"Self Dying" Materials....

[Troutbum11 0]

I spent the evening dying up some deer hide that a friend gave me. I used Kool-aid and Rite clothing dye and it produced some decent colors. wondering how any of you guys go about self dying ANY materials including but not limited to deer hair? Thanks Everyone!

[Crackaig 0]

I don't do much, or haven't so far. This year though I have loads to do. There are lots of colours I just can't get hen pheasant wings dyed in. The only option is to DIY. I'll share the results.

Cheers,

C.

[tidewaterfly 0]

I've dyed a lot of materials over the years and started experimenting with dyeing simply because I got tired of the available "fly shop" colors. There just wasn't enough variety.

 

Rit has been fine for some items, particularly when I wanted subdued, earthy colors. Otherwise I use either Jacquard or Dharma Trading Co acid dyes. There's been some other posts as well about dyeing & other brands of dyes recommended. I've never tried dyeing with Koolaid.

 

If I dye anything now, it's mostly deer tails, fox or coyote tails, and grizzly hackle for Woolly Buggers. I have several good natural grizzly saddles, so if I can't get one already dyed at a decent price, then I'll dye it myself. Olive seems to be a hard to find color sometimes.

 

I keep some dye on hand, primarily chartreuse, olive & various brown shades, and some black. I have a few other colors too, but in small quantities that I use for mixing other colors. Anything else I'll usually buy already dyed. Black is a color I use a lot, but it's difficult to get a good deep black on some materials, so I buy anything black already dyed. I keep some black dye to mix with other dyes, but rarely attempt dyeing anything black. I have obtained some nice grays with black dye, especially with deer tails, which is great for tying baitfish patterns.

 

I've gotten some real good "rusty" brown colors with Red Fox or Coyote, which I like for Smallmouth or Carp flies, and for tying bass jigs.

 

Some favorite materials to tie with are anything that has a mottled or speckled pattern to it, particularly with black barring and some very nice colors can be done over such materials. Gray Squirrel tail is a good example, or Kit Fox tail is another. Even some Raccoon tails have that nice mottled or speckled look. Some really good effects can be gotten if you tie Carp patterns or any type of crayfish patterns.

[Steve P 0]

Do a fair bit of dying materials myself. I much prefer to use the Jacquard brand of dye. Huge color selection and a tiny bit goes a very long way. I dye deer hair, bucktail, hackle, and a lot of dubbing. It's fun but the most important thing to remember is to always keep meticulous notes so when you hit that perfect color you can reproduce it again later.

 

Steve

[Piker20 0]

Used lots of koolaid on feathers. Only fur has been husky and rabbit. I know that the acid is enough in koolaid to set some food dye into the material too. I always add a splash of white vinegar to the dye and wash the material in vinegar after too to set it all in.

[Troutbum11 0]

Thanks Fellas.... some good info here!