Looking for a fluorescent yellow acid dye for golf balls

Name: Charlie

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Message: Read your response on another forum on dyeing golf balls a bright fluorescent yellow and was impressed with your knowledge and interest. Dharma used to sell a fluorescent yellow dye (acid?) that worked well for me in regards to color. The dye depth was only a few microns deep, but worked well. Dharma has stopped selling this product and wouldn't/couldn't lead me to another source. I was wondering if you knew of another source or another type of fluorescent yellow dye that might work. You mentioned a dispersion dye in your response, but I couldn't find a supplier that would furnish a small sample for a trial. The golf balls have a urethane outer layer with, I believe, some type of clear coating -- probably for sheen. You seem to be very knowledgeable in dyes and I was hoping you could give me some help in locating some material or company. Thanks.

I wonder if you might be referring to the Dye Forum discussion, "Dying Golf Balls", from March of 2011. If not, you might like to check that out, though it's probably redundant with what you did read.

Dharma Trading Company used to sell a dye called "Fluorescent Yellow Dye", referred to on their MSDS as "D-834 Grand Yellow Dye", described as a mixture, which was recommended for immersion dyeing of silk, wool, yarn, hair, and nylon. Given that range of substrates, it must have been an acid dye, as you surmised. They described it as follows:

"In normal light it is very bright, or "neon" looking but under a blacklight it glows. Comes in an orange powder and turns yellow when dyed. It is the only true flourescent dye we carry and it works great. Write words, create signs, put them to the black light and they will shine. Going out for the night at the clubs, add some flourcent to your clothing and no matter how bad you dance, they will see you as the coolest dancer under the disco lights."

I don't know exactly what dye this was, but I can direct you to a couple of other fluorescent dyes that you can test to see whether they are suitable for your needs.

First, Jacquard's iDye line of direct dyes, which are a not-very-washfast line of dyes for natural fibers, includes "405 Fluorescent Yellow". It is recommended for cotton, silk, wool, linen, and rayon. Dharma does sell this dye. There are some dyes which can act both as acid dyes and as direct dyes (to work as an acid dye they require the presence of an acid, such as vinegar), so I don't know whether or not this is a different dye. Dharma's MSDS for this dye is at the moment unreachable, but you can see another copy of Jacquard's rather uninformative MSDS [PDF] which identifies it as a stilbene (a common dye class for fluorescent brighteners). I don't know its generic name.

Next, a very common fluorescent acid dye is called Flavine Yellow; its generic name is Colour Index acid yellow 7, and its CAS number 2391-30-2. It is sold by many dye retailers. PRO Chemical & Dye sells it among their Washfast Acid Dyes as 107A Flavine Yellow, pricing the smallest size container at $12.00. Acid yellow 7 is not included among the Jacquard Acid Dyes or the Dharma Acid Dyes. Aljo Mfg, in Manhattan, does sell this and several other fluorescent acid dyes in the best color range I know, and might be willing to send you small samples for testing if you call them; please tell them that I sent you. Their last price list indicated that the smallest container cost $3.20, but I don't know if this price is current. Like just about all true fluorescent dyes, Flavine Yellow G is very poorly lightfast, with a lightfastness rating of only 1 or 2 on a scale of 1 to 8, and can be expected to fade relatively quickly in direct sunlight. Here's a structure for acid yellow 7, provided by ChemicalBook.com:

http://www.chemicalbook.com/ProductChemicalPropertiesCB2324207_EN.htm

Dharma appears to be temporarily sold out of their fluorescent yellow acid dye, part of their Dharma Acid Dyes line of dyes, 445 Fluorescent Lemon, generically known as Colour Index acid yellow 250, CAS 93859-32-6. Apparently the price for their smallest container is $4.78. I don't have any data on the lightfastness of acid yellow 250, but don't expect good lightfastness from any fluorescent dye. It's described on another manufacturer's site as a coumarin derivative, commonly used for dyeing fluorescent yellow tennis balls. Its full chemical name is Benzoxazolesulfonicacid, 5-(aminosulfonyl)-2-[7-(diethylamino)-2-oxo-2H-1-benzopyran-3-yl]-,monosodium salt (9CI). Here's a structure provided by GuideChem.com:

http://www.lookchem.com/cas-938/93859-32-6.html

It looks as though Dharma's old fluorescent yellow dye, D834 Grand Yellow, was made by the Day-Glo Color Corporation, which also made another fluorescent yellow, D818 Roanoke Yellow (this information from Flagger Central.) I don't know whether they still make these dyes. Find contact information for Day-Glo Color at dayglo.com. Please let me know if you are able to find these dyes.

Disperse dyes are the best class of dyes for those synthetic materials on which acid dyes do not work, though they tend to be less wash-resistant than acid dyes on those synthetic materials that will take acid dyes, such as nylon and polyurethane, but I don't know of a source for reasonably small quantities of them. Huntsman Textile Effects is marketing a range of fluorescent disperse dyes under the name Terasil FF, including three colors listed as Flavine 10GFF, Red GFF, and Red 3BFF, but this is of no more than idle interest if the smallest size package you can order is 5 kilograms, as is common for dye manufacturers, and the reason why dye retailers who repackage into smaller sizes are so important to hand dyers. I hope you'll be able to find dyes that meet your needs at Aljo, ProChem, or Dharma. Please let me know what ends up working for you.

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Posted: Saturday - February 11, 2012 at 09:39 AM

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Looking for a fluorescent yellow acid dye for golf balls

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