I tried dying some silicon SS buttons and button pads (to go in a clearboy) but it didn't work very well.. I was in a rush and picked up some dye at Sainsburys on my lunch break, but I didn't see that it's only semi-permanent... Oops! I think it's probably why the buttons didn't go black.

This is the dye I picked up:

And a bunch of buttons and pads:

These are the results. The SS buttons were the original grey ones. They went darker grey and the tips went quite black but still not completely black. The pads went sort of khaki colours:

Will be getting some permanent dye at some point and will try again.

There's that punk rocker hair dye (splat i think) that gets hair bright red. I thought that might be a good start for red (and green and blue) color dying. Its not trying to blend in with normal hair, I think its just straight red pigment. Worth a shot.

Also use it with Kitch's clear silicone start select buttons for the brightest possible color.

i tried two types, one came out brown the other pink.  permanent and semi-perm i think is what they were, in that order.  i have it written down, i'll check when i can.

red is gonna be a tough one i bet

i used red hair dye once, and they came out pink. probably because the dye was old.

Sorry for the bump, but was anyone able to dye their start select buttons red?  What did you use?

yes I just put it directly in the dye.

and I know it said teal but the hair sample in the store looked pretty close to the buttons that I am trying to match.

Certain colors seem to absorb faster then others and this could make predicting the final color very tricky. I think the best way to know what colors you can expect from dyes is by experimenting. If everyone that does this could post back with a picture of the dye they used and the color they got, this could help a great number of people wanting to do the same.

Maybe it had something to do with the ion color brilliance? It says teal on the package. Did you just stick it directly in the dye, or did you make a solution?

so here is the results of my attempt at green

turned out a nice semi transparent blue but far from the green that I was hoping for.

and this is what I used.

one of them I soaked in the ion color brilliance first and then when I realized it wasn't going to be green put it in the manic panic but still came out the same hue.
the other one I put in only the manic panic green but you can't even tell the difference between the two of them

Tested. Cases/buttons will not take the dye. Kitsch's S/S buttons took the black better than the original S/S buttons did.

Maybe you should try yellow + blue and see if they mix? I'm at a loss for any other suggestions.

I tried this with a couple of kitsch's clear silicone for green because I need some green ones to match the color scheme of the gameboy I am currently modding and unfortunately didn't get the results I wanted.
I used 2 different dyes and both the same, they have been soaking for about a day and both are coming out a blueish. maybe with some more time they'll get greener but I doubt it.

I will post a pic in a day or two when Im home and free.

Short-term, this will be great. It's a really good idea.

But I still wonder if long-term, the dye will permeate into the surrounding white after years of 1000's of button pressings. I dont know how synthetic pigment dyes affect silicone integrity. Since black dyes are usually multiple pigments you might also end up (long-term) with a cooler/warmer black than the original, with partial pigment loss. I do know blue pigment(ultramarine) is quite permanent compared to a lot of red pigment. I guess only time will tell though!

i took your lead and tested this out on a whoooole bunch of buttons.  trying to edit photos and i'll get results posted asap.

really great work!  thanks so much for trying this out and posting your results, its interesting.

going to a hair supply store (sally's is where i went, its a chain) worked out well because i could buy the developer in bulk, and smaller quantities of the dye.  and having a bunch of spare buttons didn't hurt either...

the results were a bit strange and patternless from what i can tell.  i tried different varieties of dye, as well as different solvents. 

the picture showing it cut open is a good idea, i'll try to go back and do this and take pics.

Tested some dyed buttons last night in my PianoBoy. Everything functioned properly. No issues at all!

I tried rubbing one of the buttons on some paper like an eraser and the color did transfer to the paper, but it was the silicone rubbing off on the paper that made the coloration happen. Not the dye. This process for start select button dying should be safe for use in a gameboy.