Dying fethers

Tom Butler

Tom Butler

Grandpa, Small Stream Fanatic
Forum Supporter
Have not done this since like 7th grade w/ Mr. Kemper in fly club. Have very little idea what I'm doing, just want a few feathers to play with, so here goes. Since I don't know what I'm doing but I did look at some web stuff. We have food coloring in the house, so I used that. I took some white partridge feathers and a grizzly hackle and washed them in dawn (no baby shampoo, what!). Then 2:1 distilled water at 140 deg. and white vinegar (1/3 and 1/6 cup, lots left). one drop red and green for brown, then one drop yellow to ginger it more (but got 2). Let soak 10 minutes then rinse well. Pretty dry now. Is this process going to make feathers that work for fishing? Any tips?
The colors look kinda like what I wanted, darker on the brownish side and kinda creeish.20221221_185757.jpg
 
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M_D

M_D

Top Notch Mediocre Flyfisher
Forum Supporter
ScottP wrote the book on dyeing materials in the microwave and shared an SBS on the old forum.

In no way do I want to ‘steal his thunder’ but I ‘book marked’ it on my phone and refer to it whenever I’m doing a batch.

Perhaps Scott has a better link but if not, here’s a screen shot of my book mark. Hopefully it will be easy to find. AF7D9DFD-094F-4EA3-B44D-32535E2BFCE1.png
 
Scottp

Scottp

Legend
M_D said:
ScottP wrote the book on dyeing materials in the microwave and shared an SBS on the old forum.

In no way do I want to ‘steal his thunder’ but I ‘book marked’ it on my phone and refer to it whenever I’m doing a batch.

Perhaps Scott has a better link but if not, here’s a screen shot of my book mark. Hopefully it will be easy to find. View attachment 45997
Click to expand...

Thanks. Didn’t write the book but got the ideas from a number of folks, including A.K. Best, who did write a book on the subject. Here’s an SBS I put together a while back; still how I do it today.
Rit dyes has a number of formulas on their site (I use the All-Purpose liquid dyes for natural substrates); just pick a color, change the item size to small and it’ll give you dye and water amounts you need. Please be aware that this is an inexact science; I’ve found many of the colors come out differently than they appear on the site, due in part to the color of the substrate and dyeing/soaking time.
If you’re interested, folks on the U.K. Flytying have a subforum dedicated to dyeing materials. Colin Riach (aka Cap'n Fishy) has done extensive work and produced spectacular results; definitely worth looking at.

Also, if you want to try bleaching substrates, this works pretty well:

Add 1 part 20 volume hydrogen peroxide (available at beauty supply stores), 2 parts clear ammonia and let it sit for a couple hours. You want to do this outside.

44026599110_c9b71fecc2_c.jpg


Regards,
Scott
 
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Guy Gregory

Guy Gregory

Semi-retired
Forum Supporter
Those of us with retrievers have hydrogen peroxide around, it's an excellent emetic. ! tablespoon in a cup of water and up whatever the guy ate comes., Right away.

Anyway, hydrogen peroxide is widely available at grocery stores and pharmacies....look in the hair coloring aisle. And it's all the same, no need for a premium brand. A wonderful oxidizer with very low toxicity.
 
Zak

Zak

Legend
Forum Supporter
Guy Gregory said:
Those of us with retrievers have hydrogen peroxide around, it's an excellent emetic. ! tablespoon in a cup of water and up whatever the guy ate comes., Right away.

Anyway, hydrogen peroxide is widely available at grocery stores and pharmacies....look in the hair coloring aisle. And it's all the same, no need for a premium brand. A wonderful oxidizer with very low toxicity.
Click to expand...
Vet tip that once probable saved my terrier's life: if your dog eats somehting that could kill it, force a tablesppon of hydrogen peroxide down its throat. Everything will come up, right away!
 
Scottp

Scottp

Legend
The hydrogen peroxide you get in grocery stores/pharmacies is 3%; it may bleach feathers/fur/hair, eventually, but you’ll have to wait a long time (days for something like moose/deer hair) to see noticeable results. The 20% stuff I use isn’t even the strongest they sell, but I’m a bit leery of going to the 30-40% for fear of burning the substrate; it’s not very expensive, either.

Regards,
Scott
 
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B

Bob N

Steelhead
20% peroxide is available in beauty supply stores.

Its not just the smell of ammonia that is a problem, the concentration of ammonia in the air can be high enough to kill you.

Beauty supply stores also carry a powdered bleach that you can use for bleaching feathers and fur. Use the peroxide with the powder and you can get feathers such as blue eared pheasant to a cream color suitable for dying fairly light colors like yellow and orange.
 
S

SpawnFlyFish

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
Flymph said:

Veniard's Fly Dyes! None better IMO. Feathers, dubbing, hair, marabou, etc. Have tried cool aid and peroxide but always go back to Veniard's!​

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that's interesting I had never looked at their site. Not a bad idea selling a kit like that. Its a very very niche group that dye products but since we are buying dye is large quantities for our Spawn products we could easily put together kits that do an ounce of a color no problem. especially base colors that aren't our own dye creations like the ones they have!
 
Scottp

Scottp

Legend
Ceviche said:
Do you need to bleach feathers before dying them?
Click to expand...

No you don’t. You do want to clean the dirt and oils off them first or the dyeing wil be uneven.

If you want to dye bright colors, it’s best to start with a white substrate, preferably natural; not sure you can get there by bleaching without damaging the hair/fur/feather.

Regards,
Scott
 
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C

Ceviche

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
Flymph said:

Veniard's Fly Dyes! None better IMO. Feathers, dubbing, hair, marabou, etc. Have tried cool aid and peroxide but always go back to Veniard's!​

Click to expand...
Where is your source for Veniard's dye? Do you order directly from the UK?
 
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