dyeing moose hair

[bobduck]

I've been tying moose hair bodies by using a waterproof ink sharpie to color each hair individually and it occurred to me there must be an easier way to dye a patch of moose hair all at once. I just want to dye a patch black which would give me the light and dark colors I want. Google was worthless on this so I'm hoping someone has had experience in this regard and might kindly give me some advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[Snakes]

Rit Dye from the craft store to worked great for me when I used to do this...granted it was deer hair and bird feathers, but it worked awesome. Its been a long-time so my memory is fuzzy but I think the liquid dye was more consistent than the powder stuff. Might need to experiment though.

 

[Matt B]

Now why would you want hair from a dying moose? The poor thing is dying and probably needs its hair!


Oh wait, never mind!

 

[Bob N]

I've been tying moose hair bodies by using a waterproof ink sharpie to color each hair individually and it occurred to me there must be an easier way to dye a patch of moose hair all at once. I just want to dye a patch black which would give me the light and dark colors I want. Google was worthless on this so I'm hoping someone has had experience in this regard and might kindly give me some advice. Thanks in advance.

Dying moose mane black will leave you with black hair. Look for a patch of moose mane with white hairs and you will have both colors, thats how the original mosquito pattern was tied.

 

[M_D]

If you're lucky, Scott P will see this and re-post an SBS he did on another forum that shall not be named. He's perfected small batch dyeing in the microwave.

If you wanna go big, find yourself a copy of AK Best's Dyeing and Bleaching Natural Fly-Tying materials. He does 10 or 12 cup dye baths on a hot plate or stove....that said, I'm thinking you could do a smaller patch of moose in the microwave but I won't steal Scott's thunder.

I've never done moose, but I have dabbled with rabbit and deer hair using a hot plate & coffee carafe. If your moose hide is tanned, you're probably good to go, but I would still degrease it with some Dawn detergent. Soak the patch in warm to hot water with a bunch of detergent for a while...10 minutes or so. Rinse and then soak it again a new bath but this time add a tablespoon or two of vinegar. Rinse and then dye.

My experience is a good black will require two dye baths....a dark red or dark brown for the first one and followed by the black. For some rabbit I did, I used Rit Medium Brown followed by a bath of Rit black.

My recipe was 10 cups of water, 1 Tblspn of dye, and at least 1/8 cup of vinegar....I've gone as high as a full cup of vinegar....and maybe a tablespoon of detergent. Toss in the hide and let it stew at about 140 degrees until it's nice and dark...maybe up to an hour or more, depending upon how big your patch of hair is.

When it looks good, I'll test it before I dump the dye. Rinse it in cold water to set the dye and then I like to wash it in warm to remove dye that's not fixed and see what I'm left with. If it's too light...back in the bath it goes.

If you're gonna do this in the kitchen....first go buy your wife some flowers for when you splatter or spill some dye...cuz it seems to be inevitable...at least for me . And when you're at the store, pick up some 409 cleaner...I've found this works well to remove spilled/splattered dye if you catch the spill quickly. Otherwise use a hot plate and an old coffee carafe in the garage.

Have fun...it sure beats the Sharpie method....I've done that, too.

 

[bobduck]

Dying moose mane black will leave you with black hair. Look for a patch of moose mane with white hairs and you will have both colors, thats how the original mosquito pattern was tied.

Thanks for this and also thanks MD. I was thinking I had to dye one black to get both dark and light but maybe not. This pattern seems to work well where there is a good callibaetis hatch. I have the AK Best book but it seems to cover large scale dyeing which I'm not too excited about. And if I stay out of the kitchen I can save money on flowers. Again thanks.

 

[_WW_]

"Microwave Dyeing, Fly Tying - Volume 12, Week 11 Fly Angler's OnLine"

Microwave Dyeing - The Premiere OnLine Magazine for the Fly Fishing Enthusiast.

www.flyanglersonline.com

 

[DFG]

Now why would you want hair from a dying moose? The poor thing is dying and probably needs its hair!

View attachment 6024
Oh wait, never mind!

I wonder how many of us got the reference. (Gilda left SNL in 190... over 40 years ago! Can yo believe it?)