Dyeing

[Mike-Connor]

There are numerous ways of dyeing and staining feathers and fur, and it is a fascinating subject in its own right. Indeed, I have spent many a pleasurable hour poring over old books, and then trying out arcane recipes, most of which actually worked! It can be quite fascinating and enjoyable trying to find out what things like "Copperas", or "Fustic" equate to in modern terms.

This however is only really for fanatics. It is a terrible mess on really, and there are much easier ways of obtaining satisfactory results. You only need to stick to a few basic rules, to obtain practically whatever results you desire.

The first absolutely iron rule for obtaining pure bright solid colours is to use perfectly pure white material to start with. The material must be thoroughly degreased, free from soap or other substances, and completely and thoroughly wet when it goes into the previously prepared dye bath. Preferably it should also have been rinsed in very hot water, so that it is close to the temperature of the dye bath, prior to immersion.

I have used many dyes over the years, even, as I already wrote, some complicated and exotic recipes from older books on fly dressing, and various other arcane tomes . However, except for certain very specific purposes, I very rarely dye pure white materials a single primary colour, although of course this is required occasionally.

As you will see, if you look at a hare skin, there is a very large range of shades on such a natural skin, and the skins also vary a lot from animal to animal. One may obtain a lot of pure white fur from the belly, and the tail, and this dyes up beautifully. A single hare skin will supply the fur, when properly prepared, for a very large number of extremely varied and very useful flies. If you have a range of skins, or part skins, dyed in various colours, then you can tie up practically anything you wish.

I have used lots of dyes, including a variety of the modern "cold" dyes. dyeing results are heavily dependent on the material beiny dyed, and the dye being used. For dyeing most things one may conveniently use Veniards special fly dressing dyes. One may obtain a large range of colours and shades with relatively little expenditure of time, effort, and money. Results are invariably quite excellent, and may be reproduced at will, if a little discipline and method is adhered to when dyeing. These dyes are for hot dyeing in a water bath using a mild acid to "fix" the dye. Dyeing is a vast subject, and I am only going to cover the basics here. There are other methods of dyeing but these are sometimes quite complicated and expensive, photo dyeing is an excellent way of dyeing expensive capes as they are less likely to be damaged than by hot dyeing. In this process the material to be dyed is soaked through with photographic solution, and then developed just like a film. This process is complicated and the chemicals used are very poisonous. Mainly silver salts. It seems to have fallen into disuse anyway, and so I wont go into it here.

There are a number of modern dyes which also work very well for specific materials, like Polar bear or Arctic fox, and give better results, but that would be the subject of another article. Alcohol dyeing also works quite well, but I am not completely au fait with all the ramifications, having only tried it a few times, and it is sometimes difficult to obtain several litres of pure alcohol, quite apart from the cost involved. Water is cheap enough, and freely available.

While we are on the subject, you might find it better to use distilled water for your dye baths. Some of the stuff in piped "Town" water will also affect the results adversely. If you live in certain places, especially some major cities, of which I have also had the dubious pleasure, where the surface of your tea is always covered in nasty looking bits and "scum" from the tap water, then using distilled water for your dye baths is definitely a very good idea. Indeed, it's probably a good idea to use it for your tea as well!

By the way, if you are paying thirty or forty pounds, or even more, for a cape or saddle, then I would suggest you buy the colour you require to start with. It is not worth taking any major risks with such materials, they are far too expensive to start with. Once you have a bit of knowledge and experience, you can have a go if you wish, but don't start with such stuff.

As far as washing goes, I usually wash my material in the bath, and then rinse it thoroughly under clean running water. A solution of ordinary washing up liquid like "fairy" etc, works perfectly. The material, especially feathers on the skin, and bushy fur or hair, should be soaked for a while, ten minutes is usually enough, in the warm solution, and then gently swayed back and forth to ensure complete penetration of the soapy water. Avoid bending or squeezing capes and other feathers, it may cause feathers to fall out or be otherwise damaged. Do not leave any materials in water too long, the hair or fur will start to fall out (known as "slip???).

Heavily soiled or extremely oily raw material such as bucktail, or similar hair and fur, (cat fur on the skin is terrible for this!), may need degreasing with something a bit stronger than washing up liquid. For this, I use a solution of so-called "biological" detergent as used in a household washing machine for soiled clothing. One may also use things like ammonia and similar, but I have never found the need. I have also never found the need to use anything else, although some special products are offered for this purpose, notably Veniards "Venpol". Indeed, it is considered so pure, that Mr Veniard says it does not even need rinsing off. I prefer to give a thorough rinse off here. It costs nothing, and why take a chance?

