another dyeing question

I'm still unclear as to when to actually put the deertails in the dye solution....
I have some tails to dye
I have de boned them
I have washed them in soapy water
I have degreased them as best as i can
I rinsed them
I laid them out and covered them with borax
They are drying as we speak

Was I supposed to dye them before the borax coating?

I don't want to get the horse in front of the wagon...

Can I dye them after the borax and do I wash, soak them again before the dye?

Thanks for your help,
Imadreamer

Personaly I would dry them first just to get as much of the oils and fat out as possible. I doubt it will make a lot of difference in how fast they dry after but excess oils and fat might interfere with the dye because you boil them. I have never had a problem with dying tails once they were dried out with borax. And changing the borax once will speed drying if they are really wet.

hey fish4all thanks for the reply...from your reply i assume i can put the dried tails into the pot of dye even if they are dried out and stiff - right?
thanks,
imadreamer

They won't be stiff long once they hit the water, they soften up quite soft but that is a good thing. Once oyu have them done, make sure to cool them off and run them under really cold water.

Then spread them out and lay them as flat as you can with the hairs laying as nice as you can. It will make for much easier tying later.

ok where did u get ur borax cause everywhere I try to find some they no longer Carry it walmart lowes ect
and how did u get the bone out of the tail? I have never successfully accomplished this how do yall do this

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crappie josh

ok where did u get ur borax cause everywhere I try to find some they no longer Carry it walmart lowes ect
and how did u get the bone out of the tail? I have never successfully accomplished this how do yall do this

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taking the bone out of a deer trail is very simple. Take a sharp knife and split the tail all the way down to the tip carefully cut around the bone and grabbed the bone and pull it off of the skin your bore axes is in stores like Safeway Fred Myers any grocery store will carry borax if they do not have it in the big box, you may get granulated for your hands a long said that it has borax it will work . I get my deer tails fresh we usually bone them out and if I'm going to die them. I do that first before I put borax on them. Make sure that you take off all fat just put borax on them and let them dry out if you want to know any more information about die on feathers in hair let me know.