Rit Dye Remover

[Zachary Reed]

I hope this helps someone. I haven't found much info on removing rit dye from handle scales so I'll document my experience. Years ago I dyed my Native 5 salt black with some success. It appeared to be black factory FRN scales and was happy with the results for a while. Eventually I began to regret my decision and wanted to return my native to its original yellow scales. I couldn't find any for sale nor did I think it would be possible to go from black back to yellow, a dull dark mustard color perhaps, but not the bright pristine yellow from the factory.

I brought a ten inch pot of water to a boil then added an entire 2oz packet of Rit color remover and returned it to a simmer. I'm not sure if the entire pack was necessary but it worked for me. I stirred my scales for approx 40 minutes checking the color every now and then until any hint of black was removed. The end result was a pale yellow, already much more successful than I was anticipating. I then dumped and rinsed the color remover from the pot then added water and returned it to a boil. I added half a bottle of yellow Rit dye and brought it to a simmer. I stirred my scales into the dye solution and checked the color frequently. When I was happy with the color I rinsed the scales in cool water and reassembled the knife. You'd be hard pressed to notice a difference between my native and a factory native. Very pleased with the end result.

 

[DMG]

Wow, I thought RIT was permanent and not reversible. That came back to yellow nicely.

 

[Zachary Reed]

Wow, I thought RIT was permanent and not reversible. That came back to yellow nicely.

I thought the same thing. My native was black for about three years before I decided to try it. What I thought was interesting is that the rit dye was removed and it returned to yellow. What ever spyderco uses to color their frn it was not really affected by the rit color remover.

 

[USMCPOP]

I wonder if I shampooed my hair with RIT dye remover if my gray/white hair would return to it's former darker color. Can't be any worse than Gorilla Glue.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I think I recall reading somewhere that Rit dye remover has a strong, bad smell, and for that reason I haven't been willing to try it. What was your experience?

 

[Zachary Reed]

I think I recall reading somewhere that Rit dye remover has a strong, bad smell, and for that reason I haven't been willing to try it. What was your experience?

I didn't find that it had a bad smell at all. It was almost a detergent type smell. The yellow rit dye however had an awful smell when it was heated up. It stunk up my entire apartment.