Tanned skins just need a quick but thorough wash in a light solution of washing up liquid, and then thorough rinsing, mainly to wet them thoroughly, before placing them in the dye bath. DO NOT USE POWDER DETERGENTS THAT WASH "WHITER THAN WHITE they contain varying amounts of fluorescent dye, (which is what makes "white" shirts glow blue under "black" disco lights etc), and the results may affect your experiments adversely.

Of course, if you fancy some "fluorescent" hare fur, just soak some white fur in a very hot solution of this powder, add a bit of vinegar, and "Bob's your ferkin!". This stuff will fluoresce like a firework display under the right light. I am not sure whether it impresses the fish much, but some shrimps I tied using a blend of it seemed to be a lot more effective than those without. Might just be coincidence though.

At the risk of repeating myself, do not start your dyeing experiments using very expensive capes. In fact it is better to start dyeing fur and cheap hen capes etc, until you get the hang of it. It really is very simple indeed and the results can be magnificent. One can achieve remarkable effects with even very cheap materials, some very rare combination dun colours can be achieved, using certain necks as a base, and insect colours matched very closely indeed.

cont'd ->

[Mike-Connor]

One may also dye an excellent range of furs for various purposes using these dyes, which may also be mixed in turn, giving a vast range of possibilities. For dyeing small amounts of fur and feathers you will need the following equipment.



A large enamel or stainless steel pan. Do not use aluminium saucepans or other naked metal equipment. It can affect the dye bath, and the acid used in the process will attack aluminium and some other metals. Stainless steel is usually OK, but enamel is definitely best. If you can get it white enamel, for reasons which will become obvious! A metal sieve or colander, preferably stainless steel, but chromed steel will do, which fits the pan fairly well. An excellent piece of equipment is an old chip pan! (Mine is shown in the photo). Some plastic (heat resistant!) or stainless steel tongs for handling material, rubber gloves, a measuring jug, and plenty of old newspaper.

The dye in the colours you wish to dye, and a bottle of vinegar. Either malt vinegar or wine vinegar is ok. This is a relatively mild acetic acid necessary to the dyeing process. It helps the dye to "bite" and fixes the colour as well. For some processes other acids are used, but vinegar works well for most things. One may of course obtain stale asses urine, if you can find a stale ***, or a variety of other things, and for some things they will work very well indeed, but this of course involves a lot more pissing about!

When dyeing Arctic Fox, the best acid to use is formic acid. This is the same acid ants use to paralyse their prey! It is quite difficult to obtain, unless you have contacts, and is quite dangerous as well. I suppose you could crush a lot of soldier ants if needed.? It definitely works a very great deal better than most other acids. Giving bright vibrant colours . I don't know why this is so, but it is a fact. One may in fact use almost anything from sulphuric acid to maiden's water, but vinegar is by far the easiest to obtain. There are in any case not many asses, and precious few maidens of my acquaintance, whom I might reasonably ask to provide the necessary, without getting a black eye, or locked up!

If you do use any other acids, make sure you know what you are doing and take all necessary precautions. If you are not sure, stick to vinegar!

Your tools and equipment should be plastic or stainless steel. Wooden tongs and spoons must not be used, they will soak up dye and are impossible to clean properly, and may contaminate your bath. A few small plastic spoons for measuring the dye powder will also be required.
I use a camping stove with a gas cartridge for heating my dye bath. I usually do all my dyeing in the garage. I have done some in the kitchen on occasion, but this is really asking for trouble, and I would not normally do so. An electric heating ring may also be used, but I prefer the gas as it gives more immediate control. If you wish, you may use a cooking thermometer to control the temperature of your dye bath. I have never bothered doing so. The cardinal rule is, as hot as possible without actually boiling. This can easily be determined without a thermometer.

The procedure is quite simple, a measured quantity of water (I invariably use exactly one litre or multiples thereof), is poured into the pan, brought to the boil and the measured amount of dye is added (this depends on the colour you are dyeing and the results you wish to obtain, instructions are included with Veniard dyes) and then well stirred. The vinegar is added (one or two teaspoonfuls is usually sufficient, for dark colours and deep shades you may use more) and also well stirred, the bath left to cool for a moment (it must not be boiling!) check the temperature, and then the clean, thoroughly wet and preferably very warm material is then added to the bath. Results can be checked by using a small piece of the same material as a monitor, removing this from the bath from time to time, and rinsing it under cold running water. It will show you exactly how things are progressing, and when your desired shade has been reached.

Some shades are achieved almost immediately, others require quite some time. If the shade is not deep enough, even after a while in the bath, then you may add more dye and vinegar, but only after first removing the material from the bath.

