Backstory:

I bought my first dentside truck in 2014. It was a powder blue 1975 F100 Custom:


It only had a rubber mat on the floor so one of the first things I did was to buy a blue custom carpet for it that I found for sale online.

Unfortunately the body on the truck was beyond saving and we ended up doing a body swap from a black 1978 F100 Ranger XLT:



Being unable to salvage either box or find another suitable dentside box, we used this:


and ended up with this:


If you are interested, you can read the whole story here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-the-tree.html

 

So the carpet sat in the barn, unused, until now. After some online research I decided to attempt dying the carpet black. What follows is the process and results.

Here is what I started with:




I purchased 12 bottles of black RIT dye for $3 each and my wife picked up this kiddie pool on clearance for < $10

 

I dumped the dye in the pool, along with a box of salt (which apparently helps activate the dye) and added hot water from a hose connected to the laundry tap. Then I added the carpet.

 

I let it sit for two days. Then I took it out of the solution, hung it up, and rinsed it out. Here is what it looked like at that point:







It was decidedly darker, but still had a blue tinge to it.

 

I let it dry in the sun for two days and here is the final result:

 

The carpet is a deep, very dark blue. Very nice. But not black.

However it is good enough for this truck.

So my theory on why it did not go completely black is that the acrylic material is not conducive to dying. It doesn't hold it well.

But it is also possible that:
a) I did not use enough dye or diluted it too much
b) the water wasn't hot enough (even though I added several pots of hot water from the stove)
c) it did not soak long enough - but really, after 2 days will it go darker?
d) other?

Any thoughts or comments are welcome as others may benefit. But this carpet is going in the truck as-is.

 

Turned out pretty well. I would have saved time and put the $46 in dye towards a new one for $125.

 

Don't think I have ever had 100% color change in anything dyed in the past. Seems like I tried on a couple pairs of pants. Looks pretty good though, all things considered.

 

I never knew you could do this. I am gonna try it on a dash mat this weekend now

 

I wonder how well the vinyl paint/ dye would work? This one says it works on carpet.

https://www.vhtpaint.com/specialty/vht-vinyl-dye

 

An easier way to die carpet is let your 21 year old son drive your truck for a few months at college while his car is being repaired.

 

I hear ya, but $46 < $125. My Scottish heritage is showing.
Plus I just wanted to try it. If it were for a show truck, different story.

 

Me thinks there is a story here... sounds like first hand experience?

 

So I figured I should update this thread. With my wife's assistance we installed the carpet this week. It is still definitely blue but in this truck that is not a big deal. This has been a nice upgrade.
I actually may buy a couple of cans of black fabric spray paint at Canadian Tire just to see if it can make it darker.

 

Looks great! I just installed new carpet in my 79 a few days ago. It is easy, relatively inexpensive and makes such a big improvement to these old trucks!