Dying Longboard Wheels and Plastics Connectors

Folks apparently I have successfully dyed my Hub motor longboard wheels into darker color. Initially I would like to achieve black color from the blue color, I end up with almost black dark blue. Sadly it’s not black, but this dark is good enough.

So heres the process: Buy RIT Dye brand <-- all purpose dye, I tried with Dylon brand for clothing it doesn’t work. I’ll try with Dylon multipurpose soon. Heat up water to almost boiling point (try this first) and add the dye. Stir well for 1 minute. Then add the wheels!

You can have the wheels touching the bottom of the pan, however it’s best not to have them in direct contact with the heat.

This process takes about 1 hour - 3 hours of constant heating with stirring the dye. Here you can see the result.

Before left picture, After right picture (NOTE: These are the same wheels, but I sanded down the right one to achieve matt color). There you can see that I also tried with my balance lead plastic, they turned black after 10 minutes lol. I tried also with XT60 yellow plastic, all turns black very quickly!

And here is the after math, 1 matt and 1 glossy dark blue :smiley:

As you can see this maintains the colors, the durometer and the glossy / matt texture of the wheels. They are dyed deep enough that scratching them doesn’t alter the color. Thats the reason why it takes hell long to dye them.

NOTE: please be careful when heating longboard wheels in the pan, make sure you are always there the whole time to avoid wheels melting and other causes. The process takes time, it really does to make sure to be prepared! Also this method doesn’t always work with all longboard wheels, I tried them with my front wheels (90mm blue wheels with plastic core), after 4 hours they barely gets darker. So it doesn’t always work!

Here is the example for the XT60 connectors.

Left is the original black XT60. Middle is the original yellow XT60. Right is the yellow XT60 being dyed to black.


Might be useful for someone who want to have plastic color perfect finish :smiley:

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I wonder if the dying process will affect the material properties of the wheels or connectors…

Material properties, not quite sure. But connectors doesn’t get dyed at all. Dye doesnt stick / penetrate metal.

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so the dye on the XT60 wore off? that sucks :/

XT60 consist of plastic parts and metal parts. When you take them off from the dye, the metal stay shiny while the plastic is completely black. Dying is not adding layers of colors, but the colors are being absorbed by the materials.

I guess I phrased it wrong, I was talking about the plastic part of the connectors. I just wonder if the dye will make it slightly conductive, brittle, etc.

I dont think the dye will do that, but overheating the plastic / rubber can change its properties, thats why its important not to overheat / cook the water with your parts in them! I’ll be trying the dye out soon on my orange wheels and the plastic case of my Nyko Kama.

do you know if this works with orangatang kegels?

Partial, it can’t be dyed entirely.

I want to dye the Abec 11 97mm Flywheels. Do you think the black would work or would it just make it a dark green? I’m also afraid of the plastic in the hub melting.

If you do try this, PLEASE post your experience. The green is kinda wearing on me.

I think it will be dark green. Best achieved with the purple kegel. But dont bother dying when now there are alot of vendor selling black 80mm wheels. Back then it was non existent.

I don’t see any 97mm black wheels. The size is the most important factor.

Yes indeed 93 - 97mm in black is hard to find, almost non existent. I was searching for it too. However it’s not so important as you can still use the the 83mm wheel with slightly added riser. The height difference is not so significant after all.

I’d be worried about the glue between the urethane and the plastic hubs under that much heat.

Its more about the added urethane. I would love to have the smooth buttery ride the flywheels offer on my Carbon GT without ruining the “F1 Car” Aesthetic.

Oh shoot. That might be a major issue

I have a set of 97mm Flywheels and some black RIT dye. I’ll let you know how it turns out. I’ll be using a sous vide machine, so temperature will not be an issue, I know that for sure.

The plan is to try to keep the orange plastic while dying the thane black. Will do some experimenting.

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Any update?