Do not add dye to the bath while material is in it. The results can be disastrous as far as the final colour is concerned, and streaking or spotting may also occur. Do not be tempted to put more dye than necessary in the bath; this is wasteful, and unnecessary. The material will only take up a certain amount of dye in any case, and using more is simply a waste. A really good dye bath "exhaust" is almost clear water, as most of the dye is taken up. If you are trying for lighter shades or "special" overdyed colours, then of course use less dye, and "sneak up" on your required result by adding small amounts to the dye bath. Always remove the material first, and give it a good stir.

A set of instructions comes with each pot of Veniards dyes. Mr. Veniard also produced a very good pamphlet on dyeing some years ago, and most Veniards stockists should have it or be able to obtain it. It is shown in the photo. The instructions here should suffice though.

You should definitely do your dyeing in the garage or an outhouse if possible. These special powder dyes are extremely powerful and will colour anything with which they come into contact. The result may be quite impossible to remove. Your family harmony may be severely strained if you colour your new fitted kitchen work surfaces in all the colours of the rainbow, in fact one colour will usually more than suffice! A spilled dye bath or a few coloured patches in the garage is a nuisance, although also an interesting talking point, most people simply have oil and stuff, but if it happens in the kitchen it is a major catastrophe! Basically the same applies to the bathroom. These dyes will colour grouting cement and other stuff immediately. Bright purple grouting does not go well with pale green tiling, believe me!

When dyeing feathers and other delicate materials you must not boil the dye bath while the material is in it. The material will be damaged. It is also best to prevent the material touching the sides of the bath if possible, in a very hot bath this will cause feathers to curl or singe, which makes them useless for tying purposes.

Some materials will only take up the dye properly, when the bath is very close to boiling. This is especially true of many furs and hairs. If the dye is not "taking", then increase the temperature, but don't boil the bath with material in it. Sometimes, the effect when the dye "takes" is quite sudden and dramatic, variations of one or two degrees Celsius can make all the difference here. The bath suddenly "clears", and the material is almost magically coloured. It is quite fascinating to watch. If you can get it, a white enamel pan is a great help here, as it is easier to observe such changes. If you use a dark coloured pan, then place a piece of white hard glazed tile or similar in the bottom as an aid.

These aniline (Veniard) dyes are combination dyes, this means several dye colours are combined by the manufacturer to produce a certain colour, just as an artist mixes primary colours to achieve various tones and shades, dyes are also blended to achieve the desired effect. The principle is the same, but with one slight but very important in fact absolutely major!!! difference.

Different dye colours penetrate at different rates!!! Also, some materials may have more affinity for a particular component of the dye, or vice versa. If you remove your material from the bath too soon, it may well be a completely different colour than the one you were trying to obtain, the material must remain in the bath long enough to absorb all the colours present.

Dark colours are much easier to dye than light colours. You can dye practically anything darker than it already is, but you cannot dye a dark colour lighter. Deep shades of light colours are difficult to achieve as well, especially fluorescent dyes sometimes produce only light pastel shades of the required colour, although the material may fluoresce like a firework display when viewed under the correct light.

Theoretically you can dye anything black, in practice this is often really quite difficult as a large amount of dye is often needed, and the material may have to stay in the bath a long time at the hottest possible temperature, without actually boiling, to achieve a really deep black. Other materials may only need a short time.

One trick here to achieve a good black, is to dye the material orange first, and then overdye it. This works very well. It also has some other advantages for some fly patterns.

Cont'd ->

[Mike-Connor]

The difficulty in obtaining extremely dense colours is not really such a problem as at first might appear. We are attempting to colour materials so that we can more closely match insects with the result, most insects are translucent and made up of several colours as well, so a "light black", really a dark grey with a bit of brown or blue or orange shining through, may not be a bad thing at all. Depends on what you are trying to achieve. The Orange/Black dyed material also behaves like many insect carapaces when held up to the light. The orange tint shows through the black, and some beetle imitations tied with this stuff are particularly effective. Much more so than dense black material.

If you want to experiment with mixing dyes then I would suggest buying a "colour wheel" at an artists supply store, this helps a lot when wanting to know what colours to mix to achieve a certain shade or colour. Try the "single" colours first though. Most of my pupils start with "Blue dun" dye and a couple of hen capes just to get the hang of things. Remember, the mixing principles are basically the same as with paint, but the dyes do not behave like paint!

After dyeing, the materials should be thoroughly rinsed under cold running water until no more dye comes out, and then laid out skin side down on a few old newspapers until almost dry, and then blown dry to fluff them up. If large amounts of dye wash out, then this is often a sign that the dye has not "taken" properly. Usually due to the bath not being hot enough, but it can have other causes.

