dying feathers

I have a friend who just gave me a big bag full of guinea feathers and i'm looking forward to tying some jigs with them. i want to dye them different colors and i was wondering if RIT dye will work?

id give it a try...

I did it years ago. As i remeber I had to almost boil them to get the dye to hold. you can mix colors to get one that you like. Use a old aluminum kettle and do it outside because it is a mess. another thing if I remeber right we had to rinse the finished dyed material in a vinagar and water bath to fix the color. Do it hot and turn off the heat sorce. let it cool and watch to get the color you want if you want a darker shade. remember it should be a little darker wet than what it will be dry. hope this helps it is a science unto itself.

Redman

feather dye very fast compared to furs and if your using rit dye you can just follow the back on hwta it says to do but befor you start you need to wash them to get the oils off or will not turn out right

To be honest it would be more cost effective to buy the dyed feathers you want. Use the natural color to tie the jigs that you need. Rit Dye and a pot or kettel and what your time is worth will buy alot of dyed feathers. That is one reason that I buy my feathers dyed and I don't dye deertails any more. If I have to I will dye opposum.

Redman

thanks guys! i didnt know there was so much involved, i just figured i have free feathers and i really like the way the guinea feathers look when dyed. i have to place an order for materials soon so i'll just go ahead and buy them already dyed.

There are guys on this board that do a good bit of dying feathers, but I found that I had way enough to do so not only do I not die stuff, I don't pour heads either. Just didn't want to get into that part.

Just to show how much I don't want to do that, I had some dark green marabou that still had too much die left in it and would turn your fingers green every time I used them. So thought I would give them a bath and dry them again. I did it, but had to rinse them and let them soak in clean water like 5 times and then had to get the wife's hair dryer to dry and fluff them again.

If you want to do this though I suggest a search on the internet and see what comes up as there are lots of pages out there with plenty of help with dying, tanning skins and all kinds of things and ways to do them. Don't limit your self to just this board.

Skip

Skip I totally agree. You are a commercial tyier you have to produce in order to make a profit and keep the doors open. Me and most of the others on this board are in this as a hobby. We have fun doing this some of us have made the mistakes. My Dad told me along time ago " There are two ways to learn things, First to learn from others mistakes. The second to make the mistakes yourself. Which is easier??? ".

Guess that is what I am trying to do is to try to teach others thur my mistakes. I have made many and have learned much from others. Guess that is what this board is all about.


Redman

well like said all ready dyeing isnt allways worth the cost i dye alot and i enjoy doin it but im a broke @@@ from health probs and way things are now adays so i hit my friends up who hunt and i dont even think about dying stuff till i have 20 or more tails to dye and when im done with them i guess i have like 20 cent a tail in them hey cant beat it
now feathers are a pain and i rarly do them becouse i cant make them look as good as what i can buy and i dont mean colors only realy one time have i ever truely sat down to dye feathers a buddy orders 100 eggs to hach and let the rosters get 7 months and let me get the necks and sadles from the 14 he had and in the end i had a ton of nice lookin hackle but i worked my butt off to get it

Right Redman, this place should help a guy getting started tying and having a place to ask questions and get help when he needs it. Then after he learns hopefully he will stay around and help others with what he has learned.

I had to teach my self using fly tying boards and seeing how they tie different materials in. I think it would have helped to have a place like this then. I spent a lot of hours on line learning all I could. We have no fly shops near me or anything like that so on line was the only way for me to learn. I ask questions from other tiers and from message boards at fly tying places.

It's still a hobby to me and I really am not trying to make a real profit, but in place of that almost every penny I take in goes to more materials to try or replace what is low. I have so may things now that I still have hardly used it's crazy, but I love it. Now losing money is also what I am trying to not do, LOL!

Skip