Microwave Dyeing SBS

All about flies Fly Tying
1

Reposting this with some new pics since my refusal to pay for Photobucket’s shakedown cost me the old ones.
List of ingredients:

Glass containers

Dawn dishwashing soap

White vinegar

Dye (we?re aiming for ginger here)

Substrate

dish #1 (for degreasing) = hot water and a few drops of soap; add the feathers and let them soak for about 5 minutes

dish #2 - hot water, a few drops of soap and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar; soak for 5 more minutes

dish #3 - hot water (4 cups for this color), a few drops of soap, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, 4 teaspoons Golden Yellow, 1/2 teaspoon Camel

2

add the feathers, cover with plastic wrap

2 minutes on high (depending on the microwave - keep an eye while it’s cooking; you don’t want it to boil too much, it can ruin the substrate)

check the color of one of the feathers; if it’s what you want (it’ll lighten up when dry), rinse everything off in a strainer under cold water

lay everything out to dry

ready to go

I’ve also used a hot plate, coffee carafe and candy thermometer; they work well when you want to keep the dye at a constant temp for an extended time - stuff like deer hair, calf tail, etc. usually take a bit longer.

Regards,
Scott

3

i was looking at one of your older sbs and half of the photos were the blurry photobucket with the logo photos and the rest were not

thanks for redoing your dyeing method

norm

4

Thank you Scott a great technique to try.
Mike