You will hear and read all sorts of things about bath temperatures; people often get quite heated about it! The methods described here work very well indeed, I have been using them for a very long time, and they are the result of considerable experimentation and application. Others may work, or they may not. However this may be, the single most common reason for dye not taking properly is that the dye bath is not hot enough.

Remember that wet materials will also look a lot darker than when they are dry. Take this into account when dyeing materials for either wet or dry flies.

Some materials cannot be dyed; very many synthetics for instance, if you want to dye things like this, try a small amount first to see if it works. You may also get "patchy" or indifferent results with some feathers and furs. This is usually a result of improper or insufficient degreasing, or wetting, but not always. Some materials simply take dye much more readily than others. Simply wetting feathers with water before dyeing is not enough, you must wash them in warm soapy water, the soap is in this case mainly a "wetting agent", which ensures that all the feathers are completely wet, right down to the roots. The fluffier the material, the more care required.

Arctic fox is especially difficult to dye, even the slightest tinge of grey or blue in the fur, will prevent it dyeing up bright . It must be pure white to start with. Of course you can dye colours like olive etc, on slightly grey hair. But the results may not be exactly as you require. Remember for bright solid colours, you MUST!!! use pure white material to start with.

With a little experience, you may easily mix dyes to achieve the effects you require, but be careful here. It is easy to overdo things, and more or less impossible to remedy the mistake. As long as the material is not too dark, it is possible to overdye to the correct shade. Or even overdye it a completely different colour. This will only work to a certain degree however, when the basic colour is already dark then this is no longer a viable option.

I like to dye natural hare body fur in a few shades of olive, and claret and one or two other colours, I use this fur by itself and for blending with other dubbing and achieve some excellent results with it. A Blue dun dye on rabbit or hare fur also gives excellent results, for imitating some insects accurately. Not least because the fur already has a very large number of natural tints and variations. The same applies to olive, claret, and a few other colours. The natural colour variations in the fur are complemented and enhanced by the dyed colour, and the result does not look quite so artificial as a solid dyed colour in my opinion. The flies tied with such material are in any case much more effective.

For wings etc on "gaudy" flies, which require solid colours, I have had excellent results dying goat hair, which is readily and cheaply available as whole skins. I have dyed a complete range of this hair since it is so useful for all sorts of things. Especially as hair wings for small streamers and tube flies of which I use a lot for sea-trout fishing, and some perch and pike flies. I also dyed a whole range of Icelandic Sheep, but I gave it all away in the end, as I did not like it at all.

The flies looked great on the bench, and the stuff was easy to work with, but it knots up terribly in saltwater, and is rendered useless quite quickly. Many of the flies I tie are for use in saltwater, and material which does not work well there is pretty useless to me. I have a fair range of dyed bucktail as well, but I don't really use much of it now, I prefer the fox hair, or goat, as it is far more mobile in the water.

Mohair "knitting wool" is an excellent cheap source of first class dubbing material (it must be mohair, not sheeps wool ) you can buy it at practically any wool shop, in white, (and other colours as well of course), and dye it to the shades you require, it takes dye extremely well, you can of course use ordinary wool for this too, but this is nowhere near as good, and is in any case usually available in the shade you require if you look long enough. This can be used for blending or on its own. As ever, I use it for blending.

One decided disadvantage of the hot dyeing method described, is the fact that the skin of the materials so treated becomes brittle and stiff as a result of it. There are one or two tricks to alleviate this problem. Rubbing glycerine or a good hand cream into the skin of dyed capes will make them a little more supple and easier to handle, and will prevent them cracking up.

Hair on the skin should be cut into fairly thin strips or smaller patches, before dyeing it; this makes it easier to select the hair later when tying. This is especially important for things like deer hair etc. The raw skin may be cut by using a scalpel or very sharp craft knife from the skin side and holding the material taut. There is very slight wastage sometimes as one or two hairs may be cut, but this is negligible. You need someone to hold the skin for you while cutting.

These capes have been dyed using the methods described here;



Thick bushy tails from Arctic fox or similar animals should be pulled into pieces before dyeing. This is quite easy to do usually, just grip the tail firmly where you want to divide it and pull hard. This also aids the dyeing process as the dye can penetrate small pieces better than large bushy ones. Before you dye a whole tail in some unusual colour, think carefully, and if you don't need much material in that colour, just dye a piece.

Cont?d ->

[Mike-Connor]

It is better to dye small amounts at first, and try to gauge how much material of a certain type or colour you will use in the course of the next few months or years. I remember a pupil from one of my classes coming in with a whole Icelandic sheepskin which he had dyed a lovely bright shade of hot orange. I have no idea where he got a suitable chip pan! He was very proud of it, as it was one of his first attempts, and the whole class was very impressed, I remember how crestfallen he was when I asked him during the coffee break what he was going to use it for, he had become so fascinated and carried away with the successful dyeing that he had somehow lost touch with the purpose of it.

