Many ponies, like Posey, Lickity Split and others, were sold with beautiful soft pink hair that unfortunatly, usually faded over time to a dull white. The original dyes hasbro used were very light and wear sensitive and could not retain the original color.

This specific redying, or restoring pony hair back to its original pink color is called 'repinking'. Repinking techniques are easy, but require some experience, so use practice ponies until you get the technique down. Once you have learned how to dye hair without removing the mane, the options for customizing are unlimited. whether for repinking or dying, its a good trick to know!

There are two common forms of fabric dyes and coincidentally two common brand names of fabric dyes. The two common forms are warm water and cold water. Warm water dyes utilize a simmering or stovetop method to transfer color and cold water dyes use a cold water soaking method. Both work equally as well, but the warm water/simmer method is the most widely used as it is the fastest. Cold water dyes will not dye vinyl or hair as quickly, the advantage being more control over your color, but it takes longer and you do need to be very vigilent with watching the progress. With either dye, warm or cold, you control the end color result by the lenght of time the item is left in the dye bath.

RIT: rit dye is the most commonly used dye, it is found in the us at all major food, drug and discount chains, such as Walmart and Target, as well as some craft stores, such as Michaels. RIT is availalbe in Canadian Walmarts, but the color line is limited. Note: RIT is a very powerful dye and extreme caution must be used to prevent staining of work area surfaces, the pony body vinyl and your person. For repinking the rit color needed is rose. Some rit dyes can be found at custompony.com

DYLON: dylon dyes are available in most European and Canadian markets. They come in a huge array of colors and utilize specific cold water and warm water dyes, so be careful to watch which you are buying. I've also found that once you're done dying the hair, if you place the dye in a glass jar, it can be re-used over and over without any problems. It's saves you money and time. I've got about 3 different jars of color sitting in my closet that I've used about 6 times. The great thing is that you don't have to re-heat the dye again!

A quick trick to repink is vinegar and food coloring. Note, this fades with time and is not waterproof. I've also heard of people using egg dye from Easter egg kits!

• dye
• small applicator brush, such as a paintbrush or an eyebrow brush.
• a bowl for dye
• towel

Prepare your pony by making sure it is clean and ready for dying. you may remove tail or leave the tail attached.

First make sure all work areas are covered and safe from dye!

Follow directions on the dye package for preparing dye bath using either the simmering/stovetop method or the cold water mixing method. Once the dye is mixed well, pour a small amount into your work bowl. You will be using your eyebrow brush or other small paint brush to apply dye to the hair.

Protect the body of the pony by wrapping it in a towel expoing only the mane and body where the plugs are attached and the tail. Start at the ends of the hair and work up towards the body. You need to work quickly but CAREFULLY! The dye will naturally work its way up the shaft of the synthetic hair, so you will not need to apply dye all the way up to the plugs or within a quarter of an inch of the body. Be careful not to let any dye drip, splash or accidently come in contact with the body, it will permanently stain. The dye will also darken as it dries and sets, so go easy on the color.

Once the mane or tail is done, quickly rinse in cold water removing all excess dye.

If you have opted to remove the tail, it can be dipped directly into the bowl with the dye bath. dip and quickly rinse in cold water. air dry.

You may repeat the entire repinking process until you have the exact color you want.

NOTE: One tip about fresh dyed ponies or hair: DO NOT STORE OR DISPLAY WHERE THEY WILL COME IN CONTACT WITH OR TOUCH ANOTHER PONY UNTIL THE DYE IS SET.

The dyes can take up to three weeks to set (reach their true color and leach out excess) and any other soluable surface, wood, vinyl, synthetic hair, ect, that comes in contact with a dyed item will soak up any excess dye.