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rifleman2000
03-23-10, 08:59
I have a bunch of old ACUs, no longer in the Army. I want to dye them to make them suitable (or more suitable) for woodland. Anyone ever do this?
ICANHITHIMMAN
03-23-10, 10:45
No but I would like to see what you end up with?
Lee Indy
03-23-10, 11:25
cant says i have but start with light green and work your way darker. go to dark to quick and youll have black
Iraq Ninja
03-23-10, 11:32
Try bleaching some.

Back in the late seventies when Iran was taken over by the extremists, the Ranger Bns were on standby to go to Iran to destroy some AA missiles that we didn't want to fall into the hands of the Russians. It never happened, but we were instructed to use bleach on our camo to turn it more brown to better fit in. We never did it, but I wonder if it would work with ACUs...
Cerberus
03-23-10, 21:32
I will eventually get around to tryin this since I have a couple of uniform items from Iraq that are trashed. Don't hold you breath though, nothing gets done in this household very fast.
ICANHITHIMMAN
03-23-10, 22:18
dont be mad if I beat you to it I'm laid off and have a whole tuff box full
Cerberus
03-24-10, 15:52
Won't bother me at all. Would be cool to see what others get anyway.
tpd223
03-24-10, 23:30
Bleach can seriously degrade cotton and many synthetics, makes them sort of worn out.


Way back when we made our black SWAT uniforms out of BDUs and black RIT dye, worked rather well but you could still see a pattern on the cloth.

Personally I'd try the RIT in whatever color I was looking to get.
Cerberus
03-25-10, 21:33
I wish I could figure out how to replicate WW2 mustard type of OD. Its amazing how well the old GI uniforms items blend in the woods around here. I've seen some coyote brown gear that is real close in coloration.
Eddiesketti
03-26-10, 09:11
I bleached BDU's before. They ended up a lighter shade. The brown was tan/rust color. Different looking. Dying ACU's would be interesting. I would try brown or drk green dye on them.
Pathfinder Ops
03-26-10, 16:03
I tried this thinking I would dye them black.

I just bought a bottle of the over the counter dye and boiled a big ole pot of water per the directions.

I used the amount of dye recommended but the only came out a charcoal type color.

Not what I was expecting but I gotta say that I actually prefer that they did not turn BLACK.

I have found that they don't stand out and are more useful in a wider range of light conditions.

I live in the North east in the mountains and while green and brown are the primary colors summer time the gray black duskiness of these seem to be OK year round.

I actually think they are better than the original color scheme.
Cerberus
03-26-10, 19:22
I actually think they are better than the original color scheme.

If you are talking ACUs then it don't take much to better.
Pathfinder Ops
03-26-10, 19:26
If you are talking ACUs then it don't take much to better.

Yeah after I wrote that I thought.... Hmmm I didn't really offer much there. :p

Ah well.
ST911
03-27-10, 15:26
Any reason to think that dyeing ABUs would produce any different a result than dyeing ACUs?
Chris19delta
04-18-10, 12:02
I have a bunch of old ACUs, no longer in the Army. I want to dye them to make them suitable (or more suitable) for woodland. Anyone ever do this?

I traded mine (duffle bag full) to a surplus store for about $150 in store credit
Iraq Ninja
04-18-10, 19:31
I traded mine (duffle bag full) to a surplus store for about $150 in store credit

Ok, and how does this relate to the question of dyeing ACUs? :D

Oh, and welcome to the forum..
Chris19delta
04-18-10, 19:35
Ok, and how does this relate to the question of dyeing ACUs? :D

Oh, and welcome to the forum..

that theres better things to do with acus than try to dye them
variablebinary
04-18-10, 20:10
Sell at Army/Navy store

Buy Multicam "ACU" set

Much easier
tc556guy
05-01-10, 09:12
Ok, and how does this relate to the question of dyeing ACUs? :D

Oh, and welcome to the forum..

It MIGHT be the better option, and then use the money to buy something new in an appropriate color of your choosing.....after wearing the ACUs for 2 years straight in Astan, I'm not sure their durability warrants the extra effort in recoloring them.....
larryp
05-11-10, 23:46
Sell at Army/Navy store

Buy Multicam "ACU" set

Much easier
I think this is the route I'd go or even see if you could trade them straight across for some older style BDU's.
variablebinary
05-12-10, 03:08
I think this is the route I'd go or even see if you could trade them straight across for some older style BDU's.

My local surplus store has a ton of BDU Multicam on the cheap. I am sure you'll be able to score a deal easily.
nodnarb77
04-20-11, 17:15
http://imgDSCN2365imgRit tan dye makes any camo better IMO. But go with tan, actual brown will more than likely leave a reddish tint. Tan on the other hand browns everything into a nice dirt shade. Its not like it can make ACU's any worse!!! I used a bottle on a couple of sets of vietnam tiger stripes and the results were great. Different patterns for sure but brown/tan works everywhere.http:http://flic.kr/p/a5UYUe
l3mon
04-25-11, 06:57
I have a bunch of old ACUs, no longer in the Army. I want to dye them to make them suitable (or more suitable) for woodland. Anyone ever do this?

try soaking them in a bleach/water solution first to lighten them, then dye away, they wont turn out as dark as the water looks..
nodnarb77
07-28-11, 19:14
http://flic.kr/p/a5UYUe Not ACU's but I just had to share.
QuietShootr
07-28-11, 20:04
Sorry for the hijack, but if anyone could pick me up a set of GI OCPs please send me a PM. Appreciate it.
cmoore
09-01-11, 14:11
No but I would like to see what you end up with?


Me too...I'm dye-ing to see how they turn out.....:D
brian0128
10-24-11, 11:25
I'm interested to see how this turns out. I have 8 new flame retardant ones sitting in a duffel bag and 8 lightly used sets that I never use.
ICANHITHIMMAN
10-24-11, 12:19
It turns almost purpule with brown rite dye not worth it.
M2AP
10-30-11, 13:11
I tried this not long ago on 2 pair of ACU pants plus several ACU molle pouches.
Two bottles of tan Rit dye and followed the directions using an extra large capacity washing machine.
Most everything had an orange tint, some items more than others due to the different material.
The pants were from diiferent manufacturers (both nyco), and each took the dye a little differently as far as the orange tint.
It wasn't looking good at that point, so a few days later I redyed all of those items using one bottle of Rit dark green. That killed the orange and gave all of the material a darker, more subdued color.
I don't have any pics to post right now and it will be a while before I can (weeks).