Dyeing Furs and Feathers

During our last snow storm, I decided to re-read Fly Tying related books from my library. I highly recommend A.K. Best's Dyeing and Bleaching Natural Fly Tying Materials. Amazon.com has them used for just about 13 bucks.

It is an easy read and even though written a while ago, the directions are still current and look EASY. ;) I am sure that many Fly Tyers like myself, have all searched for that special color and have been frustrated that our search was unsuccessful.

I hope to have the time some day to experiment. My question is...Who out there does their own dyeing?

I dye pretty much anything i can get my hands on.

here's a recent example. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/s...-Conranch-rave!!!

DaveMac,

Just getting into it myself. I have a taxidermist friend that will be a good source of info for me, as well as having the A.K. Best book you mentioned. It's just one more interesting part of the tying process that you can do, to immerse yourself just a little deeper, into this neat hobby.

hugefish 80 - those are some nice vivid colors - very nice dye job & also - nice fly.

Best regards, Dave S.

Thank you HughFish - Beautiful dye jobs... ever think about contracting out your services?

I dye feathers and hair. Marabou is more sensitive, don't want to burn off the little fluffs. It is alot of work, but also fun. I use Veniards, Fly dye, Jacquard acid dyes, and a little rit. I don't do black, takes alot of time, heat, vinegar, dye. Anything but black.

Rite Dye, Egg Coloring,or Kool-Aid.
What is the overall Favorite for Bucktails????

hugefish, how about info on the dyeing process?

Gary Borger's "Naturals" has an excellent dying chapter.

I'm not sure if I am posting in the right forum, if not please move, or tell me where to go,(like that hasn't been done before). I have A.K. Best Dying and Bleaching. But all is with Ritz dye, I don't have easy access to Ritz. So I dye with Kool-Aid.

Does ANYONE have a formula for black.
I bought a black bucktail, about five years ago, from a fly shop, the hairs are too short for what I use them for. And the thing still smells. I would like to have one good tail that I know will be long enough, so I want to dye my own.


Any help is greatly appreciated
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Originally Posted by MSD53X

I'm not sure if I am posting in the right forum, if not please move, or tell me where to go,(like that hasn't been done before). I have A.K. Best Dying and Bleaching. But all is with Ritz dye, I don't have easy access to Ritz. So I dye with Kool-Aid.

Does ANYONE have a formula for black.
I bought a black bucktail, about five years ago, from a fly shop, the hairs are too short for what I use them for. And the thing still smells. I would like to have one good tail that I know will be long enough, so I want to dye my own. Any help is greatly appreciated
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I doubt you'd get a good black from any kool-aide combination (but I could be wrong). Rit Dye is available on-line. http://www.ritdye.com/store/colors/black If that's not an option, have you thought about making a "wanted" post in the 'Things Wanted' or the 'For Trade or Barter' Forum's?

Good book. I used kool aid, lime color to dye some artic fox. Worked darn good and happy that I didnt fork out 5 buck for a small piece of fur. Took a complete fox tail and cut into strips and got more than 40+ pieces, now do the math.

MSD53X,

I don't have the references, but my understanding as far as dying black, is that you want to dye your item brown first (more so with fur/hair). Others may be able to confirm or deny this little trick. Feathers should take black RIT without doing the brown. You need to make sure your item is oil free by washing in Dawn dish detergent first. Add a little vinegar and salt to help the material soak up the dye/salt/ vinegar solution. Also remember that the feathers will always look darker in their wet state. Rinse your materials well - any dye on the out side, will not stay there, it will bleed off (also because you want to get ALL the salt off too). Dye loose feathers in a ladies nylon, that way you can squeeze the excess water out, and you can dry the material with a hair dryer without it looking like a chicken just exploded in the room! Hope this helps. These hints come from a taxidermist, and since the title ends in 'ist', he's a doctor of dead stuff, so he's got to be right!! LOL!!!

Best regards, Dave S.

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Originally Posted by Bass_Bug

hugefish, how about info on the dyeing process?

