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.

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