Dying Bucktails?

[mattwv]

Hi all,

New here, love the site lots of great info here and seems like a good group of guys.

My question is if i am going to dye bucktails with rit dye do the tails need to be dried first or can i dye them and then dry after the dye process. I've got several "fresh", cut off yesterday and just wondered if i need to dry them first.

Thanks

Matt

[nova]

Hi all,

New here, love the site lots of great info here and seems like a good group of guys.

My question is if i am going to dye bucktails with rit dye do the tails need to be dried first or can i dye them and then dry after the dye process. I've got several "fresh", cut off yesterday and just wondered if i need to dry them first.

Thanks

Matt

Yes you need to "dry" them. If you don't the oils from the fat will come out and the dye won't take.

You need to split the tails and remove the bone and meat. Scrape out as much fat as you can and then coat the hide with borax. Place it so that critters won't get to it and it's dry. It won't take too long for it to dry out. Borax also will keep the bugs out.

When I used to tie flys I would experiment with all kinds of natural dyes. You can use beet juice, strawberry juice and so on. You use them the same way as other dyes; but don't forget to "fix" the dye once you get the color you want.

Hope this helps.

www.novalures.com

[smalljaw]

Welcome to the site Matt, you got great advice from nova, I made the mistake when I was tying jigs and dyed fresh bucktails and it didn't take long for the color to get spotty. The only thing I'd like to add is you could also use kool-aid as a dye if money is short, it works really well but you have to experiment with the colors, its just another alternative that may help in a pinch.

[patrick reif]

"Dyeing and Bleaching Natural Fly-Tying Materials" by A.K. Best

I picked up my copy on Amazon for about $10 with shipping.

It's a handy book to have laying around

[jfmustang1]

I know I am jumping in late on this post but I dye a lot of tails and could share what works for me. I have tried the methods mentioned before and while they are all good ways to do things, I do it a little different. First off I usually clean and dye all my tails at the same time. It is very important like it was stated before to split debone flesh and degrease the tails before you dye or cure them, it will save you a lot of headaches. Once I have split my tails I wash and degrease with synthrapol a 6 oz bottle is enough for about 100 tails I also add oxyclean at about 4 or 5 scoops per gallon of water and let them soak for about 1 hour before a final rinse under cold running water. As far as dyes go I use acid dyes many companies make them including jacquar and flye dye. These dyes can be bought by the pound through dharma trading and other sources, and will by far produce the most consistant and brilliant colors. Kool-aid and rit dye work but it is harder to get consistant colors and more expensive in the long run. when using acid dyes I usually set my dye bath between 170 and 180 degrees most dyes take under 15 minutes except for black which takes 30-45 mins and in which case I set my dyes at 170 to prevent the collagen in the skin from breaking down too much. After dyeing them I wash the tails in syntrapol this time about 1 tablespoon per gallon of water in luke warm water and rinse untill the water runs very clear, then toss them in a laundry sack and throw them in a dryer for about 20 minutes. Finally I hang the tails to air dry if room temp is 60 degrees or less or salt them with kosher salt or feed salt which is cheaper and set them to dry on a wire shelf. The tails usually dry in about a week to two weeks depending on the temperature here.