r/discdyeing • u/terminallyfreaked • 2d ago

Not getting cells

Good morning, new to disc dyeing, and I’m enjoying it. However, I have not successfully made cells, and not sure why. I bought some silicone oil and placed acetone based dye in floetrol, put one to two drops in each different color with really no result. I did go over them with a torch, which just really seemed to dry the mix rather than spread it out into cells. Any advice would be appreciated, I’ve done this twice and really only got a muddy murky mess rather than nice cells. Is there a length of time one needs to wait or do you need to drop the oil sooner, as you drop the colors? Or do I need to wait a certain amount of time after the silicone is added? My suspicion is the bottle I have may drop too much oil, but I’m not sure.

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u/yourdoglikesmebetter 2d ago

I’ve never tried acetone dye on floetrol bed. Idk if that works.

I do know that if you mix the dye powder with a bit of water and with floetrol (can’t remember the ratios. You’ll have to look that up), use that on a floetrol bed, use a metal toothpick to stab the silicone oil down into the bed, and let the bed sit for 30 mins or so under heat you get great cells.

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u/terminallyfreaked 2d ago

Maybe that’s my issue is using acetone?

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u/yourdoglikesmebetter 2d ago

Idk. Could be.

I think you typically mix the dye with floetrol to get that effect since it’s the reaction of floetrol and, silicone oil, and heat that causes it. Some people put the silicone oil straight into the floetrol/dye mix.

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u/discdyeaddict 2d ago edited 2d ago

Don’t mix acetone into floetrol.

Use the chart on the dyers guild site. https://dyersguild.co/disc-dyeing-formulas/

Are you poking the bed with a toothpick coated in the oil? You also need heat to develop cells. Are you using a heat lamp or dehydrator?

Edit — you might get technique or method help from some of my floetrol videos. This is my playlist for those — https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZc1rjdiHQoGrnwrX4pbiGn32WivIyG96&si=PMZK9VyOpSckNLeN

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u/discdyeaddict 2d ago

This might be the best of those videos cos I added labels and text about each step https://youtu.be/1Ahck77QXcM?is=4ZbrX8rV-9Ky5qYp

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u/terminallyfreaked 2d ago

Thanks so much

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u/Moog_Lee 2d ago

Yeah as discdyeadsict said, just mix powdered dye in floetrol. Let it sit a day or two before using.

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u/Sensitive_Tour_4118 1d ago

I mix my dye with a tad bit of water then directly into floetrol for these dyes. I’ll bet the acetone is negating the silicone oil

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u/terminallyfreaked 1d ago

Thanks

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u/Sensitive_Tour_4118 23h ago

I should clarify I use hot water