Recently I was looking at tying a pattern that required dun-colored calf body hair to complete an order. I figured this was not a problem as my local fly shop generally has everything I could ask for and more, and planned on heading over there the next day at lunch to pick some up. As lunch approached I found myself in my usual glazed-over state dreaming of fish, flies, and far away places. Shaking off my mid-morning haze, I drove over to the shop and went straight to the spot where I would find my….empty space!
I looked around in something of a stupor wondering what I would do next, and then decided I'd better take a closer look because surely they must have something as simple as dun colored calf body hair or at least kip tail; I mean, it’s not as if I was looking for some exotic feather.
Upon turning around I confirmed I was right the first time; they had none. At this point I was in unfamiliar territory, as this had not happened to me before. After calling two shops within an hour's drive only to find out there must be some sort of calf hair shortage, I thought that perhaps I could come up with a new material to use in its place. That idea was quickly discarded as there are no other materials with the properties necessary to correctly fill my order.
I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to attempt something I had been meaning to do for some time and dye it myself. The decision being made, I picked up some white calf body hair and headed back to work.
While at work I sent out a request for A.K. Best’s recipe for the correct color, and shortly thereafter received a response. On my way home I picked up the two RIT dyes I needed along with White Vinegar. A.K.’s recipe for Medium Dun calls for the following:
5 Tbsp. of liquid RIT Pearl Grey #39
1½ tsp. of liquid RIT Tan #16
25 cups of water
1 cup of White Vinegar
That seemed like an awful lot for one little patch of hair so I decided to cut the recipe in half to accommodate my needs. I also found when I got to the store that they had the Tan RIT in liquid form and the Grey RIT in powder form so I would have to convert the measurements using the following chart:
Rit Liquid Dye
=
Rit Powder Dye
½ bottle (4 oz) or 1/2 cup
=
1 package or 6 teaspoons
1/4 bottle (2 oz) or 1/4 cup
=
1/2 package or 3 teaspoons
1/8 bottle (1 oz) or 6 teaspoons
=
1/4 package or 1½ teaspoons
1/16 bottle (1/2 oz) or 3 teaspoons
=
1/16 package or 3/4 teaspoons
1/32 bottle (1/4 oz) or 1 ½ teaspoons
=
1/16 package or 3/8 teaspoons
1/64 bottle (1/8 oz) or ¾ teaspoons
=
1/32 package or 3/16 teaspoons
While I was getting everything prepared I dropped the patch of hair into a mixture of warm water and liquid kitchen soap. This is where it stayed for a few hours to be sure that the hair would take the dye job evenly. While the hair soaked I had time to get all the math done and lay out all of my supplies.
First I laid out some Saran Wrap on the counter to protect it from an impromptu dye job. I then carefully measured out the water making sure it was as hot as I could get from the tap, but not exceeding 140 degrees as that would damage the hair.
Then into the pot went the white vinegar and both varieties of dye, followed by a vigorous amount of stirring to be sure that the dye was all dissolved in the water and properly mixed. Once the mix was ready…into the pot went the patch of hair.
While I was waiting for the dye job to take, which I estimated would be approximately fifteen minutes, I gave the hair patch a good stir every few minutes to be sure that the dye saturated the entire patch of hair. I ended up giving the hair an additional five minutes to soak up as much of the dye as possible and then pulled out the patch to see what I had.
At first the color looked like it would be too dark for what I was looking for, but then I remembered that as the hair dried out the color would become a bit lighter. As I am not known for my patience I decided to take a hair dryer carefully to it to see what I had.
After about five minutes of drying the patch evenly I had exactly what I had set out for…a patch of medium dun colored calf body hair!
What I took out of this exercise is, that, while it may be easier to buy hair in the color that you are looking for, it is by no means necessary. This whole endeavor took a trip to the store and then was completed, from start through clean up, in under an hour.
I had been hesitant in the past to attempt dyeing my own hair as it seemed complicated and beyond the scope of what I was willing to go through. That is no longer the case as I know now that dyeing my own hair, or feathers, is just one more part of the process that I can do myself. If I can not find exactly what I am looking for, then I will just do it myself…no more settling for alternate materials or colors.
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