Re: [VFB] Dying Feathers

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Mel.. Thanks.. I know what ya mean about experimenting, as I have made hand made soap going on 23 years now, and If you don't have a perfect recipe, each batch will be a different shade... I would try my soap dyes but they don't come in black, and that is the color i need most.. Thanks again, Chuck   ----- Original Message ----- From: mel hocken To: vfb@troutnet.com Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 11:28 AM Subject: Re: [VFB] Dying Feathers Yes Chuck; you can dye all sorts of fly tying material with rit dye. Tintex and Dylon dyes also are good. You need to proceed slowly until you learn how certain dyes react with various materials. Some colours will set quicker than others and you can end up with a colour that is too dark for your intended purpose. When dying a material with a dye I am not familiar with I start out with a small amount of dye and add some more dye if the colour is not deep enough. Keep detailed notes on the amount of dye water and setting agent you use so you can repeat the result if you want to dye some more material the same shade.When you are dying material do not use an aluminum pan. If you use a glass or stainless steel container you will get better results. The vinegar and salt that is used to set the dye will react with the aluminum and this will not always give you the desired results or true colours. You can also use such items as tea, bark and other vegetable matter to dye materials. Tomato plants will produce some interesting greens.Tea will give you a fairly good colour to dye mallard flank to create a wood duck substitute. E J Malone wrote Irish Trout and Salmon Flies, this book contains lots of info on using natural dyes. A K Best's book on Dying and Bleaching is also a good source of info. Veniard dye is great but can be expensive. I used to dye almost all of my materials because the colour I wanted was unavailable. Today there are so many suppliers of material I can find what I need so I do not dye as much as I used to. Regards Mel ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: vfb@troutnet.com Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 11:03 PM Subject: [VFB] Dying Feathers Can anybody tell Me if I can dye feathers with "Rit" dye (For dying clothing). Or is there a special dye??? Thanks, Chuck