> You can get water and alcohol soluble wood dyes from Garret Wade . Better sun resistance than fabric dye.Also, if you add some antifreeze to the water ,you will get better penetration. I sanded one of the test blocks I made. The block was chosen because it
> had a nice rich color. It had only been soaked for a couple of days. I
> have some that were soaked much longer, but I've forgotten which colors
> were soaked for what length of time. The block I did sand (purple) did not
> have very much penetration at all (to my surprise). The color sanded of
> with only a light sanding with 80 grit paper.

> What I need to do is put a bunch of 2x2x4 blocks in and take one out each
> day and number it and keep a log of how long each was soaked, then slice
> it on a saw and measure color penetration.

> I used two packages of RIT dye in about 2-1/2 gal. of water. I think if it
> was soaked for about three week the dye would waterlog the wood deeply
> enough to allow sanding (dependant upon wood type). It might help to start
> with extra dry wood. I think it would be good to move it into a new batch
> of dye each week too. The dye costs about $2.75 per pkg.

> If someone wants to try these combinations and post results, it'd be
> worthwhile. Try it with and without changing the blocks into fresh dye,
> and go for as much as a month of soaking (let them waterlog). Blue and
> Purple are good rich colors to use. Green turned to black with extended
> soaking, but not so with most other colors. Surprisingly, yellow got rich
> in color quickly (it was a golden yellow).

> I didn't try UV resistance testing.