Has anyone tried to stain concrete with shoe polish, hair dye, or other household substances? Answered

 I've used both black and brown boot polish on concrete sculpture castings, (Using a toothbrush for the more intricate areas), and found it to be an effective stain.

ZAR would stain is my choice of stain on most things. I've even used it on PVC quite successfully. A 1/2 pt. does 200/300 sq.ft. and you can faux with it. That said, I've recently bought the powdered tempra paint that we used to have in elementary school and mixed with water. I've been experimenting putting it in concrete as well as "staining" with it. Works pretty well. The trouble is finding the stuff anymore. I finally ordered it over the internet from a discount school supplies website.

Thanks all for the tips!

Concrete is hard NOT to stain !

Steve

You can mix the clothing dye, Rit in powder form, with the concrete as you mix it. If the concrete has already set, the Rit liquid dye will work but the color variations will be hard to predict and it may look blotchy on some pieces.

I've used common dirt and charcoal as a surface coloring to blend mortar repairs into existing joints to reduce that gray/white color that new portland gives.  Ages it a bit and doesn't really compromise the strength too much...just distresses it a bit.

When I've actually colored concrete, I've used dyes made for the task.

 Concrete is very porous, it will adsorb almost any color--water colors, oil colors, felt-tip marker, and Rit dye, as Burf says.

When it sets it is a bit alkaline.  It might be a good idea to wash it first to and let it dry before coloring.