Remember, you can dye half capes or even a few dozen selected feathers if you wish, or small patches of fur, it is not necessary to dye whole animals, even if your chip pan is big enough! Sounds like yet another minus point for elephants! The following fur and hair was also dyed using these methods;



I have tried on quite a number of occasions to bleach various materials using various methods, but have now ceased experimenting in this direction as the results were all fairly lousy, or too much of a clart on, and I don't like to ruin good material. I will leave this to the commercial suppliers in future. There is some literature available on bleaching, if you want to try it. However, I simply found it too much of a mess about, and with very uncertain results. My best results were obtained by using some hairdressing products, but these are not cheap, and still quite "iffy", depending on how you use them. Most methods I tried damaged the materials to such an extent that they were barely usable.

My best "Fiery brown" dye is however a ladies hair dye. There is no other that even comes close to it. I have forgotten the name of the product for the moment. I will look it up and post it to the board if anybody is interested.

Be careful when you find apparently cheap sources of ready dyed feathers and furs. It is by no means certain that these will be colour fast, one of my pupils came to a class with a large quantity of feathers in all the colours of the rainbow, which he had bought very cheaply at a shop which was selling "Genuine Red Indian" headdresses for children. These feathers looked great, but the dye was not fast, and actually came off on your fingers when tying. Soaking the feathers for a while in water reduced the colour to almost zero! Not much use for fly dressing.

You can test this quite simply usually, spit on your thumb and forefinger, and rub the material. If the colour comes off on your fingers, leave it.

There are numerous methods of dyeing, and types of dye. In America, some people use things like soft drink powders ???kool aid" and the like. The consumers of such must have cast iron stomachs!, and there are dyes like "Rit", "Dylon" and many others. For quite a while I experimented with various plant extracts, and a host of other things, and it was a lot of fun. Of course, I have not tried them all. Some may work, many will not, or not reliably. If you want consistent results, and purely as a means of making your materials more useful and valuable, then I would personally advise you sticking to Veniards dyes.

One last little trick here, which may be of use to you even if you don??t want to dye your own materials. If you buy material, and the dye comes off when you spit on your finger and rub it, then it is useless for fly-dressing in that condition. Of course you could send it back to the supplier, if that is possible, but if you are obliged or want to keep it, and like the colour, then drop it into a pan of not quite boiling water with three tablespoons of vinegar per litre added. This will "fix" most dyes. ? Afterwards simply rinse it and dry it as described above!

Mallard and similar water bird feathers are also quite straightforward as long as you degrease them thoroughly. I would recommend you remove the "fluff" from the base of the feathers as it is useless, and merely soaks up a lot of dye. To degrease water bird feathers, which are covered in preen oil, wash in hand hot water with a generous dash of Fairy liquid. Agitate the feathers a few times, and let them soak for a while. ten minutes will normally suffice. Rinse thoroughly.

Immediately before dyeing place the feathers in very hot ( but not boiling!) water. ( this is only done to get the feathers up to temperature. Otherwise they will cool the bath too much). Then transfer to the dye bath. The dye bath should be just below boiling point. The dye should take almost immediately.

It is IMPERATIVE!!!!!!! that all the material you wish to dye be placed in the bath simultaneously. You CAN NOT dye things the same colour one after another. Each piece of material you dye exhausts the bath to some extent. If you try to dye things "one after another" in the same bath, the dye shade becomes progressively lighter with each piece of material you dye.

There are formulas for calculating the amount of dye required for a specific dry weight of material to be dyed, but you don??t really need them for dyeing a few feathers. It is also essential that the feathers do not touch the sides of the dye vessel! This will cause them to curl or burn! That is why you need a steel colander or sieve. There are very many misconceptions about dyeing. Material which is dyed, actually takes on the dye itself, which when properly done, chemically bonds to the material, also making it colour fast. The liquid in which the dye and the material is placed, is merely a transport medium to ensure even dyeing.

If you have the right amount of dye in the bath for the amount of material you are dyeing, then the bath will clear almost completely, and look like clear water. Dye is not like ink or paint. If you put too much material in the bath, then you will get a lighter shade, because the dye is distributed evenly among the material in the bath. Using more dye of a particular colour, for material of a certain dry weight, will not give you a darker shade! Using less dye than would normally be required will however give you a lighter shade. I know people continually write to the contrary, but that is simply because they do not understand the process.

