the reason that you were told not to use aluminum pans is that with some dyes the Al3+ ion acts as a mordant AND changes the color of the dye. For black it is not going to matter, since usually (but not always) the metal ions make the dyes a darker color. I'd have to look up all my stuff on dying to tell you which dyes turn to what colors with what ions...too much grading to do that for a while...I'm taking a quick break to look at my e-mail and update a couple of websites with tide data, before I go back to the grading...a week and two days to go!!
All the dyeing I've done I have perfomed up in my lab using vinegar as mordant and done it in large Pyrex beakers. What kitchen??
Mark Delaney
On 12/11/05, Deborah Duran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Chuck
I have heard not to use aluminum pans before so even though I didn't have a
problem with it follow Mels advice. I keep meaning to go to the flea
markets and pick up an large old stainless pan but I haven't gotten around
to it yet. Nick at Hunters Angling showed me some great old pans he used.
I'm going to try to find one like it. Don't dye materials in pans you will
be using for cooking food in.
I tried to get a hold of a friend of mine to see if Nick still has the pans
but he didn't know how to reach him. I hope I still see him around at the
shows. He recently sold Hunters Angling to another outfit in New Bedford.
Warm Regards,
Deb
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On
Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 4:18 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [VFB] Dying Feathers
Deb: Thanks.. I'll print this out, get some dye and follow these
directions...We have "Salvage Grocery" (bent and dent) stores here, and I
find rit dye for 50 cents a bottle, Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Deborah Duran" < [EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 6:18 AM
Subject: RE: [VFB] Dying Feathers
Yes. That's what I was doing yesterday. Rit won't turn out as nice as
Veniard's (an acid dye) but it's a quick and easy thing for me. I dyed some
fine Ostrich black yesterday with the liquid Rit. I used a large aluminum
pan on the stove with water, salt and vinegar. I was told by a good friend
that the secret to dying was to use half water and half vinegar (Rit said to
use salt so I used it also). It was the easiest dye job I've done yet. The
feathers held all the black and took less than 30 seconds to rinse clear.
I've been told black is one of the hardest colors to dye. I did have to
leave the feathers in for almost an hour. Be careful not to burn the
feathers, I really don't think the water has to be HOT. I turned mine
completely off after half an hour and let them sit in it while it cooled. I
don't know if I did this right but it worked for me and the black isn't
rubbing off on my fingers or in water so I'm happy. I'm using these for
Classic salmon flies so if they weren't perfect they would've hit the scrap
pile. Remember to first wet your feathers with water before you immerse
them in the dye bath if they're oily wash them in a gentle dish soap first
(dawn or ivory). They need to be wet already to absorb the dye evenly.
There is a gentleman on the list that works with dyes and materials for a
living hopefully he will chime in. I experiment a lot... I use egg dye,
koolaid and hair dyes but it's still experimental I don't know a lot about
dying. It works or it doesn't. :) I've used Rit several times though.
I hope this helped you. There is a web site on mixing Rit dyes also, check
out google.
Warm Regards,
Deb
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ] On
Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 2:03 AM
To: [email protected]
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
--
"So much water, so little time!"
http://chemprof.tripod.com/fishing.html