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I use Jacquard brand acid dyes. So far I have found them to be much much better than RIT because RIT is designed for cloth were as Jacquard is designed for hair/fiber. The basic process is pretty straight forward, I soak the feathers/hair in hot water to soften it up, then wash it with dish washing detergent to get rid of oil and dirt. Then I throw a pot of water on the stove and start it to warming up. For these saddle pieces I think I used 2 quarts of water so that I would have room to stir them around. Then I add white vinegar and some salt. For those feathers it was roughly 1/3 cup vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt. The salt helps to make brighter colors more vivid. When the water is almost to the temperature that I want I add in my dye. The dyes I use come powdered and the hot water help to disperse them pretty well. I always recommend starting with a little dye and then adding more if you need it later. For some things I boil the fur/feathers and others I don't. The only down side of boiling that I can tell is that the skin/hide contracts and any fat that was still on the hide boils off into your water and has to be washed out. After that I throw the WET material into the pot and stir it around until it is the color that I want it to look when it is wet. It is important to remember that what the material looks like wet is what you are going for because everything dries lighter. I frequently take the material out of the dye bath a couple of times to check it for color. When I do this I rinse the material in hot water to get the excess dye out so that I get a good idea of the final color. If the material doesn't seem to be getting any darker and your water looks like most of the dye has been absorbed, add a little more dye. After it is the shade that I want I rinse it in hot water, then wash in hot soapy water, then rinse thoroughly. After that I squeeze it dry as much as possible then put it on paper towels hide down to dry in a well ventilated place.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MSD53X

I'm not sure if I am posting in the right forum, if not please move, or tell me where to go,(like that hasn't been done before). I have A.K. Best Dying and Bleaching. But all is with Ritz dye, I don't have easy access to Ritz. So I dye with Kool-Aid.

Does ANYONE have a formula for black.
I bought a black bucktail, about five years ago, from a fly shop, the hairs are too short for what I use them for. And the thing still smells. I would like to have one good tail that I know will be long enough, so I want to dye my own.


Any help is greatly appreciated
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I dye a few things black, including some deer body hair. I haven't dyed a bucktail black but I am assuming that it is pretty close. See the dyeing process info that I posted in this thread. All I do for black is increase the amount of dye that I use in the mix (usually quite a bit, you can't have it too black) and allow the material to soak in the bath overnight.

Thank you Fish,

Member TomS was just asking me about techniques for Dyeing last night in the Chat Room. I shall point him towards your great description.

use a mordant on hair. a mordant helps to give hair color depth and brilliance, it really drives the dye into the hair. i use a teaspoon of cream of tartar in a 2 quart dye bath for 1 large bucktail. it's especially useful for deer body hair, buck tail, and calf tail. do not use too much or it'll turn the hide to a mushy sort of jelly.

hugefish80/Wes,

Thanks for the detailed play by play, plus the info on mordants. Very helpful.

Best regards, Dave S.

Use of a mordant is necessary. I prefer using a cup of White Vinegar in the sink that has as water as hot as your hands can stand it for my rinse.
This is done after washing, in again as hot as your hands can handle, with a squirt of dawn dish soap. When you heat your dye water do not boil it. Boiling water will damage your stems on hackle. I also find that if you pluck several hackles and dye then rather than dye an entire skin, works best and saves money. Lady Clairol, used to dye hair works well and it is more of a cold dye than hot. Might talk with your wife's hair dresser to ask which colors might work for the color you need. These ladies are experts on dying hair. Why not for our precious hackle? Mary Detee put me onto using this for dying hackle. She uses it to get the exact color she needs for thousands of flies, same shade, needing an exact color. ie: her shade of dun.

To dye black: it is a two stage dye job. First clean, rinse, dye Orange. Dry partially then dye black. This is for both hackle and hair (Buck Tails & deer hair.

Exactly as Denny has said on the hackle, its too expensive to screw up. the trip to the hairdresser is worth it. Another hackle grower here in the east , does the same as Denny stated. Probably from the same source, as he is close to the Catskills.