If you have a crimson dye, and you use the right amount of that dye to dye a white cape. Then you will get a crimson cape. Regardless of how much dye you add, the cape will still be crimson. The extra dye you added is merely wasted . If you use the same crimson dye, and use only half the amount which would normally be required to dye a white cape crimson, then it will turn out a different shade. Usually a lighter shade of red, but also maybe even pink or light orange. The dye used is related to the dry weight of the material you wish to dye, and is independent of the water in the dye bath. The dye actually leaves the water, and bonds to the material. If the dye bath is still bright crimson after you have finished dyeing something, then either the dye has not "taken" properly, or you have used far too much dye.


Dyeing is a vast and extremely complex subject. Such knowledge is not essential for dyeing up most fly-dressing materials, but it can be useful, especially for special cases. Some special natural dyes are still used for dyeing some materials, as the shade depth and lustre is unmatched for some purposes. However, this is best left to professionals in most cases.

Cont'd ->

[Mike-Connor]

Here is a very basic overview of dyes in common use.

Organic dyes
The first man-made organic dye, mauveine, was discovered by William Henry Perkin in 1856. Many thousands of dyes have since been prepared. Synthetic dyes quickly replaced just about all the traditional natural dyes. They cost less, they offer a vast range of new colours, and they impart improved properties to the dyed materials.

Most dyes are now classified according to how they are used in the dyeing process.

Acid dyes are water-soluble anionic dyes that are used on fibres such as silk, wool, nylon, various other natural materials, and modified acrylic fibres ,by the use of neutral to acid dye-baths. Fibre attachment is attributed, at least in part, to the formation of salt between anionic groups in the dyes and cationic groups in the fibres. Acid dyes are not substantive to cellulose type fibres.

Basic dyes are water-soluble cationic dyes that are used mainly on acrylic fibres, but are also occasionally used for wool. silk, and some other natural materials. As a rule, acetic acid is added to the dye-bath to assist the dye uptake of the fibre Basic dyes are also used to colour paper.

Direct or substantive dyeing is normally carried out in a neutral or slightly alkaline dye-bath, at or near boiling point, and using sodium chloride (NaCl) or sodium sulfate (Na2SO4). Direct dyes are mainly used on cotton, paper, leather, wool, silk and nylon. These dyes are also often used as pH indicators and as biological stains.

Mordant dyes require a mordant, which is a substance that improves the fastness of the dye against water, light and perspiration. Mordant choice is extremely important as various mordants can change the final colour very significantly.

Most natural dyes are mordant dyes, and there is quite a lot of literature extant describing properties and techniques to be used with these dyes. Synthetic mordant dyes , or chrome dyes are the most important, mainly used for wool. About a third of the dyes used for wool are synthetic mordant dyes and are especially used for black and dark blue shades. In these cases, the mordant, potassium dichromate, is applied as an after-treatment.

Vat dyes are basically insoluble in water and not capable of dyeing fibres directly. However, reducing them in alkaline liquor produces the water soluble alkali metal salt of the dye, which, in this so called "leuco" form, has an affinity for the fibre. Subsequent oxidation reforms the original insoluble dye.

Reactive dyes rely on a chromophore containing a substituent that reacts directly with the fibre substrate. The covalent bonds that attach reactive dye to natural fibres make it one of the most permanent dyes. "Cold" reactive dyes, such as Procion MX, Cibacron F, and Drimarene K, are easy to use as the dye may be applied at room temperature. Reactive dye is the best choice for dyeing cotton, cellulose fibres, and is also extremely useful for dyeing sensitive natural materials such as Polar Bear, Arctic fox, and some others. Hot dyes damage these furs, making them more or less unusable for some purposes, fly-dressing included!

Dispersal dyes were developed for dyeing cellulose acetate, and are also essentially water insoluble. These dyes are ground to fine powder in a dispersing agent and then sold either as a paste, or spray-dried, and sold as a powder. These dyes may be used to dye nylon, triacetate, polyester and acrylic fibres. For some of these things a dyeing temperature of 130??C is necessary, and a pressurized dye bath is used. Extremely fine particle size gives a large surface area, aiding uptake by the fibre. Dyeing rates are significantly influenced by the choice of dispersing agent used during the grinding.

Azo dyeing is a technique whereby insoluble azoic dye is produced directly on or within the fibre. This is done by treating a fibre with diazoic and coupling components. Under suitable dyebath conditions the two components react and produce the desired insoluble azo dye. This dyeing technique is unique, because the final colour is controlled by the choice of the diazoic and coupling components.

