Color Wiimote Straps

Using some Rit dye, you can customize your Wiimote's straps. I went with Blue and Fuchsia, and at $4 per color, that's not a bad investment.

Step 1 Go to the store and get some Rit dye.

I figured that dark colors would work best, so if you get yellow, you may be sad with the results. Take your box of dye home, and mix it with 1 cup of boiling water on your stove top. Keep the mixture on the stove, and then stir in your strap(s) (I found that 1-2 straps per bath works the best). Stir it around and make sure you move the plastic on the strap around or you'll get a light spot. When you're happy with the shade, rinse the strap under hot water until it runs clear, then under cold water for a few seconds. Let it dry and you're done!

Comments

[casey321b]

think i could just use a sharpie??? maybe i will have to take the ink out of it and dip the strap in... ill tell you if it works... if anyone has any ideas PM me

[D3v1n]

thats what i was thinking..

[casey321b]

I forgot to post what happened. I used green, and it stays on the fabric nicely, but it sort of came off the plastic. I used a cheap brand of permanent marker, so that could be the problem. Also, it was green, and is a light color, so that could have been part of the problem.

[candle360]

where do you buy the Rit dye? I don't find it anywhere I looked. Walmart?

[geemarc12]

rollerblade shops such as rollersnakes if u life in england

[GrueHunter]

Most craft stores have it. I went to Michael's.

[candle360]

thanks that'll save time looking through like everywhere, PX, Walmart, and other places like...i don't know. I'll check Hal's Hobby shop across town, they do cool things with RCs and stuff. thanks again

[SWV1787]

I like it alot, so the plastic dyes in the bath too? has anybody tried dying the plastic off of a Wii-mote? I think I might try to make an all red Wii-mote for my girlfriend but I would like to know if anybody else has tried and can give some advice...

[munchman]

Wow! These look great. If i didn't know better i would swear that these were made by Nintendo. Great job! 4 1/2 stars

[wolfy02]

very nice, i think the chunk on the blue one is just because of a different kind of plastic. Perhaps i might try out the wiimote and if that does will maybe a wii.

[Calisto7]

Here are the ones we did, the kids got to pick the color they wanted for theirs. We got our dye at a Joann's Fabric, they had a lot to pick from. So much easier then trying to figure out which skin/cover would work best with the motes without causing issues with play. Colors are better in person, the light washed them out a bit.

[fastm3driver]

The fact that RIT dye's plastic is interesting. It is hard to tell by the pictures but how nice is the surface finish look on the plastic part. That do you think about dying the whole remote? Would the finish be consistent? Could you do this and then just clear coat over it? I'm going to dye all my joysticks if it works.

[GrueHunter]

I'm thinking of getting a refrub Wiimote and trying it. The fuchsia one looks great, but there's a corner on the blue one (you can see in that pic) that isn't the same shade. I don't know why the blue didn't take on that corner. Also, with an entire controller, you may need to double up the dye/water so you can submerge it 100%.

[Number09]

Have you ever heard of vinyl dye? It comes in a rattle can but instead of coating the plastic is dyes it... If the Rit doesn't work out, that miiiight work.

[gillian]

It's possible that there was some oil from your hands on that corner acting as a resist to the dye. Next time you could try cleaning the plastic parts with rubbing alcohol before dyeing.

[GrueHunter]

Good call. I may make another blue one but clean it first.

[fastm3driver]

nice. You could probably die it several times to even it out. I would suggest that with the strap but it is probably ok with the plastic. I think I will order a referb one too and try it. My wife works at Michael's so I get a good discount there. Did you let the strap sit on the bottom of the pan or something?

[GrueHunter]

I just put it in a small pot and stirred it for 20-30 mintes, flipping the strap/moving the sliding plastic every couple minutes. A small pot is ideal so the strap is submerged.

[Staples]

Rit dye is great for non-sealed non-coated plastics. I've used it to dye plastic 1/10 and 1/18 th scale R/C trucks wheels to match the custom airbrushed bodies. (You can check out Towerhobbies or RCuniverse if interested). The longer you leave the plastic the darker/deeper the color will be. Just keep pulling it out to color match. You could do this with the strap if you want to match it to a silicone remote cover. Also use a stainless pot or one you can toss (thrift shop!) cause I stained a cheap one orange.

[KatGamer]

Boiling water with dye in it... how exactly do you move the plastic thingy around? Tongs?

[umja345]

chopsticks

[NinJA999]

Hmm...looks like you used old straps. Will it work on new straps? Are my new straps different because I ordered them early?

[AccioSnitch]

I bought my Wii and remotes earlier this week, and it worked just fine for me.

[AccioSnitch]

I just did it myself, and it worked great! As someone who works with textiles I was surprised with how well it worked. Granted, I usually use Dylon Dyes, but my first experience with Rit went well. Thanks for the tutorial!

For moving the plastic thing around, I used two forks I didn't really care about. That was how I handled the whole thing. I made sure the toggle was near the end when I started so that when I scooped it up with one fork, I could push it down with the other.

I've only dyed one so far, but I plan to do another tonight - Either red or purple, I haven't decided (the first one is blue).

[GnomeDragonDisciple]

Perhaps using a double boiler would make it less likely to melt the plastic part? As in having water without dye in the bottom boiler and the water with the dye in the top boiler? Wouldn't that keep the bottom of the thing from getting a hot spot that could warp the plastic?

[JakeTobak]

You could probably just remove the sliding plastic thing completely, but it might be hard to die it with out melting on the bottom of the pot. Does it ever leave a blue or pink ring around your wrist? Also, great job! I'm gonna try this eventually and color-coordinate the straps with the pointers for each player.

[GrueHunter]

You can't get the sliding plastic off the strap as it's not just around the strap like an O but around both straps like an 8 with half the strap through each hole. When finished, the dye is 100% set and won't rub/sweat off.

[i make shooting things]

how did you dye the plastic?

[GrueHunter]

The Rit dye gets into the plastic as well as the straps. It won't flake off but if you scratch the plastic deep enough, it'll show the original color.