OK dont laugh but have you ever put bucktails or deer/elk/moose hair patches in a washing machine or dishwasher to get them clean?? use conditioner to get rid of static electricity??
cheers
OK dont laugh but have you ever put bucktails or deer/elk/moose hair patches in a washing machine or dishwasher to get them clean?? use conditioner to get rid of static electricity??
cheers
I am sure if I tried my wife would take a very dim(painful to me) view of it.
Rick
I wipe my hands with fabric softner drier pads to get rid of static electricity.
Norm,
I’m not too sure, and would have to try it to be sure it wouldn’t damage the materials…I’d be worried mainly about two things…the ‘hide/hair’ union and the natural attitude of the hair. Don’t know though, it may be just fine…I’m pretty sure, though, that the dishwasher wouldn’t be much good…the regualr clothes washer, maybe…
I’ve always treated animal hair/fur just like people hair. I wash it with shampoo (on ‘wild’ hair I use pet shampoo that kills bugs), then a good quality conditioner…wife complains that I use a more expensive brand on my tying hair than she does on the hair on her head…(I tried to explain why. It hurt a lot, won’t do that again… ).
Seems to work, and it only takes a couple of minutes at the sink.
Buddy
Buddy,
Would have loved to been a fly on the wall during your explanation.lol :lol:
Beaver
Just imagine you are that fly and she had a flyswatter…
I can be taught…fear is the great motivator…
NEVER use words like ‘more important’…‘expensive’…‘risk rare materials’…or (this really hurt)…‘your hair grows back if you mess it up’…(NEVER use an example of this one…like ‘remeber when you tried to -insert favorite hair failure here-…and it finally grew out?’ THAT smarted for a few weeks)
Buddy
Having taken more than one dishwasher filter apart I can tell you that putting any kind of hair in there to clean it would be a bad idea. I also imagine that the violent action of a washing machine would not be good for the hair either. I could be wrong and it may be perfectly safe, but would you dare wash your wifes fur coat in there. I think not.
A room air humidifier works well to combat static.
I was tying somewhere and I just wasn’t able to stack my deer hair because of static. Had never happened to me before. Then I took off my fleece vest, and hey - the static was gone.
Since then I never tie flies wearing fleece sweaters.
Mart
I wash bucktails to get rid of the excess dye. I used to tie coho flies (just bucktail on a hook) by the thousands and the dyes would stain my hands for many days after. Dropping a bunch of bucktails in the sink with some soap put an unbelievable amount of color and crap in the sink bottom. Some bad batches required a couple washings to stop the color bleeding.
I would not wish that on my worst enemy’s dishwasher!
Running materials through a little steam before tying makes lots of things better… Especially hackles and hairs. I usually drink lots of coffee while tying and I hold necks and capes over the steam nozzle for a brief while when making a cup. Not much, just enough to put a little water on it and warm it up. Ratty hackles look great afterward and tie even better. No static and stems that wrap neatly…
We have extremely dry winters and it makes a difference here…
art
Norm,
I can’t get to sleep while keeping one eye open… Best Regards…
I wash all my Buctail and any other fur patches.
I put them in the sink and wash them with warm to hot water with a good Dish washing liquid first then I comb them through and get rid of all the Little bits of fluff etc; I then rinse well. After that I use the Little Ladies best Hair Conditioner Shampoo to give them a second wash then rinse and dry in the sun after another Brush and Comb.
Makes for much better handling when tying and the fur looks clean and feels clean. I like it. Jax
Mine never last long enough to get dirty.