Dying bucktail--

[justplugit]

Any tips you guys have on dying bucktail would be very much appreciated
Thanks!

[crashfromamesbury]

i have heard of some people using rit dye that you can use on clothing.. and others have a type of vegetable based dye, and i took a class for tying that had the instructor talking about using sugar free jello as a dye.. if you have ever spilled that on anything you'll know it is very tough to get out.. .. i'd say experiment and see what you like best.. personally i have never dyed anything.. let us know how you make out..

[justplugit]

Thanks Crash,i really apreciate it. I asked a guy that uses the Rit and he said make sue you wash all the oils out with a detergent first. The sugar free jello sounds great. I'll give them both a try. Thanks again for your help.

[Tattoo]

RIT Dye works well, very well.

A few things to keep in mind:

1 - Use a stainless steel pot. Glass Pot would be even better if you have one big enough.

2 - Wash your bucktails with dish washing soap thoroughly. You may have to do it a few times to get all the oils off. You know you haven't washed them good enough when you end up with white spots all over where the dye didn't penetrate.

3 - Throw in a splash or two of vinegar. It makes the dye a bit stronger.

4 - Do not boil the bucktail, you want the water to be simmering, not boiling. Lay the bucktail flat and put something on top of it so it doesn't curl when you take it out.

5 - Different materials take dies differently. It's a guessing game how long to leave in certain materials so the colors shades are the same. Best thing to do is test a few pieces and write down the time for each. You can throw in all kinds of stuff in the pot and take them out at different times. Wash them in clean tap water and blow dry them to see what they will look like when they are dry.

6 - Don't try putting rabbit skins in hot water and expect to use them afterwards. The trick to this is you need to let the water cool to room temperature, then throw the skins in. Otherwise the skins become hard as a rock and essentially useless. That one took me a while to figure out.

7 - Get a color wheel, you can come up with some really nice colors.

[justplugit]

Thanks for sharing that Tattoo, that is some great info comin from one of "The Masters".

[justplugit]

Used the Rit dye today following Mike's suggestions above and it came out perfect. Thanks Mike. Now i gotta get the color wheel.

[justplugit]

Hey Crash, i tried the Rasberry sugarless jello today and it came out real nice. Kinda like a redish tangerine color. Put the package in 2 cups of boiling water and let simmer for 1/2 hour,flushed it with cold water and used the blow dryer on it. Thanks for the tip Crash.

[falkners]

KOOL-AID works well for some of the more subtle shades as it is not as concentrated. Just remember you can always go darker if you don't like the result after the first dipping.

[justplugit]

Thanks, another great idea. I would think you would also need to simmer that mix too.

[falkners]

It works cold. Make sure you use the "sugarless" type if you try it.

[justplugit]

Thanks.