Dyeing Furs and Feathers

[hugefish_80]

hugefish, how about info on the dyeing process?

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.