One other class which describes the application role of dyes, and not their mode of use, is food dye. Food dyes are classed as food additives, they are manufactured to a higher standard than most industrial dyes. Food dyes may be direct, mordant or vat dyes, and their use is usually strictly controlled by legislation. Many of these dyes are azoic dyes, although anthraquinone and triphenylmethane compounds are used for colours such as green and blue. Some natural dyes are also used.

A number of other dye classes have also been established, including:

Sulphur Dyes for textiles
Carbene dyes for colouring multiple substrates
Oxidation bases, for mainly hair and fur
Leather dyes, for leather
Fluorescent brighteners, for textile fibres and paper
Solvent dyes, for wood staining and producing coloured lacquers, solvent inks, colouring oils, waxes.

Only a few of these are suitable for use by amateurs. Even many natural dyes use extremely poisonous and dangerous materials, and require care in use. For many sensitive materials, "cold" reactive dyes are now being used more and more. They still depend on the correct dye-bath temperature, but this is usually somewhere around 30??C, and does not present as many problems as dye baths used near or above boiling point.

Furthermore, and this will doubtless cause some controversy, some dyes in regular use are less suitable than many people imagine. RIT dye is NOT suitable for dyeing most natural materials!

I know Mr.Best recommends it, but it is not a good choice. You need to use a lot of dye, and RIT is also a so called "union" or "combination" dye which may be used on various things like proteins and cellulose, nylon, and polyester, because it contains several different types of dye. Normally, it will also not give the bright vibrant colours fly-dressers are looking for on natural materials, and a lot of dye components are simply wasted on natural materials, as they can not bond to them.

Veniard ?s dye also has a number of quite severe limitations! With few exceptions, namely hot orange, lemon yellow, scarlet, and kingfisher blue, all Veniard ?s dyes are mixed colour dyes.This causes problems with colour consistency between batches, as even if you weigh the dye powder very accurately indeed, the dye colour powder is not a homogenous mixture, and even vigorous mixing or shaking will not make it so, because the specific gravities of the various dye colours vary, and the heavier colours will sink to the bottom of the mixing vessel when stirred or shaken. Veniard??s also uses different acid dyes to obtain some colours, and these differ in molecular structure, causing varying dye rates. This can cause a number of problems!

For some materials, hot acid dyes are completely unsuitable. At the temperature required for the dye to take, Polar bear fur for instance is burned, and it loses its tips, making it useless for fly-dressing! As already stated elsewhere, prolonging the time in the bath will not make any appreciable difference to the final shade of any material. The temperature is critical. Adding more dye is also useless and will only be washed out when rinsing anyway, as it has not "taken". The temperature is absolutely critical for hot aniline dyes. Unless you reach the required temperature the dyes simply will not take properly. It does not matter what anybody else says, this is a simple fact.

When you reach the required temperature, ( which varies somewhat according to the dye bath and the materials being dyed), the dye "takes" immediately, and the dye bath clears almost as if by magic. Unless this occurs, the dye has not "taken", the colour will not be "fast", and a lot of dye will simply be rinsed out when the material is rinsed. Sorry to keep repeating this, but it is the single major cause of failure by beginners.

Some feathers and hairs curl badly, or the tips are damaged, at close to the "taking temperature" of the dye. ? When hot dyeing, the material must not be allowed to touch the sides of the dye-bath anyway, and should be constantly agitated, as long as heat is being applied. Best to withdraw the heat shortly before the material is placed in the bath. Rinse the material ( which should be clean, grease free, and completely soaked) in very hot water before placing in the dye bath. This prevents the bath cooling too much, which will prevent the dye from taking properly.

For dyeing Polar Bear, ( which I have done quite a few times now), cold reactive dyes like these, or similar are best;

http://www.dyeproservices.com/Dylon%...ater%20Dye.htm

The following is a patch of Polar bear dyed using "Primrose" from the above list of cold dyes. I just scanned the patch on a flatbed scanner, so the photo quality is not brilliant, but enough to give you the idea I hope).





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[Mike-Connor]

These dyes are not cheap ( although this is mainly due to the minimum quantities you have to buy, in use they are in fact cheaper than hot aniline dyes), but they give absolutely first class results, and without the danger of damaging sensitive materials due to heat. In the meantime one may also obtain smaller amounts of Dylon cold dyes very cheaply.

The skin of such patches also remains soft, ( if it was previously tanned). Stiff hard skin, which results from hot dyeing, can cause problems and wastage. This is very useful when selecting hair. There are also various suppliers of cold reactive dyes which sell smaller amounts. The dyes work well on all the natural materials I have dyed, and in most cases are better than any of the hot dyes. Most especially in regard to colour solidity and brilliance. This is most important on Polar bear, and a few other things. The "glassy" natural sheen of hackle, fur etc is retained. This is apparently a big big secret by the way! Quite a few commercial suppliers use these dyes for their top quality materials.

