Anyone into ACU UCP pattern dyeing/fixing?

[babola]

While not strictly something you'd relate to EDC, many of us wear and consider army fatigues and cargo pants as part of our wider EDC ensemble from time to time. I wear mine primarily as outdoor pants as well as just casual pants coupled with sneakers and simple T-shirt.

Although born much later, I have been a fan of US military pants for some time now, since Korean war onward. I own and still wear M51 and M65 cold weather pants, Vietnam jungle fatigues, BDUs, ACUs etc.

Recently I have acquired quite a few ACU pants in their original 2004 UCP pattern, thanks to a gradual introduction of the OCP/Multicam pattern since 2010 these can now be had for a song. Ebay for example has plenty on offer for some $15-25, even new. For a pair of sturdy army/outdoor pants made of mil-spec NYCO this is quite mind boggling. While I like the style and the cut and the properties of NYCO cloth, I like many out there, do not appreciate its default desert sand+light gray+foliage pattern which fails to blend in with pretty much anything out there.

So few years back I decided to try what many have tried with mixed results so far - to dye the UCP patterned NYCO pants into alternative color scheme closer to the environment I tend to move in - forest and woodland.

The photos below show my last two pants I finished 2 months ago, both in custom predominantly green shade, mixed up from different RIT dye colors.

I wanted to create one pair in OD green and another in jungle green. I am quite satisfied with the results. The photos below may not show the correct color shade depending on the monitor and media they're viewed on...they could show a little subdued but in reality they're much more vibrant. They have been worn and washed few times now. Generic ACU UCP has been also included in the photos for comparison.

Hope you like it. Happy to answer any questions some of you might have. If you have done something similar, please post in this thread. Thanks.

Left to right: Generic ACUs, Jungle green, OD green.

[SAK Guy]

Most awesome work!!!! I have RIT dyed accessories (mostly canvas) in the past but never dreamed you could get good results like this on NYCO BDU's.    Still have a nylon pistol belt to do (got a deal on tan but wanted green).

[babola]

Thanks man, it wasn't all that easy though, a lot of try and fail. I own about half a dozen ACU pants, 5 dyed, only two came out the way I wanted after a lot of experimenting with dye mix ratios, concentration, length of immersion, 2nd and 3rd run over-dying etc.

Also, there's simply some dye colors which will work and some (most) which won't work on UCP patterned NYCO cloth.

The two you see above are the last two of my ACP pants which I managed to dye 'correctly' the first time off using custom RIT dye mix.

 

[SAK Guy]

Thanks man, it wasn't all that easy though, a lot of try and fail. I own about half a dozen ACU pants, 5 dyed, only two came out the way I wanted after a lot of experimenting with dye mix ratios, concentration, length of immersion, 2nd and 3rd run over-dying etc.

Also, there's simply some dye colors which will work and some (most) which won't work on UCP patterned NYCO cloth.

The two you see above are the last two of my ACP pants which I managed to dye 'correctly' the first time off using custom RIT dye mix.

 

Wow! You've really put the research and work in!  I was thinking that the perfect mix might not work other places because of variations in the water....like here, we have mineral rich well water, lots of dissolved sulfur too. That's got to have an effect on the efficacy of the dye.

[babola]

I reckon type and quality of water used for dyeing bath could be one of the reasons for hit-and-miss dyeing results too.

I use tap water, boiled first then just stirred occasionally during the 1/2 hour pant's immersion time.

The tricky bit is the NYCO, it's a blend of 50/50 cotton/nylon something even RIT themselves stated its hard to get consistent results with. 100% cotton and canvas work the best, nylon, polyester (they now have poly dies available too) rayon etc is all a bit tricky.

Second issue with ACU UCP is that there's already a color in the material, so by dyeing it you're actually over-dyeing. White works the best, any other color can produce some funky results when dyed. For example using a Tan dye on UCP results in reddish-pink. Straight-out black RIT dye will produce brownish-red result. Yeah...you get my drift.   

[babola]

Color adjusted slightly to show green closer to real life.

[NKlamerus]

So how about the secret formula?

[babola]

So how about the secret formula?

Sure, no problem.

Jungle green (middle of photo)
- All RIT powder dye.
- 1 package dark green
- 1/2 package cocoa brown
- 1/4 package Kelly green
- 1/4 package Pearl grey

OD green
- All RIT powder dye.
- 1 package dark green
- 2/3 package dark brown
- 1/4 package Kelly green
- 1/4 package Golden yellow

[SAK Guy]

I reckon type and quality of water used for dyeing bath could be one of the reasons for hit-and-miss dyeing results too.

I use tap water, boiled first then just stirred occasionally during the 1/2 hour pant's immersion time.

The tricky bit is the NYCO, it's a blend of 50/50 cotton/nylon something even RIT themselves stated its hard to get consistent results with. 100% cotton and canvas work the best, nylon, polyester (they now have poly dies available too) rayon etc is all a bit tricky.

