Questions about dying hair.

[gabulldog]

yea thats koolaid

[smoothlures]

Thanks for sharing all the info guys, got about 20 bucktails coming from a taxidermist friend in a few days, gonna try the koolaid first.

[skeetbum]

Poppop asked about fading in the water. I have just a little experience with this. First my red maribou isn't set and bleeds over any other colors shared on that jig. Do I need to try a different batch or can I set what I have?
As to fade I was educated about this years ago from a perfectionist that had a shop in the town I lived in. The shop was "Die Werke International" and the owners name was Wilhelm Von Luscomb. A mouthful on both points. He was known in the earlier days of graphite fly rods for tarpon and other large species. G. Loomis was a blanks only company at the time. I met him in the early 80's. His work was top notch in every way. He had a big problem with color staying the same after using in salt water. He said what stays in fresh water will bleed easy in salt. Being the perfectionist he was he began dying his own and adding something to it to keep it set under any conditions. I know it smelled like boiled death. His materials were in high demand and for the life of me I can't remember what it was he used but it was an oily substance and would foam as he boiled in the color if he got it too hot. His colors were brilliant and stayed that way. I used a couple of his streamer patterns that still looked good after 3 or 4 outings. I can only hope that someone might remember him, or know what he used to set the dye better. Sorry for the lengthy post. Y'all would have loved a chance to talk to this man. I'm sure he's gone now but he was a truly dedicated fisherman and fly/jig tyer.

[gabulldog]

ok we was talkin about hairs when it comes to maribou or feathers at all theres anouther step and realy i do it to all i just kinda forgot to say it so far
take hot water <as hot as you can take your hands being in> and just a bit of dish soap and wash them good and then will still wet put into the koolaid,vinger,water<remeber its just under a boil> till ya get the color just darker then you want and rince in cold water to set and they should do fine its the oils in the birds feathers thats making it bleed

[Fatman]

Terry Hellekson the author of Fish Flies has a whole bunch of links about dyes and dyeing which are really good.

Dye Sources

Fatman

[Allday]

Terry Hellekson the author of Fish Flies has a whole bunch of links about dyes and dyeing which are really good.

Dye Sources

Fatman

Thanks for the information. I am going to try the cool aide first then some of the craft dyes on some deer tails. I have to go by the processing plant today and collect the tails. I will post some pics after the adventure.

[skeetbum]

Gabullbog, thanx. Guess I just need to get some red from another supplier to insure it's a different batch. Frustrating to get done, get it wet and watch it turn to crap.

[crappiejohn]

honestly i think koolaid is a waste of time and teh cheap way out. i had tried it many times and followed many different ways and could never get the rich brilliant colors i could get with a die... i wouldnt waste the bucktails on koolaid anymore even so dies cost more but its like everything, you get what you pay for

[Allday]

I tried the cool aide dye and was not pleased. The color was way light, maybe needed more than 2 packs. I am not even wasting time to post a picture. I think I am going to try Rite dye next.

[crappie josh]

can some one point me in a direction to using koolaid to make them pretty colors that gabulldog has used

oh i just remembered i had a pic of some tree rat tails i dyed hae a look