Baron3-6 Posted January 26, 2014 Share #1 Posted January 26, 2014 I had some very good luck this weekend with this and wanted to share my process. We've all see GI's show up to events wearing the brown wool BDU 5 buttons sweaters...same cut as WWII, but with some differences (color, buttons). Before I go any further I would like to say for the record a friend has mint sweater dated 1944 that is BROWN...had he not shown me the tag, I would have never believed it myself. However, since 90%+ of the 5 buttons in WWII were a shade of OD green, this is a process that costs $10 and about 2 hours of time to covert a 1990's brown BDU sweater to a OD green WWII style sweater. 1. Remove all buttons and modern tags from the sweater and buy a bottle of LIQUID Rit Fabric Dye, color APPLE GREEN. This a common color stocked by hobby lobby, etc. Yes, the green is too light alone, but remember you are over-dying brown to get to OD. 2. Get a 3 gallon mop bucket from the dollar store, etc. Fill the bucket 3/4 of the way full with scalding hot tap water. You'll want to take this out on the lawn or into the shop before you add dye. You don't want to risk spilling 3 gallons of dye in the house. 3. After experimenting with how much dye to use (the bottle says 1/2 bottle for 3 gallons)......I ended up using the whole d*** bottle. Using the whole bottle got the results I was looking for. I put in the sweater and mixed with a clean paint stir for 30-40 minutes. 4. Take the sweater outside and rinse it with 5-6 buckets of cold water until the rinse water is clear and hang it to dry. I would not wash the sweater other than by hand by itself for the first few times after dying it. 5. Buttons: for WWII buttons I used the 24-Line M43 field uniform buttons from At the Front under the "hardware" section. They're .99 cents each, and yes you need five. They are roughly the same diameter as the BDU buttons you removed. The result: The sweater is a medium OD green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B. Posted January 26, 2014 Share #2 Posted January 26, 2014 NICE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshman Posted January 27, 2014 Share #3 Posted January 27, 2014 Great idea, thank you for letting us know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted January 27, 2014 Share #4 Posted January 27, 2014 Well done! Did it shrink at all during the dying process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron3-6 Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted January 27, 2014 Nope, didn't appear to shrink, thats why the air-drying is important. The dye actually softened the roughness of the wool alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted January 27, 2014 Share #6 Posted January 27, 2014 Good idea. -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavalryDave Posted February 2, 2014 Share #7 Posted February 2, 2014 I don't know if it is just my computer screen or what but it still just looks the same chocolate brown to me. Could you maybe take a few more pics in different lighting? The sidewalk looks a little pink so maybe the colors are a bit off... This is a real neat idea that I have been kicking around myself except I was thinking of bleaching the sweater out a little with some hydrogen peroxide mixed with water first. Your way would be much easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron3-6 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share #8 Posted February 2, 2014 Same sweater, indoors. Army blanket in the corner and brown bdu shirt issued to me about 10 years ago for color comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavalryDave Posted February 3, 2014 Share #9 Posted February 3, 2014 Now that's much better. I think it came out pretty dang good. Think I'll give it a go your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColBob506 Posted March 4, 2014 Share #10 Posted March 4, 2014 Remember also, that with wool, particularly sweaters, if you stretch it prior to hanging it to dry, it will fit better and appear to shrink less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iaustin Posted February 14, 2018 Share #11 Posted February 14, 2018 Have meant to try this since Baron3-6 first posted. Finally got to work on it last week, followed Baron's instructions exactly other than I added a cup of white vinegar per the bottle instructions. Whole process worked perfectly, thanks Baron! Also stretched the sweater out as it dried. Per the above post the process seems to fluff up or bulk up the wool somewhat. Shade of olive turns out darker than my original example but certainly looks more authentic/acceptable than the brown. My original sweater has the "cat's eye" style buttons so I used some of this type which I found in a charity shop, slightly larger than original but similar size to ones removed and better suited the button hole size without any change. Took some before and after photos but don't seem to be able to post any more? Once again thanks Baron! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron3-6 Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share #12 Posted February 19, 2018 Have meant to try this since Baron3-6 first posted. Finally got to work on it last week, followed Baron's instructions exactly other than I added a cup of white vinegar per the bottle instructions. Whole process worked perfectly, thanks Baron! Also stretched the sweater out as it dried. Per the above post the process seems to fluff up or bulk up the wool somewhat. Shade of olive turns out darker than my original example but certainly looks more authentic/acceptable than the brown. My original sweater has the "cat's eye" style buttons so I used some of this type which I found in a charity shop, slightly larger than original but similar size to ones removed and better suited the button hole size without any change. Took some before and after photos but don't seem to be able to post any more? Once again thanks Baron! You're welcome, glad to hear it worked again for someone else!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son of a Jungleer Posted April 24, 2018 Share #13 Posted April 24, 2018 Would be neat to see how the project turned out. Inspired to doing a similar project myself. Cheers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomfixer Posted April 25, 2018 Share #14 Posted April 25, 2018 agreed... I have a few of the brown sweaters from my day in the AF...would be a cool project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iaustin Posted August 29, 2018 Share #15 Posted August 29, 2018 Here's how my efforts turned out. Photo without buttons is original undyed. Interested to see others efforts as well. Happy to provide more information but Baron really had it all covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk1976 Posted November 13, 2018 Share #16 Posted November 13, 2018 Thanks for the how to man, plan to do this myself once I get my sweater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iaustin Posted November 14, 2018 Share #17 Posted November 14, 2018 tk1976, please let us know how it works out in due course. Post some photos too if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk1976 Posted November 14, 2018 Share #18 Posted November 14, 2018 tk1976, please let us know how it works out in due course. Post some photos too if you can. Ok Ill be sure too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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