The use of fabric dye on fly tying materials
by Martin Joergensen
Treatment of hair materials before using or dyeing
Wash it with a mild hair shampoo and rinse it with hair conditioner. Dry it
thoroughly with a blow dryer while combing it and hang to dry for days.
Check out Wayne Luallen's section for an expert's advice on any kind of cleaning.
Dyeing fox tail with fabric dye
I have washed and dyed a silver fox tail with great success. I cut the untreated (but already clean) tail in small pieces. Anybody who has tried will know that a 2 by 2 centimeters patch of skin will hold hair for a wealth of flies. Each piece was soaked in warm water and I tried dying them with fabric dyes of the brand Dylon.
I did gray, olive and purple. The colors were a bit light, but very nice. Using more color would probably have helped, but even
better would have been proper dyes, like the ones from Vienyard.
I dyed each patch in a small stainless steel container and just followed the instructions for fabric.
