Hydro-dip Anything!

Hydro-dipping is such a cool art technique, and the end result is so cool! I hydro-dipped a plant pot and super cool homemade string coasters (visit that project here!), but you can hydro-dip pretty much anything from planters to AirTags.

You will need:

-Items to hydro-dip

-At least two colors of spray paint for hydro-dipping

-Spray paint/primer or spray primer

-Masking tape

-An x-acto knife or box cutter

-Latex gloves (because you don’t want spray paint on your hands)

-A 5 gallon bucket or similar container that can get spray paint on it

-A large square of cardboard that you can spray paint on

-Stirring stick that can get paint on it

-Paint thinner (optional, in case you get spray paint on you)

-Clear spray-sealer (optional, if you want to make the paint on your finished product more durable)

First, you’ll want to prime your items. Go outside and set down a large square of cardboard so the ground doesn’t get painted and set the item that you want to paint on top. If there are places that you don’t want to be spray painted or dipped, put your masking tape over those places and cut around it with the x-acto knife or box cutter. For instance, if you are hydro-dipping or spray painting an AirTag (This was super fun to do—link to that project here!), tape up the shiny bottom of the AirTag so it doesn’t get paint on it. Next, grab your primer or paint/primer and fully coat your object in the paint. If you have something like a planter pot or a coaster, don’t worry about coating the bottom. Carry your cardboard square inside with the item still on top and let it set for 1 hour minimum. I let mine set for 24 hours, but you could probably hydro-dip within an hour and a half.

After your items have dried, get ready to hydro-dip! Grab your masking tape and make tape handles for your items so you don’t have to touch them and possibly ruin the paint. If you have a heavy item such as a plant pot, reinforce the tape handle so it doesn’t rip off and test it to make sure it won’t rip mid-dip! Next, bring your bucket, spray paint (not the primer this time), primed items, cardboard square, and latex gloves outside. Fill up your bucket with water so that the water level is high enough so that your item will have a little wiggle room and it won’t hit the bottom of the bucket when dipped. Put on your latex gloves, and if you are wearing long sleeves, roll them up! If you wear bracelets or a watch, take those off and put them in your pocket because there is a possibility that they could get spray paint on them.

Now you are ready to dip! Get out your different colored spray paints, shake them up, and take off their caps. Next, hold them both above the bucket and spray them alternately so that you get a circle with a bunch of alternating color rings around it. Try and get each spray paint stream into the center of the last circle for maximum effect. Grab your stirring stick and slowly draw through the spray paint in the bucket to make cool swirls. Next, grab one of your items by the handle and slowly lower it end down (or face down if it is a coaster or something flat) towards the bucket. Slowly lower it until the object has gone all the way below the waterline, then pull it back up. The spray paint will stick to the side of the object and make it look really cool! Set it down on the cardboard square face up (so the wet paint doesn’t get ruined), then continue to dip your objects until they are all dipped. If you don’t like how one of your object turns out, you can always dip it again! (See last two pics in this step—I didn’t like how the planter pot turned out and dipped it again). You can literally dip your objects however many times you want because the spray paint dries enough for another coat instantly. There’s even YouTube videos out there about hydro-dipping something 100 times in a row! Carry your objects back inside on the cardboard square and let them dry for at least 24 hours.

Once your object have dried for 24 hours, go ahead and finish them off! Give your objects a coat of spray sealer if you wish to make the paint more durable, and let them dry for another 24 hours. Peel off the tape handle and any other tape that you put on. To make it even cooler, I cut out letters on my Cricut machine out of removable vinyl, put them on to votive candle holders before I primed them, then kept them on throughout the entire dipping process. I then peeled them off after the final dipped candle holder had dried for 24 hours, and it looked really cool! You can make tape stripes or anything else out of tape and put it on your object before painting it, and it looks really cool after you peel it off! Enjoy your really cool hydro-dipped objects!