On 26/05/2020 23:47, ss wrote:
I want to stain some pine cones, it is recommended to use food colouring
but that was useless.
I am looking for brightish reds/blue /green and will be for outdoor use,
I dont want to paint them.
Also non toxic to wildlife.
Any one got recommendations.

Pine cones are naturally dark brown to begin with. You will need to
bleach the surface pretty aggressively to make any dye show up.

Painting them is definitely your best bet. I can't think of any dyes
that would be strong enough to make much difference to how a pine cone
appears. The best you might get is brown with a hint of bright red.

If you could illuminate them with UV then eosin, rhodamine and the other
dayglo dyes and pigments would work OK even on a dark ground.

Stains sold for microscopy are one option but read the MSDS carefully as
some of them may be carcinogenic or suspected mutagens.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microscop...e/153497356594

(not a recommendation for the vendor merely an example)

Most dyes aren't especially harmful to wildlife once they are bound to a
matrix even if their solution is quite nasty. Powerful dyes will get
everywhere if you are careless causing permanent staining. They are
*not* toys. (some may also cause contact dermititis)

You can also buy fabric dyes in hardware stores but they tend to be very
specific to working on wool or cotton fabrics so less effective on wood.


--
Regards,
Martin Brown