Got an outdated white Apple MacBook? Here's a surprising customization project utilizing RIT fabric dye to give the MacBook's polycarbonate case a whole new colorful life. Considering how expensive professional custom paint jobs cost and the outdated state of these models, we're pretty impressed with the project's results...
Get a pan (An inch or so deep, if possible.), and fill it with water (4 cups of water per packet, 8 cups.) Add two boxes of RIT dye of the color of your choice into the water. Add 2 tbsp of table salt into the water and stir. Place pan onto your stove, and heat. (Make sure the pan is stove safe.) As the water starts to boil, place your dye part into the bath. (If you're dyeing the display bezel, keep the flame as low as possible to avoid warping the bezel.) Add water as necessary, it will boil away quite quickly.It took about 45 minutes for the lid and bottom case to become saturated with the orange. For darker colors (Navy Blue, Scarlet, Black, Pine Green) more time may be required.
We're tempted to give this a try, as we've got a slightly worn for wear white MacBook that could live another day with some new fashionable duds. And the project is a great reminded fabric dyes can be used to revitalize an assortment of items out there.
Check out the complete DIY instructions for the Macbook Dye Project over at BrainDeadLock Labs.
Images: BrainDeadLock Labs
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Wow, that is impressive. Though I don't think I'll be trying it anytime soon because I would totally ruin my computer, I am repeatedly amazed at people's unique abilities and craftiness, very good job!. :)
This doesn't look like the same Mac to me, the keyboard is completely different. Did you replace the outer case of the black Mac?
I have a white Apple MacBook. I had no idea it was "outdated".
live and learn
You could just buy a skin,a lot less trouble and it would look better.
I'm surprised the casings from the two different models fit interchangeably.
Will the colors run after a while / liquid / touch / etc.?
I THINK THIS IS A SWEET IDEA. MORE PERSONAL!
Technically this should also be possible with the white iPhone 3G/3GS
I would never put my iPhone casing in Rit Dye..I'm still very skeptical about this project, seems like a scam to me.
An hour later, I'm still wondering why.
I agree with Piewacket, a skin is the way to go.
if you click through and read the tutorial, he dyed the keyboard as well. it's the same machine.
of course, i don't expect the article here to contain the same amount of detail as the tutorial, but it would have been nice to know off the bat that quite a bit of wet step-sanding is involved!
I just went to the source site. You need to take apart the entire computer before dyeing the outside. Seems like a LOT of work for a huge potential of error.
I dunno... i would feel more comfortable in putting a Macbook skin on .... and i am used to working with computers
It's clearly not the same machine. The white outer case was put onto a black MacBook. There's no way you could dye the white that dark and have all the paint on the keys and the "MacBook" name on the display show up so bright white.
Since when is a white macbook outdated?
You are telling us to immerse MacBooks in hot water for a 45 minutes?
You have gotten your days confused. This is Valentines Day, not April Fools.
I LIKE white Macs. Classic! Pure!
I agree with @MEI-LING, early April Fool's!
You all are mean. Read the linked blog before going crazy. OF COURSE you don't submerge your entire macbook. Also, the blog says he DID use and black and a white laptop: "I took a poor old liquid-spilled black Macbook I had and swapped some parts."
So calm down.
Rit is toxic. Not good to expose your skin on for long periods of time esp. not good when mixing with the oils on your fingers. This project seems like a bad idea. If you have that much time on your hands, why not just decoupage your silverware. It seems to make just as much sense as dying your "outdated" laptop.
Dyeing with Rit dye can be one way to salvage an otherwise stained garment or to obtain fabrics or yarns of the colors you desire. Care must be taken when using Rit dye; it is a chemical and is toxic when ingested, breathed or absorbed through the skin.
Read more: Is Rit Dye Toxic? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_6159441_rit-dye-toxic_.html#ixzz1mOJDd875
This has to be the most ridiculous DYI project I've ever seen. I think most people have better things to worry about than their white Mac being "outdated," and far better ways to spend their time than dyeing a computer! What's next? Stencilling? Rhinestones? Hand-knit covers? Oh please.
Oh for God's sake, Smallspacepro... Just because 21 previous comments didn't belittle the author for the typo doesn't mean they didn't notice it. The bigger issue here is clearly that dying a MacBook would only end in disaster for most of us.
That being said, it looks great! Might be a fun experiment if you have a few old machines sitting around.
@LGS I rhinestoned the front screen of my computer and each piece on the keyboard has an individually knitted cover. Small price to pay for my now awesomely unique Mac.
www.speckproducts.com
I was checking the calendar to see if it's already April 1 -- are you serious?
