will be attached to the brick, instead of being free to rub off on anything that touches it.
If you do use a textile dye, in spite of its inability to attach to the brick, then Rit is one of the worst choices, simply because of its expense. Rit is very costly for what you get. One box of Rit dye runs about two dollars. The amount of dye in the box is roughly equivalent to 6¢ worth of the Industrial dyes, sold by Dharma Trading Company, which contain a direct dye very similar to the direct dye in Rit dye. Direct dyes are not high quality dyes, but they tend to be very inexpensive, except when purchased in the form of all-purpose dye. The price on the box of all-purpose dye is astonishing when you consider how little dye is actually in the box.
Don't neglect the health issues of having loose unattached textile dyes in your living environment. Dyes that are bonded to a solid material are harmless, but some of your loose dye powder, even after it has been painted onto bricks, will eventually end up dusting into the air that you breathe. While the direct dyes in Rit all-purpose dye are listed as non-toxic, the same is not true of the acid dyes in the mixture. Rit dye is safe to use as directed, but, until it is attached to a textile fiber or similar material, it should not be handled without plastic gloves. I can't imagine that you want to wear protective gear every time you touch your colored bricks.
posted by Ery at 1:45 PM on May 1, 2010 [9 favorites]
It would be much better to buy a brick stain that can actually attach to the brick. Any paint at all would be more suitable for bricks than Rit dye, because the binder in which the pigments are suspended to make paint will essentially glue the pigments to the brick. There is nothing in Rit that will similarly glue the dye particles to the brick.
In contrast, a quick web search turns up Dyebrick, a product that contains sodium silicate and iron pigments. Sodium silicate, also known as water glass, is a very interesting material which dries to form a glass. Knowing nothing about the product than what the Dyebrick page describes, we can immediately be sure that it is a far more suitable and permanent way to color bricks. Once it dries, the pigments in it will be attached to the brick, instead of being free to rub off on anything that touches it.
If you do use a textile dye, in spite of its inability to attach to the brick, then Rit is one of the worst choices, simply because of its expense. Rit is very costly for what you get. One box of Rit dye runs about two dollars. The amount of dye in the box is roughly equivalent to 6¢ worth of the Industrial dyes, sold by Dharma Trading Company, which contain a direct dye very similar to the direct dye in Rit dye. Direct dyes are not high quality dyes, but they tend to be very inexpensive, except when purchased in the form of all-purpose dye. The price on the box of all-purpose dye is astonishing when you consider how little dye is actually in the box.
Don't neglect the health issues of having loose unattached textile dyes in your living environment. Dyes that are bonded to a solid material are harmless, but some of your loose dye powder, even after it has been painted onto bricks, will eventually end up dusting into the air that you breathe. While the direct dyes in Rit all-purpose dye are listed as non-toxic, the same is not true of the acid dyes in the mixture. Rit dye is safe to use as directed, but, until it is attached to a textile fiber or similar material, it should not be handled without plastic gloves. I can't imagine that you want to wear protective gear every time you touch your colored bricks.
posted by Ery at 1:45 PM on May 1, 2010 [9 favorites]
Best answer: For what it's worth, we used water-based wood stain on bricks in our living room and it worked beautifully, with no smell to speak of. We had just stripped paint off the bricks, which left them looking a little faded. We used a walnut brown stain, just a tiny bit, which darkened them right back to something like their original color. It's been 7 or 8 years or so, and we have had no problems. It just took a tiny bit of stain on a paper towel, wiped on each brick. I would think the water-based stain would work better than Rit.
posted by litlnemo at 2:33 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by litlnemo at 2:33 PM on May 1, 2010
20 years ago I changed the color of my fireplace bricks from nearly white to a warm coral color--with watercolor paint. I used a stiff brush, in a pretty dry application, and worked it lightly into the brick. The brick face is rough, not smooth, and it took the color beautifully. Rather than a coat of paint, I would describe the bricks as "blushing". No one would ever guess that they weren't originally this color.
No maintainance problems, no need to "wash" the fireplace bricks--just a dusting every now and then.
posted by subatomiczoo at 4:22 PM on May 1, 2010
No maintainance problems, no need to "wash" the fireplace bricks--just a dusting every now and then.
posted by subatomiczoo at 4:22 PM on May 1, 2010
Seconding Ery – a quick Google search reveals that Dyebrick makes exactly what you need.
posted by halogen at 6:03 PM on May 1, 2010
posted by halogen at 6:03 PM on May 1, 2010
"Rather than a coat of paint, I would describe the bricks as 'blushing'. No one would ever guess that they weren't originally this color."
Yes, that's how I'd describe ours, too. It doesn't look like paint at all -- it looks very natural.
posted by litlnemo at 5:50 AM on May 2, 2010
Yes, that's how I'd describe ours, too. It doesn't look like paint at all -- it looks very natural.
posted by litlnemo at 5:50 AM on May 2, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. This is great info. I'd found Dyebrick, but somehow a less useful version of their site than the ones linked above.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 12:22 PM on May 2, 2010
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 12:22 PM on May 2, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by TedW at 1:44 PM on May 1, 2010