How To Dye Roller Skates

There’s nothing as refreshing as a makeover! Step up your roller style by changing the color and design of your skates. It’s not over if the skates you bought are not as stylish as you’d like.
Whether you own suede, leather, or plastic roller skates, you can always customize them with dye. In this article, we will give you all the tips and techniques you need to dye your roller skates.

What You Need To Dye Roller Skates

The dying process is straightforward and requires very few items. We have tried DIY at home.
What we need:

  • Dye or Rit Dye More (suede dye for suede).
  • Allen wrenches and skate-bearing tools for dissembling.
  • Tongs for handling.
  • A big plastic bowl/pot.
  • Water.
  • Paper and plastic wrap for the work area.
  • Apron for protection.




Note: When choosing a color for the dye, we consider the original color of our roller skates and compare it to the color wheel before selecting a new color. The color we choose should be related to or complement the original color of your skates.

For example: If we want to dye a pair of pink skates, we could choose a red, wine, or purple dye.

With this in check, we won’t end up with a color or shade different from what we want.

Also, whenever we do not find the color of dye we want, we try mixing colors. You can mix red and blue to form purple or blue and yellow to form green, for example.


Credit to Moxi Roller Skates for this tutorial video.

How To Dye Roller Skate Wheels

We have a pair of skates we want to customize. What do you think about blue boots with sea-green skate wheels? Sounds girly. Let’s try it out.
The first thing we do is wipe the skates with a clean cloth. Then, we use our Allen wrenches and skate-bearing tool to disassemble the skates. So we separate the boot from the skate wheels and remove the bearings and toe stop.
Once this is done, we clean the wheels again. Remember to keep the screws and hardware in a safe place, so you don’t get them misplaced.
To avoid the long and tedious clean-up, we first cover our worktable with paper. Then we wrap it in plastic wrap. We can easily tear off the wrappings after working without leaving stains on the table.

With our workspace covered and secured, we move on to preparing the dye.
First, we boil water in a pot or kettle. We let the water boil almost to a boiling point, at 95°C. We prefer dyeing in a bowl instead, so we pour the water into the plastic bowl.
It does not have to be a particular type of bowl. Any bowl from the kitchen works.
To form a dye bath, shake the dye container very well and pour it into the hot water.
When choosing a dye, do not settle for ordinary fabric dye. For quality results, we suggest RitMore Dye.
We insert the wheel and hardware into the dye bath and leave it for a few minutes. That’s fine for the shade we are looking for, but for a deeper shade, you can leave them in for a more extended period.

Once the color is correct, we remove them from the bath using the tongs and place them under cold running water until the rinse water is clear.
Our wheels are ready for the streets! After thorough drying with a clean cloth, we leave the wheels to air dry for a while before fixing the bearings.
When everything is set, we fix the wheels to the boots and go out to show it off!
Now you know how to dye roller skate wheels!


How To Dye Leather Skates

When working with leather dye, the process is different. We use Leather dye to change color and an acrylic finisher for shine. Other items include:

  • A shoe polish.
  • Leather preparer and deglazer.
  • Gloves
  • Masking tapes.
  • Brushes for applying dye.

Before choosing a dye color, we test it with a patch of leather first so we can be sure of the turnout. Be sure to do this first.
First, we clean the leather with a clean cloth as usual. Afterward, the leather preparer and deglaze are applied to remove the previous finish from the leather.
We don’t want dye on the soles and some other parts of the shoes, so we mask them with tape.

To dye the shoes, we have to apply two coats of dye. The first coat is made with thin and consistent strokes. After it dries, we apply the second coat, ensuring that our strokes are even and not standing out weirdly. The strokes should be in one direction.
For more protection and shine, we top off the makeover with an acrylic finish!

How To Dye Roller Skates

How Do You Dye Plastic Skates?

Plastic skates are not hard to dye at all. We only repeated the same process as with the roller skates.
But we use a giant bowl to accommodate the skate boots and boil more water.
And there you have it! Our skates are ready to slide.

For more awesome guides, click here!

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Welcome to Skates of Glory! Join us as we dive into the roller skating world, sharing insights, tips, and inspiration for skaters of all levels. Let's roll together and embrace the skate life!

Oliver Harris
Greetings fellow skater, I'm Oliver Harris!

Hello, I am Oliver Harris, a skilled roller skater with expertise in roller derby and speed skating who brings years of experience and contagious enthusiasm to Skates of Glory.

Emma Moore
Hey there fellow skater, my name is Emma Moore

I am Emma Moore, an accomplished artistic roller skater and professional coach who combines sports psychology with my passion for skating.

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