Dyeing bone with colorfast dye.

[draggat]

Hi all, I have a couple of traditional knives with carbon steel blades and springs, brass liners & pins and nickel silver bolsters. I hate the color of the bone covers. One is bright yellow and the other is a brown/ivory. I want to dye them black.

I have Procion colorfast dye that I used a few years ago to dye some clothes. The stuff works outstandingly well on cotton, and is supposed to work on just about any organic material. However, the mix calls for using soda ash in order for the dye form a permanent molecular bond.

Anyone know if soda ash has negative effects on carbon steel or brass? I used google, and found that it's actually used to remove rust from iron and that it also removes tarnish from silver, but is not good for aluminum. My guess is that it's probably okay, but just figured I'd ask. Soda ash seems to be a bit more caustic than baking soda, but not nearly as much as lye.

Salt is also sometimes another addition to the mix, but I know what happens to carbon steel sitting in salt water. The mix will be heavy with dye, and in a small amount, so I'm hoping it will work without salt.

I have read threads of people successfully using Rit and Tintex,, but A: they aren't colorfast
B: require simmering, which could possibly negatively affect the bone. Vinegar can be used as an alternative to simmering, but then adds to the corrosion factor on the carbon steel.
C: I actually have all the necessary components for the Procion.

Also, I know there are other chemicals used to professionally dye bone, but I don't want to pay for them, and I'm not so sure it would be good to subject the whole knife to it.

Thanks for all of your suggestions and comments. I may just go ahead and take a gamble, but I'd like to hear from you fine folks anyway.