Can You Dye Wood with Food Dye?

[LoveMyBeak]

I am thinking of making my own toys from bits and pieces of untreated wood, is it safe for me to use regular food dye?...................LMB

[Chief's Mom]

It is safe to use food coloring or cake icing gel colors, but you will not get the vibrant colors like retail toys. I use Vitacritter colorants and they work wonderfully. Instead of mixing the color with water, I use alcohol (rubbing alcohol). The wood dries much quicker, leaving less time for mold and other icky stuff to grow on it. And the colors come out exactly like the toys and toy pieces that you would buy.

[iggysbirds]

You can get very nice vibrant colors just using the $1 packs of food coloring from dollar stores or walmart. The coloration just depends on how you mix it! I do also use alcohol when mixing my colors. I buy a 16 oz bottle of rubbing alcohol, remove one ounce (estimated) and pour in the one ounce food coloring. The colors are wonderful and you can mix your own for way-way-way lower than ordering the vitacolors etc online. I will try and post some pictures of the wood I use colored with food coloring when I can be on my other computer (all my pics are saved on it :) )

This is not to say that the vitacolors aren't great, I have seen really nice pieces colored in them but I don't want to pay that kind of money when I can do it a lot cheaper.

[iggysbirds]

Here are a couple dyed with food coloring that have the same bright colors as any store bought toys. Hopefully the attachments turn out okay.

[Freedomoflight]

Yes you can use food dye- Wiltons is said to be better. I've never had too much luck with food dye, although I know others have. I found you had to soak the wood much longer to achieved the desired colors. I now use Vitacritter for dyeing and love it.

[iggysbirds]

Maybe it depend on the wood (?) we use wood from Caseys woods and bird safe lumber (from Lowe's, home depot etc) cut to size and unless it is a really big thick piece we dunk it into the food coloring completely and take it out and it is colored. The really big pieces like the cat in the picture above or some of the thicker chunks we left in for 20 seconds and took it out. I do put our pieces in the oven on really low for a bit to set colors though, no matter which coloring I use because I don't want a green cockatoo or a blue sun conure When we were mixing the coloring with water it did take forever to color it, either trying to soak for several hours or else over night.

[KDK241]

I colored some wood with food coloring mixed with water. I used approx. 1 part water to 3 parts food coloring and "painted" it on with a cotton swab. The colors came out great, it dried fast and it was easy.

[kellywess]

The rubbing alcohol wont hurt the birds?

[Chief's Mom]

The rubbing alcohol evaporates very quickly, which is also the reason why they dry so fast. It also deters the growth of mold, etc.

[Gator]

I use cheap bird-safe (ususally pine) lumber from Lowes and I also get scraps from a local furniture builder (poplar and aspen). I cut them into interesting shapes and drill holes in them. For coloring I use cake icing coloring gel. I use empty gallon water jugs to mix it with water and I keep it mixed in the firdge in the garage. I used to just soak the wood in the color overnight to get deeper color. Last year, I got a vaccuum sealer for Christmas. It came with a marinating jar for steaks, etc. I went and got the largest vaccuum container that I could find. I just fill it with the wood and pour the color I want in until it is just over the top of the wood, put the top on, turn on the vaccuum sealer and suck all the air out. I usually let it sit about 30 minutes. When you release the vaccuum, instead of the air that was sucked out of the wood rushing back into the wood, the coloring gets sucked into the wood. I dry the wood out on low in the oven and pour the left over coloring in the vaccuum container back into the gallon jug and it goes back in the fridge until next time.