Max McCool is Lacrosse Playground’s resident stick stringing and head dyeing expert. This week he shows off a recent black and grey camouflage dye job. Max provided Lacrosse Playground readers with a step-by-step tutorial below:
The basics: This camouflage dye job is pretty easy to pull off if you have a glue gun. It doesn't even take all that long. All you need are two to three colors and the hot glue gun.
Step 1: Start by thinking about which colors you want to use. I used white, light grey, dark grey, and black. When the head is still white, put dots or odd shaped spots of glue around the head. Try not to make lines, keep it to blob-type shapes. Also try not to touch the head with the tip of the glue gun. This will make your glue much harder to take off when you're done.
Step 2: Next bring your water to a boil, and add your first and lightest color. I used RIT Pearl Grey and Black. I concocted the grey and placed my head gently in the dye, leaving it in ONLY for about 3-5 minutes. I kept the shade of grey really light, and then took it out and dried it.
Tips: Don't pour out your water if you're doing it exactly like mine. Also, don't touch it too quickly where the glue is or it will smear.
Step 3: Next, I put more dots of hot glue around the head. I even picked off some of the glue that was already on the stick and tried to re-cover it with a different shape so that the grey and the white blotches would touch and make different shapes. Again, put your dots everywhere.
Step 4: Next is a pretty hard step. Take the grey dye that you had and do what you have to do to get it boiling again. You're going to reheat the same color, and then stir it and put in back in the bucket ready for the next shade. This time, I dipped the head in and checked it every two minutes until I had a nice deep shade of grey. It probably took eight to ten minutes, but checking it is how to get the color you want. You can do this same thing with blue, green, yellow, and red (though that may look pink). Longer times make darker colors.
Step 5: When you pull it out of the dye again, repeat the process of drying it and adding more hot glue. After this step your head should be 75 percent covered in random hot glue.
Step 6: Lastly, boil up your black dye. Get the water AS HOT as possible, and pour it in your bucket. Drop your head in there and leave it. There is no point in checking it, because the longer you leave it (and the hotter the water is) the darker it will get. I usually wait at least 20 minutes because impatience with black leads to purple, and no one wants that.
Step 7: After you take it out, rinse your head off and try to dry it with a paper towel. Let it sit and cool for about 5 minutes, then place it in the freezer for 30 minutes. This helps the dye set into the plastic. It also makes the hot glue brittle. If you didn't touch the hot glue gun to the head when you were applying it, the glue should pop right off. Use your fingernails or a butterknife and pop it all off. If it starts to get soft, toss it right back in the ice box and harden it back up. When you're done you'll have a four-color camo stick! If you give it a try, be sure to take pictures and post them to the photo section of Lacrosse Playground! Here are some shots of the final product:
Click to see larger version
A note to readers: Check back with Lacrosse Playground soon, as Max will debut one of his sickest dye jobs ever.
14 comments
Hey Max I’m just getting into lacrosse and im getting a new head for my birthday. I was wondering if you would let me know how like grey orange and black would look and if you could do it with three colors thanks,
matthew.
I can help. You’ll need fresh electrical tape, a ruler, and an Xacto knife. You’ll want to cut a grid of lines that are as parallel as possible on your tape, leaving perfect squares. The best way to do this is to measure off equidistant ticks on the edges of the tape, and then connect them with the blade. When you have some good squares, place them corner to corner using the tip of the Xacto. Try not to use your fingers, this will cause the tape to peel. Make some guide lines out of a single row of squares, and then move out from there. It takes patience, and an extreme attention to detail. Avoid curves in the head and seams in the plastic. Good luck.
Max this is one of the sickest dyes ive seen. I have a brine dyed like a purple tiger and i want to dye another one like a checker board but i dont know hot to do it can you help
u should do light grey dark grey orange and black
Anyone know if light brown green and dark brown work? Dying in that order