Toothpicks??

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Does anyone know of a method or a dye that can fully dye round toothpicks. I can not seem to get a dye to penetrate such a small piece of wood. They are birchwood. I need the dye to go all the way through.

Thanks in advance.

[shoottmx]

No experience here but I'd guess a vacuum stabilization system like the pen turners use to impregnate blanks with cactus juice would do the trick. That's generally how outdoor wood is pressure treated.

g

[oakey]

John
never tried dyeing toothpicks but I have dyed Burch cutouts from birch wood Casey's using dye and alcohol submerged the wood for a few days in it
I use them for inlays and planed them afterword's to match the surface and never cut through the dye
I wanted pink breast cancer ribbons and also did some in blue it worked fine for both colors
the alcohol seem to make the dyes penetrate more than adding them to water which did not work at all for me
I drying the wood out in my microwave first to about zero moister content

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

oakey said:

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John
never tried dyeing toothpicks but I have dyed Burch cutouts from birch wood Casey's using dye and alcohol submerged the wood for a few days in it
I use them for inlays and planed them afterword's to match the surface and never cut through the dye
I wanted pink breast cancer ribbons and also did some in blue it worked fine for both colors
the alcohol seem to make the dyes penetrate more than adding them to water which did not work at all for me
I drying the wood out in my microwave first to about zero moister content

---

I have tried alcohol and Rit fabric dyes but that did not work well.

[boblang]

Coloring the surface is easy, getting the dye all the way through is the challenge. You will either need to soak the toothpicks long enough to completely saturate the wood, or find a way to force it through the surface with a vacuum. I've heard of using a pressure cooker to do this, but have never tried it.

[oakey]

John
I have never used fabric dye on wood but know of others that do I bought mine at rockler
pressure cooker sound like a great idea I have not tried that either
might be that the toothpicks have a glaze from the way they are manufactured
the cutouts do not they are just cutout of thin wood

[tomsteve]

do you need it to go all the way through or just the surface? if just the surface, beings how theres colored toothpicks on the market, it has to be doable.

if all the way through, idk. seems if thats the case it would require a vacuum like how pressure treated wood is used, cept on a smaller scale.
unless yer tryin to do a jillion toothpicks.

[chips ahoy]

you can buy coloured toothpicks, think I got some at my local grocery store where they have cocktail supplies. They are wood.
Mel

[kscott]

LIL
I have some colored toothpicks (Stop and Shop brand) and just shaved one down. Color does not go all the way through. Maybe other brands do.
Ken

[Alan S]

I would guess that the nature of the dye will make a big difference. To try it, I'd take every water soluble dye I could find, mix them up separately, put a few toothpicks in each, boil it to get things thoroughly soaked, and let it soak for at least several days. Weeks would be better. Check for dye penetration by cutting a few toothpicks now and then.

I would not be surprised to find that some of the dyes penetrated completely, while other colors remained only at the surface.

Dyes not intended for wood are likely to be better for this, as wood dyes probably stick, and stop moving. Food coloring might be worth a shot.