Thanks for the ideas. I haven't tried any tufa yet, I've been using only mortar or vinyl cement. I tried some mauve powder today in grandgirl's stepping stone she made, think I put too much in. She's 6, she likes it though:)I haven't been able to find any pure white cement, what I've been using cures to such a white grey that it's not bad.

I did find out that my one problem right now is using water that's too cool inside. Stones are 'lacing' on the sides and bottom with the vinyl. Think I'll put that away until it gets warmer again, it's too expensive to be imperfect with. Though I've reinforced the stones I think the imperfections would weaken them.

Thanks again, I appreciate the answer.

I used food color with little success. The gray cement gobbles-up the color in the mix. Better results by painting the food color on just before "set".

my 2 cents

I like 2 cents, always saves me a penny:) Thank you for letting me know you already tried that. I appreciate it.

The main problem with food colors is that they are so susceptible to fading in sunlight.

Sue

Sue, thanks for explaining why they don't work well. I've tried a powder now and a gel, I believe the powder works best. I need to qualify that statement though, the stones haven't fully cured and dried to see what color they end up being either. They may change again in another 7 days and lighten further.
Leslie

Didn't someone on this forum use left over latex wall paint to color their projects a couple of years ago? I seem to remember it worked, plus it was a way to recycle paint they no longer wanted.

I've used the latex paint. Cheap at rummage sales too.
It works, I used 50/50 water and paint. It lightened up the cement well, but I did it last summer, and the piece is out in the wisconsin snow right now....It hasn't faded, just don't know yet if it will hold up. I did seal with a clear cement sealer.
Marcia

Thank you, I'll have to try this out with the paint. I appreciate the tip.

I have leaves and pavers that have been outside for 3 years - no fading - winter/summer - and I colored them AFTER they were done setting up by painting w/ exterior acrylic latex and wiping off - then highlighting w/ craft paints etc - and sealing w/ grout sealer. So easy, so much fun, and if you don't like the way it turned out, paint it again.

Marcia, did you mix the paint into the cement or paint it afterwards?

Wannadanc, thanks, I have some other molds this would be ideal to work with that I'm not putting anything into. They have a raised design instead.

I "stained" several mushrooms last July with a fence (wood) stain, not a latex. It was applied after the piece had set for a few weeks in the sun. The tan color is stll very visible even after several snow falls and below freezing temps. I did not seal the mushrooms.

Robert

Hi Robert, I have a mushroom curing and was unsure on how I might get a more "natural?" look for it. I've got lots of stain. I think I'll go that route. Thanks.

anotherchris

i have never tryed any of the cement stuff yet plan on starting this summer but i was wondering if the permenent fabric dye would work on this im really curious.

IMO ---- Cement gobbles-up almost every color additive I have tried to use. Just think of your cement piece as a blank canvas. I have experiment with paints, stains, and dyes: everything from water-colors to house paint. I use sealants including, clear acrylic sprays, marine spar varnish, shellac, - even waxes. As I said, imo, exterior color will work better for decorative purposes. If you want to see what I have done with color take a look at some of my work on my face book page. Oh yeah, don't be afraid to link to it. :) The "Mad Hatter" Planter has been in the weather for several years now and has maintained the color. The mushrooms are compound sculptures created because I had made too many pots for succulents. I also wanted to experiment with color and these pieces were sitting around. They're at the bottom of the page.

Here is a link that might be useful: My sculptures

Adding color to the cement is a waste of material because you have to color all of the cement, even the inner material that doesn't show. It takes huge amounts of color to turn a bag of grey cement into another color, and even then, it will have a grey tinge. A much quicker and cheaper way is to use acid stain on the finished surface.

Search Ebay for a color sample kit from one of the vendors. You can get a kit of 6-8 colors that can do a variety of projects. For pictures of this technique, check out my blog at
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L702zl54YCg/TTR139OGthI/AAAAAAAAA3k/BIyeFQnmoQY/s1600/Picture_07.jpg

Click on the last picture on that page (click several times to enlarge). The door surround (by the blue buckets) is stucco textured to look like rocks. I then used the stain sample kit to make them look realistic. I daubed the stain on individual "rocks" with a sponge and used only a few ounces from each 8 oz. bottle, so the stain goes a long way. You can keep layering the colors and even the greens and blues have their uses in making fake stone. At a certain point, you've reacted with all of the lime and no further coloring is possible. I actually added additional lime to this stucco so that it would take a lot of color. Lime from the garden store will work, you don't need builder's lime. A cup or two per bag of cement makes a big difference. Read up on how to use lime and be careful.

Several of the rocks, like the white rock on the right side, couldn't be stained white. For that rock, I rubbed in very course rock salt mixed with white earth pigment (from a pottery shop). After curing for 48 hours, the rock salt dissolved out when sprayed with water and the white pigment had bonded to the moist stucco. The result was a whitish swiss-cheese surface, not unlike travertine.

This project is about three years old and shows no signs of fading.

I'm now at the GardenWeb hypertufa site because I'm starting the landscaping. I'm thinking of a nice big hypertufa faux stump for the yard. Something that will grow moss but not termites!

Mark

I have read so many ideas on how to paint a bird bath, but every time I read the directions on diff products, They either say don't use on concrete or not on a horizontal canvas. Which tells me it won't hold up to water sitting in it. My first bird bath completely faded white where the water was sitting. Some people say to seal the birdbath first with a penetrating sealer then to paint it with craft paints then spray it with a top coat. Then theirs other that say to seal, prime, paint, then apply a clear protective coating.
I just don't want to disappoint anyone with inferior work that won't hold up.

My rule of thumb when coloring cement is to use the oil based colors for the finish coat, and to use the water-based stains when I want a little color, as for my casted leaves.

valolson1 - can you provide names of products that you use. That would be very helpful

I'm thinking colored inks maybe suitable for dying. Any comments would be appreciated.

what type of ink? I have used cement dyes, and cement acid based stain,

I've seen a lamp base made out of concrete on "pneumatic addict" blog. It's made of layers of dark gray going up to almost white using concrete colorant, but I'd like to try a color like blue or green. The whole thing takes a 10# bag of rapid set mix. Wondering if mixing in a colored paint like mentioned above might be the best and cheapest option. I may just try it, but if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear.

I've been looking for the same answer to do the same lamp with blue. I was thinking of trying rite liquid dye. Have you heard of anyone using that? Have you tried the paint yet? Would love to hear back from you. Thanks Conni

Use rit dye for clothing. Mix in with water, be sure to wear gloves!

Has anyone used ceramic pigments such as iron oxide or cobalt oxide?

iron oxide used in ceramics is the same brown powder sold as brown concrete stain, though the ceramic version is much purer.

Cobalt oxide is strong, but I think it needs heat, such as in a kiln to release the blue colour. Its also prohibitively expensive - $20 for 50g, (less that 2 ozs).

Indigo would be worth trying though, and powdered indigo is available now.

thanks for sharing https://cbdfusionbrands.com/