By the way, a pot of the above mentioned dye is sufficient to process a very great deal of fly-dressing material. Far more than an individual is ever likely to need. 5ml of dye powder will dye ca. 500 gms of dry material. This depends a little on colour and shade depth required. When giving one of my flydressing classes, quite a while ago now, I formed a "dye club". 12 of us got together, and ordered the colours ? we wanted in 250 ml pots. I then weighed out 20 gm portions of each pot into smaller pots, and distributed them to the participants. This meant we all got a very good range and quantity of colours ( 12 each * 20gm), for about 80 dollars each. For a further few dollars we got the fixative etc as well.

There is no point in buying such a large pot of the stuff just to dye a few hair patches. Unless of course you want to dye a number of materials in the same colour, or you have particularly valuable materials, which you do not want to hot dye. Or you want to dye a patch of Polar bear hair and a hundred T-shirts! Buying such pots is otherwise really only viable for a tackle shop or similar, which produces their own material.

There is a great deal of nonsense talked and written about dyeing, and I can only assume that this is mainly done by people who just don??t know what they are talking about, and have presumably never done it.

Hot dyes require a certain temperature before they "Take" properly. ? If you do not reach this temperature, which can vary, but is usually very slightly under the boiling point of the dye, ( which is higher than the boiling point of water! !!!!!, as the dye and the acid etc increase the boiling point. Just like adding salt to water will increase the boiling point! !!) then it makes no difference how long you have the materials in the bath, how much mordant, vinegar, asses urine, or fine old brandy you put in there,

UNLESS YOU REACH THE REQUIRED TEMPERATURE THE DYE WILL NOT TAKE!

This is a simple fact. Take it or leave it. I am not going to argue about it, and I don??t mind at all whether anybody follows my instructions or not, it is not my material which will be ruined! In many cases, these temperatures will burn or otherwise damage some materials anyway unless very great care is taken, and sometimes even then.

THE COLD DYES MENTIONED AVOID THESE PROBLEMS COMPLETELY.

If you want hard, fast, bright, colours using hot dyes, then you must attain the right temperature in the dye bath. This may be deleterious to some materials, even when done carefully. The dyes referred to here are COLD WATER DYES, so there is no point in boiling them. I have no idea what would happen if you boil them, I have never done it. This would be an exercise in futility, and I see no point in such exercises. Maybe it will blow your house up?

You must follow the instructions which come with the dyes. Read the website I noted with regard to fixative etc etc. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS hot aniline dyes, or indeed any other dyes, and do not work on the same principles.

Further points of note;

The cold dyes mentioned can be mixed much like paints. Mixing blue and yellow will give green for instance. You need experience before you try this on valuable materials. It is possible to mix virtually any colour or shade from a set of basic colours. But it is not necessarily easy! If in doubt, use an artists colour wheel. Some colour combinations are not obvious. Also, the strength of the dye bath influences the depth and shade of the colour. The strength of the required dye bath is dependent on the dry weight of the material! This also depends on the shade you want!

It is only sensible to mix dyes in the water by adding the dye powder as required and mixing carefully. Mixing the powder itself to obtain colour blends on such a small scale is impossible, as there is no way you could weigh or otherwise measure the amounts required accurately. When attempting to produce certain colours and shades, or reproduce some you may already have discovered, then you must be very clean and very accurate in your measurements. When using small scale dye baths of a litre or so, it is quite impossible to weigh the amounts of dye powder required to produce some shades etc. ? This is a matter of experience. It is more of an art than a science.

You can usually get excellent results if you make careful notes, and observe all necessary procedures. Use distilled water for the dye bath. Avoid metals, use plastic or stainless steel measuring spoons etc, and clean them carefully after use. A stainless steel or glass laboratory spatula is useful for "measuring" "pinches" of dye powder. The "pinches" should of course be the same size! Always use the same amounts of water. use the amounts of salt and fixative recommended for the dry weight of the material you wish to dye. If you want darker shades, remove the material from the bath, add material as required, and dye again.

REMEMBER !!!! Any given material will only accept a certain amount of dye. Using more is simply wasteful, and will not affect results.

USING LESS DYE, will affect results. It will affect the shade and intensity of the colour.

If you ruin twenty Polar bear pelts IT IS YOUR OWN FAULT! It has nothing at all to do with me. Anything you read on here, you attempt at your own peril!

Some of these things are extremely toxic, if you drink the stuff, sprinkle it in your Irish Stew, or have a bath in it, then this is not likely to prove beneficial to your health, any of these things are best avoided. Take care when using such chemicals, for your own and other?s safety and peace of mind.

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