Professional Aluminum Anodizing Pigment Dyes | Black E-CRO | Light to Rich Black | Powder Concentrate Makes 7.6 Liters or 2 Gallons

RIT doesn't work. Don't do it. This is expensive but worth it. Don't waste time with RIT like I did. I ended up with gritty, splotchy, barely-dyed, reddish parts. I thought I was doing something wrong. I was. I was using RIT dye. After switching to this, my parts went from "I don't know what I'm doing" to "anodizing master". Don't make the mistake I did.

This is my first attempt ever to anodize aluminium. It took over a month to receive this dye (the nickel acetate sealant only took a week) but this is a good product.I tested this on a 1x2" piece of 6061 3mm aluminium suspended with non-anodized 2.5mm wire (both off Amazon). I buffed it and cleaned in hot water with some detergent, then 30 seconds in 2% sodium hydroxide @30'C, then 90 minutes anodizing at 4.5ASF (485mA/dm2) @24'C - for this piece that amounted to 160mA (Low Current Density method recommended by Caswell). I used 2 thin (1mm) strips of aluminium for cathodes (40mm x 110mm) - for my largest pieces this gives an anode:cathode ratio of 3:1 but in this small test it was closer to 1:5.I used sodium hydrogen sulphate (22.5%) which is equivalent to 16% sulphuric acid.I dyed for 15 minutes @60'C then sealed in nickel acetate for 15 minutes @99'C.I only mixed 1/6 of the dye (10g dissolved in water to 1270ml @82'C) and 1/6 of the nickel acetate too.

I ordered 3 bottles of these dyes, black, blue and red. I got the black first, used it and it worked perfectly! The bottle was full to the top.I then got the red and the bottle was almost empty. Me being a rookie anodizer, I didn't realize black takes more dye than the other colors so it's normal for the red and blue bottles to only have a teaspoon or so in them.I called Interactivia's customer service number that's listed in their profile and talked to a VERY helpful guy. He's done anodizing himself and not only answered my question on why the red and blue bottles were only partially filled, he gave me some awesome advice on the anodizing process.To have customer service like that is amazing these days. I REALLY appreciated the quick response to my phone call and having a helpful person on the other end. Thanks!

The results are very disappointing. Followed directions and the first of six parts came out fantastic with a deep black, second part had red undertones. The same protocol was used for both parts in the processing. I cannot recommend this product for more than a single part with a surface area less than 64 square inches. Look for and purchase a liquid dye that is not RIT.There is no difference in the outcome with this powdered dye and RIT.Waste of time and money.Buyer beware.

This stuff is well worth it. I'm new to anodizing, but have done some copper/nickel plating, so I know cleanliness is king. But a good quality dye is a close second. My first 3 batches I tried to anodize 6061T6 at 4.5 and 6 A/ft^2, dying black with RIT powder and they came out terrible... gold, brown, flares of blue and yellow, you name it. Everything but black. Using this dye at 4.5A/ft^2 with the same process yeilded nice black parts on the first shot. It is expensive, but buying RIT for black is throwing money away and worse, reworking parts.

Proper surface preparation is always the key when working with any material. Aluminum is like that as well. I used silicone carbide to blast my surface then washed in distilled water before etching in sodium hydroxide solution. Rinsed again in distilled water before putting in anodizing bath. Removed from anodizing bath, rinsed with distilled water and added to temperature controlled dye bath. Then rinsed again with distilled water before temperature controlled sealer bath. Color was a perfect black match for my existing anodized parts. Proper temperature control as well as electrical control on anodizing will yield great results.

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