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The Rebirth of Doc Hinkle's Egg Dye

From its very beginning, Teknuvations has been working in the area of food dyes.  In 2002, Teknuvations began contract research and development for the complete reformulation of Doc Hinkle's Easter Egg Dye.  The original dye was developed as the first paint-on Easter egg dye by Hinkle's Pharmacy in Columbia, Pennsylvania.  The dye was a popular alternative to the dip-type products.  It quickly developed a loyal following in central Pennsylvania.  The dye is used straight from the bottle and painted onto the eggs using Q-tips.  The resulting colors are brighter and more glossy than dips.  Intricate patterns and designs can be applied to the eggs.  The product is also unique in that it uses a water-insoluble resin compound.  

Hinkle's Pharmacy sold the product line in 1984.  The dye line was then manufactured by another company in Maryland for a number of years and finally discontinued.  The dye was not produced for a few years and finally sold to a York County Pennsylvania Company.  

The original Hinkle's Dye was a great product, but it was certainly not beyond improvement.  The original formula and manufacturing methods had changed very little for many years.  The world and the competition had changed.  The primary solvent for the dye was 190-proof specially-denatured ethyl alcohol.  Along with cost and manufacturing issues, there were other technical performance problems including precipitation of the resin in the yellow color and general bleed-through of the color through the egg shell.  It was determined that the dye, as it had been made, could no longer be successfully marketed and sold as a competitive product.  

Non-technical personnel began to attempt to reformulate the dye by searching for a substitute solvent for the ethyl alcohol.  The solvent needed to have minimal toxicity, high flash point, evaporate relatively quickly, low cost, be water miscible, and the resin had to be readily soluble.  Finding this combination of properties proved to be exceptionally difficult and beyond the ability of the in-house staff.

Teknuvations was engaged to provide R&D services to reformulate the egg dye.  After researching organic solvents extensively, it was determined that no suitable solvents were available.  A completely new approach for the dye was required.  Teknuvations began work on a water-based solvent system.  An immediate difficulty involved the insolubility of the resin in water.  A solvent was developed that was primarily water.  Ethyl alcohol, and other minor organic and inorganic compounds make up the balance of the solvent.  The exact solvent composition is proprietary.  

After the solvent had been developed, Teknuvations prepared test batches of the dye.  The new solvent required the implementation of some process changes in the manufacture of the dye.  Teknuvations developed and implemented the needed changes, along with other changes aimed at increasing the quality of the finished product.  The reformulated dye was tested and accepted by the client.  

In this way, Doc Hinkle's Egg Dye was reborn as a more modern and better product.  It has been sold for Easter 2003 and 2004, with increased sales expected for 2005.  Doc Hinkle's is sold to distributors primarily in PA, but also in NJ, TX, CT, IL, and NE.  The official website is www.dochinkles.com.  The dye can be ordered at this site.  Teknuvations does not sell the retail dye.

Teknuvations' Natural Egg Dye works great with Doc Hinkle's Dye.  Click here for more information.

Copyright © 2004 Teknuvations, LLC
Last modified: September 24, 2008