Benefits from the hairdressers....

All about flies Fly Tying
1

I recently had a long conversation with a haridresser that installs feather extensions in her customers hair.

I learned quite a bit from her.

She dyes her feathers one at a time, with hair dye, using brush on a paper towel. She told me it takes her just few strokes to dye each feather and they dry in minutes. This lets her custom dye the feathers to the colors her customers want. She finishes them off with a ‘clear sealer’ that’s also avaialble for hair at any beauty supply shop. She told me that feathers thus treated can be washed with the hair indefinitely without losing their color. She’s had many customers that get her to reuse the feathers several times (they only lose about 1/8 inch when clipped from the extension crimp). She’s seen no fading after over a year of use.

The ‘extension tool’ is a heating device that gently heats and crimps a plastic crimp tube. A strand of hair is pulled through the crimp tube, the feathers are inserted, and the tool crimps them to the hair and holds them in place. Once ‘crimped’ you can’t pull them out without breaking the feathers. The reason they do this is so that the feathers can ‘grow’ with the hair. An extension tool costs about $20 at Sally Beauty, and the crimp tubes are cheap and come in several shades.

Maybe some of you can see the possibilities here for us as fly tyers, both in the dyes they are using and in uses for this tool.

I’m waiting for the tools to be ‘restocked’ at my local Sally Beauty. Seems they are popular, but they should have another couple of hundred in the next few days.

And, yes, I did share with her how to buy the feathers in bulk ‘on the skin’, which will save her lots of money and made me a new friend. I even gave her a pheasant skin to play with and a grizzly saddle I had laying around gathering dust…she brought me back fifty feathers from it dyed in bright, beautiful, reds, blues, greens, and yellows, and a couple of bottles of dye and one of finish.

I’m really happy that the hair dressers are getting into using feathers. I can happily learn from anyone, and we can always use some new blood with new innovations and concepts.

For those that are upset, oh well…

Good Luck!

Buddy

2

Buddy,

YIKES - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!! Actually that dying process sounds interesting! Do you know what kind of dyes she used? Brand? Thanks.

Best regards, Dave S.

3

Actually, I’ve also been getting some good information from the ladies who stop in the shop looking for feathers. Often times they are equally intrigued by how the feathers are used in flies. One thing I learned from the last hairdresser I talked to is that they are also starting to mess around with mylar tinsel for temporary accents (prom night, weddings, etc.) so stock up on any flashabou you might need in case that becomes the next phase of the trend :smiley:

4

I got IT!! No more fly boxes!!! Just weave them buggers into your hair, I don’t have enough, and VOILA!!! Instant, easy to reach, always there fly boxes!!
Mike

[ul]
[li] :grin:[/li][/ul]

5

Well, well…maybe there is a benefit here after all. I would be interested in hearing more about the dyeing process.

6

They also make ear rings out of the shorter feathers…my daughter has her eyes on some of my pheasant rumps.

Buddy, what are you going to do with those tools?

7

Buddy, you just keep making lemonade from lemons as a matter of course, don’t you?
:wink:
Sports fans, the hairy crowd are not our enemies.

Ed

8

Very disappointing.

I thought Buddy made a new friend with benefits. :slight_smile:

9

Ed, I have to ask, do you mean those lovely smooth skin creatures with long hair, Or did you have something else in mind?

10

Duckster,

What I have in mind, and I won’t know if it works until I actually try it, is to use the tool to actually crimp feathers directly to the hook for streamers. The plastic crimp tubes have a smooth exterior and one rounded end that goes towards the scalp (makes it easier for a brush to pass it). The crimp on the hook shank right behind the eye would make a neat head…you could maybe paint it, paint or glue eyes to it…

I also envision the possibility of stacking feathers and crimping them together for things like bass bug tails, flat wing streamers, stufff like that that you could then attach to the hook in one piece.

Dave,

I’ve already packed the dyes (heading north in a couple of weeks)…but there were a couple of different brands. They were all bright color accent dyes and the bottles are small, maybe four to six ounces. If you ask at any hair supply place ( we have Sally Beauty here, don’t know about elsewhere) for the stuff the girls are dyeing feathers with, they should be able to show you. Make sure to get the clear sealer/finish stuff too.

Good Luck!

Buddy

11

I was referring to Butterfly, Rainbowchaser’s dog. :stuck_out_tongue:

Ed

12

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure. BTW, did your mama never tell you, you can go to h*ll for lying, just like you can for stealing.