Why?
@SHANNONT - I'd rather dye a computer than decoupage it! The idea is to make it look newer, not older/daggier!
BUT, I would never dye a laptop body. If I was shallow enough to be hung up on it looking 'dated' (I assume you just mean not alum.?) then I'd go for a simple skin. Frankly, I think the orange/black colour combination is more 'dated' than a white macbook.
The f***? White MacBooks are "dated"? I think this DIY stunt is interesting enough to post, but the writing makes it sound as if anyone could and should try this at home. You could easily ruin your perfectly fine laptop. I'm not criticizing the project itself, I think it's pretty brave and I like how it came out.
It's just the writing that bugs me, for example:
"we've got a slightly worn for wear white MacBook that could live another day with some new fashionable duds" - Live another day? This quote makes me feel kinda funny inside. I'm still working with a PowerBook G4 here (yeah, baby...), and will continue to do so until it dies. Please don't throw away your perfectly fine computers just because you don't like their look anymore. Sustainability is more than a fad, especially when it comes to technology.
Wow. Grumpy. If you don't like it, don't do it.
Wow! Someone has a cool head and the patience of a saint! I love the new colour combination - wonderfully retro, but, while I could probably muster up enough courage to take my laptop apart, I'd never have enough bottle to simmer the casing on my cooker!!
Well, done and, while it would've been far easier to buy a new skin, this project says a lot more about how much effort and imagination that person is willing to invest in their endeavours... far more satisfying than just shopping!!!
Or... ditch the Macs and get a Dell laptop that has interchangeable covers. :)
Awed by your fearlessness -- 1) for taking apart your laptop and dunking parts of it in hot liquid, and 2) for blithely ignoring the prospect of being haunted by the ghost of Steve Jobs. Well done!
so many opportunities to feck this up...
As the owner of two white Macbooks, they are are totally dated. But I love them. I have no qualms about having a dated Macbook since I've always wanted a white one and now since they are no longer made I got them used at a decent price. Plus they work great. The model in the picture above was prone to chipping around the edges so they were silently recalled and the new unibody model was made. Now the white unibody one is no longer made.
No way.
They no longer sell the white macbook, and the model they did sell until recently is a different design from the one pictured.
This is neat, but I'd be way too chicken to try that probably.
Um, people, you don't submerge the electronic bits. And I think it's cool. Why the hate?
Did you guys actually go over and *read* the tutorial?!
"Take time disassembling the computer. Let me be absolutely clear: You can remove EVERY part on this computer without major force."
Steve Jobs is rolling over in his grave...
I knew my white mac book was a few years old....but dag....I am NOT ashamed of it!!! I will whip it out in any local cafe, bookstore, and I leave it in plain sight in my home.
I also carry an Iphone 3g....thats right 3, no flash baby!! (I heard you all gasp in horror just now)
Why is a white Mac unprofessional? But purple is better? Heehee. Heehee again.
Interesting dye-job but I love white. No black computers for me. My computer works great even if it is "OUT-DATED" (really?) I thought that if I updated software it was up-to-date? Some people are keeping up with the Joneses, or does methinks wrong.
Reduce, re-use, recycle. Repeat. Reduce, re-use recycle.
It's outdated in the sense that it is "no longer current" according to Merriam Webster. Apple neither makes them or sells them anymore. Of course this only matters to the people who see their Macs as some sort of status symbol, which I never did. I don't see them as unprofessional as all. I got my first white Macbook in 2011 (the one that gets chips) used off of Ebay to see if I liked Macs (and to do computer programming on) and was hooked. I specifically bought this white unibody used off Ebay because Apple does not sell them anymore and I always wanted a white one specifically. The older one is still going strong and I am planning to donate it to a child I sponsor. I'd never dye it. It's easier to just get a skin if you want it a different color.
They were still being made available to educational institutions but I think as of last week Apple cut them off to. When I saw that video I thought 'there is some person that could really use that laptop'. Or at least sell it and donate the money. :(
The negative comments seem woefully out of place -- folks if you don't want to risk it that's your business, not one word of the how-to said "thou shalt dye your macbook".
Unclench and find a story worth trolling.
And if you carry it around at all the oil and abrasion from your hands will wear the colour down in the areas you've been holding it.
This project is strange.
Uh, I think the 'outdated' comment was referring to the hardware rather than the white casing.
You couldn't pay me to attempt this on anything electronic.
wow... all these comments! haha the white is ugly. period. the orange and black is AWESOME. id do this in a heartbeat if my laptop was a horrible white!