wig coloring?

[quidam]

What is the best way to color wigs? I originally was going to go with Rit dye, but was reading on using Sharpies or acrylic paint. Sharpies I can figure out, but how much do you have to water down acrylics? If I understand you set the dye with salt water?

For specifics:
I have 3 wigs that I would like to end up pink.
wig 1 is a white acrylic fiber
wig 2 is a pale blond probably acrylic (Leeke)
wig 3 is light blond and is probably not acrylic. It was made of some sort of synthetic human hair. I assume that it is in the plastic line, but am not 100% positive.

Any thoughts or tips are welcome!

[TieflingBoy]

I've never dyed a high quality wig, but I have dyed play line wigs using the acrylic method (and also I've used a similar method with cheap chalk pastels). I'm not sure how much of this will apply to a nicer wig.

I usually make it as thin as I can get it (so it has a consistency like Easter egg dye, but is much darker). I also tend to shoot for the acrylic-water to be a few shades darker than the intended color (since it will turn out lighter on the wig itself). You probably don't have to thin it out that much, but I'm paranoid about clumps. It also takes some intense washing to make the wig wearable again, just as a warning.

[K2!]

There are many, many different types of dye and it is important to use the right dye and proper method on the material you are dying. I recommend going to this site and do some reading. If you have a question, ask them. I have found them to be extremely helpful on several big ( 2000+ square feet of fabric) dye jobs I've done. They can recommend the best dye or paint and they have a lot of products to choose from.
http://www.dharmatrading.com/

I'd stay away from the Sharpies. They are tempting because they are easy to use, but they won't penetrate very well and will probably rub off. I know "someone" whose first tail was Sharpied and consequently ended up with a pink butt.

[quidam]

Thank you! I'll check out the site!

[magkelly]

I've used the sharpie method with some success but it really depends upon the wig. I did half a dozen Liv wigs one time and while 4 out of 5 dyed just fine one about drove me nuts and wouldn't hold the dye at all. I find that if I do the Sharpie and then hang it up to dry for a couple of weeks, then give it a quick cold rinse in water, a bit of salt, and ice cubes to get rid of any excess dye, then let it dry again, it works fine and it usually doesn't rub off after. Just make sure you let it dry for a couple of weeks first. I don't particularly like the acrylic method at least not on Liv wigs. It made a mess and didn't really dye to the deep colors I wanted. I was doing deep teal and purple tie dye and lime and yellow tie dye, hot pink and magenta, hard on neon colors like that and I just needed it a lot darker than I could get using the acrylics. I guess it would depend upon what shade of pink you want. Baby pink or a little beyond that an acrylic bath would probably do you, but if you want deeper colors than that Sharpie is the way to go unless you want to invest in a dye from the craft store that is made for non-natural fabrics...