Dyeing Materials

[dirtbag]

I have been giving some thought to start dyeing my own materials. I have access to a lot of different feathers and furs from hunting and I think I am going to give it a whirl. Has anyone else ever done it. Are there any techniqes you can recommend or what kind of dye. Any info is helpful.

[Mike R]

Check out speypages. There is so much info it is nauseating.

Mike

[trinity]

I have thought about it too, and it does not sound easy. If you go to speypages.com and do a search you can find some great info. I think it is a lot of learning, a lot of trial and error, and a lot of wasting of materials. Hopefully this doesn't discourage you, because it would be great if you got good at it. It's definitely a skill though. One guy who is probably the best in the industry is Dave Steinbaugh who owns Waters West fly shop in Port Angeles, WA. His stuff is sweet, and he is pretty helpful as well. He probably won't give you his recipes, but he can point you in the right direction.

[Jay Murakoshi]

I've done a little dying in my days. Yes, you will waste some materials on trial and error.
I started with Rit dyes and now use Veniard dyes. I have a bunch of bucktails, hackles that I've dyed over the years and sitting in boxes. The acid dyes are the way to go but temperature is critical - in my opinion.
My main thing was washing the materials real good so no natural oils are there. Trying to maintain the color is another story.

AK Best has a good book on dying feathers.

Good luck

Jay

[shawn kempkes]

I have thought about it too, and it does not sound easy. If you go to speypages.com and do a search you can find some great info. I think it is a lot of learning, a lot of trial and error, and a lot of wasting of materials. Hopefully this doesn't discourage you, because it would be great if you got good at it. It's definitely a skill though. One guy who is probably the best in the industry is Dave Steinbaugh who owns Waters West fly shop in Port Angeles, WA. His stuff is sweet, and he is pretty helpful as well. He probably won't give you his recipes, but he can point you in the right direction.


waters west is my local shop. He has the best fly tying materials section I have seen.
I would'nt reccomend playing witht the dyeing unless there is some color that you cant get commercially. You wont save
any money by doing it yourself.