Second issue with ACU UCP is that there's already a color in the material, so by dyeing it you're actually over-dyeing. White works the best, any other color can produce some funky results when dyed. For example using a Tan dye on UCP results in reddish-pink. Straight-out black RIT dye will produce brownish-red result. Yeah...you get my drift. 

I used to be a professional photographer and water sometimes made a huge difference on developing and washing times. I finally had to mix all my developer with distilled water to standardize processing times.

[SAK Guy]

Color adjusted slightly to show green closer to real life.

(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

They look even better!!! 

[babola]

After posting this thread I was asked by members of a local Airsoft club if I could help them transform their ACU UCP sets into something similar as I shown in the post. While I couldn't care less about Airsoft or any similar Mil-sim stuff, I respect the fact that hobby is a hobby, so I dutifully obliged.

Since my services were free, I decided to 'play' a little with different mixes of RIT dyes to achieve similar shades of Olive, Jungle and Ranger green. I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the final result, as shown below. I may now get my spare set done in similar mix.

From left to right: Ranger green, Olive green and Olive drab.





Cheers.

[Top-Gear-24]

I have a softspot for camo, and I own a couple of camo pants and shirts.  I also own 2 pair of those ACU UCP trousers and they don't blend in over here either.  About two years ago I bought myself two pair of Canadian CADPAT trousers and they work very well over here, during the summer.  In winter the best camo here is the German Flecktarn.

Nice job on dyeing those trousers mate, they look really nice  .

I'll try to post some pics of some of the camo I own tomorrow.

[babola]

I really like both CADPAT and Flecktarn patterns - both great examples of camo patterns made to fit their intended environments very well.

...and if it wasn't for CADPAT we wouldn't have ACU UCP, MARPAT and AOR patterns today, but something quite different. 

Do post the pics of your camo apparel here...cheers!

[NKlamerus]

I wonder if you could do an NWU dir. It seems fairly dark though

[babola]

I wonder if you could do an NWU dir. It seems fairly dark though

I guess I could, but what would you like them to end up as, color-wise?

Blueberry (Type I) is already 'lost case' as far as it's practicability and nobody likes it (not even sailors wearing them), maybe dye it grey or black into shades of gray for urban-camo look?

Desert and Woodland could be the ticket, maybe dying Type II into darker coyote/brown and Type III into predominantly green (but this one comes with dark brown specks too, so it may end up looking a bit 'messy in the end?)

Good ideas, though.

[NKlamerus]

Anyone know I'd Babola is okay?

[babola]

Anyone know I'd Babola is okay?

 

I'm good mate, just feeling a bit under the weather at the moment. Few things happened which derailed my usual focus of late.

All is good here!

Thanks for you concern, though - much appreciated!

[Miguel Ftr Gonzalez]

Hey babola, Ive been looking everywhere online for any good looking dyed Ucp. By far you have the most diverse and well sutible combination of color on the internet. Do you think you could give me the measurements for olive drab? That would be soo great.

Thanks 🙂

[Miguel Ftr Gonzalez]

Anyone know I'd Babola is okay?

 

I'm good mate, just feeling a bit under the weather at the moment. Few things happened which derailed my usual focus of late.

All is good here!

Thanks for you concern, though - much appreciated!

Did I reply correctly? First time on a forum

[babola]

Hey babola, Ive been looking everywhere online for any good looking dyed Ucp. By far you have the most diverse and well sutible combination of color on the internet. Do you think you could give me the measurements for olive drab? That would be soo great.

Thanks 🙂

Sure no problem mate, it's not a trade secret, although it took me numerous tries to hit that 'perfect' formula in the end ;-)  It's good for me, but it may not be to everyone's liking.

All RIT dye powder (I don't use liquid):

- 1 pack of Tan

- 1/4  pack of Dark Green

- 1 teaspoon of Gold Yellow

- 1/2 teaspoon of Black

You can reach close to perfect OD color by just combining the first two (Tan + Dark green), but for a full 'effect' I add a little yellow and black as per list above.

Hope this helps,
Babs

[tattoosteve99]

Being a fan of black I can sure understand the color problems. I have had many things I bought the wrong color on purpose, because of the price, only to dye it. I wear cargos and military pants myself and see that these colors you have done here are far better than what's available

[Miguel Ftr Gonzalez]

Hey babola, Ive been looking everywhere online for any good looking dyed Ucp. By far you have the most diverse and well sutible combination of color on the internet. Do you think you could give me the measurements for olive drab? That would be soo great.

Thanks 🙂

Sure no problem mate, it's not a trade secret, although it took me numerous tries to hit that 'perfect' formula in the end ;-)  It's good for me, but it may not be to everyone's liking.

All RIT dye powder (I don't use liquid):

- 1 pack of Tan

- 1/4  pack of Dark Green

- 1 teaspoon of Gold Yellow

- 1/2 teaspoon of Black

You can reach close to perfect OD color by just combining the first two (Tan + Dark green), but for a full 'effect' I add a little yellow and black as per list above.

Hope this helps,
Babs

Thanks I really appreciate it, do you think I could also get the detialed instructions? I've never used rit dye before. Yeah your blends are very optimal.