I’m fortunate to have a couple of friends that keep me supplied with a good number of fur and feather pelts. I’ve even considered picking up road kill; that’s a story for another time. Recently I needed to dye some rabbit. I go through a lot of chocolate brown nymphs. In fact I prefer them to the natural hare’s ear color. They make a darker silhouette and work better for me. It’s fairly simple to dye your own. It takes about 1 hour from start to finish; depending on the quantity.
Materials for Dying Fur and Feathers for Fly Tying:
- Fabric dye; I use RIT.
- Container; a bucket works well.
- Stirring stick
- Very hot to boiling water
- Cold water for rinsing
- Towel or something absorbent
- Hair dryer (optional)
Step 1. Make some coffee (optional)
Nothing says fur and feather dying like a hot mug of coffee – I like to start my project on the right foot.
Step 2. Boil water or use very hot water, Pour water into container
I use boiling water unless the material seems too delicate or I don’t want to loose too much natural oil content.
Step 3. Stir in dye
Step 4. Stir in material
Step 5. Leave the material in solution for a pre-determined duration to achieve intensity and saturation.
This takes some experimentation. Hold the material out of the container and let it drip thoroughly. As a general rule, however saturated the color seems after it’s dripped it will dry about half of that saturation. NOTE: It’s a bit of trial and error so if your dying something rare or expensive you may want to experiment with a small swatch first. Remember you can always go a little darker but you can’t go lighter, so take it in steps until you get the desired color.
Step 6.
Rinse it until the water is completely clear.
Step 7. Pat dry with towel
Step 8. Blow dry or hang to dry.
Blow drying really helps in more than one way: it helps to dry it quickly and also to fluff the material. If you air/hang dry it you’ll have to fluff it by other means such as brushing it with your hand; a blow dryer provides excellent results.
Step 9. Pour another cup of coffee
Finished! Here is a before and after shot.
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