Dying beads

What beads will accept custom dyes? I want to make costumes in various colors and if need be I will be dying the beads to match. What features do I need to look for in a dyable bead?

[Polly]

Porous natural materials, such as bone beads, I think are your best bet.
Try plugging this search string:
+bone +beads -barbell -gemstone
into the online store search field, to see if any of these shapes and sizes of beads will work for you.

Online store:
https://www.rings-things.com/cgi-bin/hazel/hazel.cgi

--Polly

[Metalman]

Well, I did some internet searching.  There are some brief hints out there but...........
This would be an area of R&D [research and development] The 'D' part means experiments.  You could try a number of things.  I am under the impression that some of the plastics will take dye but I can't currently confirm this anywhere.
That being said - hair dye, leather dye, shoe dye, fabric dye - try it hot, try it cold.  Sand or sand blast before dying to open the surface.  Watch out for dye that seems to take and rubs off when worn or on skin or from sweat or '>
Seal the dye in, perhaps.  Wood stain?
Use Corkclay or paper clay to make your own beads - both of these will take a dye - may need a sealer coat. If you were to us Art Clay Silver - it is very porous - you could use Color Magic pg 122 in the catalog or other products  wearing off might continue to be a problem but could be designed around.
Safety Note:  Many dyes arre hazardous because of the dye material or the solvents they come in - read labels, use ventilation, etc.