Time has come to dye my mohair girth belt. Here’s how I did it (video in Norwegian, English subtitles available):
Tools and materials:
- Water based wood stain: brown (Pantone 4625C)
- Paint thinner
- Cotton swabs
- Paper towels
- Aerosol paint: flat grey metal primer
- Aerosol paint: antique gold
- Masking tape
This took forever, but that was mostly my fault. When my vacation days was over, the project fell by the wayside. Funny how vacation is supposed to charge your batteries but you end up lacking energy once you return to your daily life again.
Anyway, the process of dyeing the belt was not difficult. Find a suitable stain with the correct color, pour some in a pan, place the belt in the pan and start working it. (I recommend that you use gloves!) Make sure that all of the ropes get saturated. Wring, twist, massage, squeese and knead it. Just go to town! And then hang it and let it dry for a week.
I hung the girth belt to dry in my basement. It would probably have dried faster if I had hung it somewere not so cool and damp and with better airflow.
The belt buckles was easy to clean. I applied a few drops of pain thinner, let it sit a minute or so, and then wiped the paint right off.
Since the buckles are supposed to be brass or gold, I needed to paint mine. I covered the belt in plastic and masking tape, and then sprayed the metal with primer.
When that had dried, I hit them with gold paint. I did three coats, but I think it would have sufficed with two. It is a bit thick now, and I’m afraid it will chip.
The final part of this girth belt is black nylon straps. I will have to wait until I get the rest of the suit before I add those. And I also need a sewing machine for that task, which I currently don’t have.