Dyeing with acid dyes

[s fontinalis]

I was gonna post this in Dan's koolaid dyeing thread, but thought it better as a separate effort since it is a somewhat different process.

I"ve never had success with koolaid, but i have with acid dyes, so i'll give my perspective on those. Simply an alternative to koolaid.

The dyes are pretty cheap, but not as cheap as koolaid.
One half oz jar of jacquard acid dye will cost about $5.50 shipped. In terms of how much that will dye, all the examples below used less than one teaspoon of dye in the bath.
One half oz jar will dye about 4lbs of material i believe, though you'll have to check the jacquard dyeing protocol to confirm that.
All the dye examples below came from jacquard except the magenta, which was from another seller on ebay (jacquard do not have a magenta dye)
Everything started off natural white

Lilac duck quills


Magenta hackle and snow shoe rabbit foot.



olive (bottom) and brown wool


I also did some amherst tail red, but have no photo.
The entire process from start to finish (not including drying) takes about 20-30 mins.

Dyes are available from Dharma trading, Fly Dye and ebay - these are my main sources.

Hope this helps those who are thinking about dyeing.

I started because i wanted lilac duck quills for the Jennie Lind wet fly, and noone had any; EVER. So i did my own.
Heres some of the stuff i've dyed, used in flies.

Jennie Lind - Lilac quills



Magenta Hackles - Throat hackle on the Wilkinson. I couldnt find magenta hackles anywhere, so again, my hand was forced to dye my own


Olive and brown wool - Body on the Lady Caroline, though its hard to see, is a blend of brown and olive wool. I wanted to be able to get my own shade in the wool, not some predyed shades.


Red Amherst - part of the wing on this Hammer fly i designed myself.

[s fontinalis]

Heres some more stuff i just dyed today. Was going for sunburst, I think it worked out well, at least with the cape. My (wife's) hairdryer went kaput before i got everything dried, so she may make me go kaput when she gets home from work!

Everything went in except the large bucktail


Bubbling bath


All done, dye fixed, and rinsed in cold water.


The hen cape, before the hair dryer crashed.


Pretty pleased with the outcome actually.
I used jacqard acid dyes in the approximate ratio 601 Yellow Sun 2.5:1 618 Fire Red

[jsquires]

I have no idea why I clicked on this thread, but I'm soooo glad I did. Absolutely beautiful! You are an artist.

[bigjim5589]

Eunan, awesome post!

I've been using acid dyes too for many years now. It's like dyeing Easter eggs!

I've used the Jacquard dyes quite a bit, but have been using some of the Dharma Trading Co's house dyes. Better prices for more quantity & although with some colors there is a difference, for my purposes not enough to worry about.

Good stuff!

[Diver Dan]

I notice it takes more time with bucktail than feathers this way also. How did the leather part come out?

[mudbug]

Originally Posted by bigjim5589

Eunan, awesome post!

I've been using acid dyes too for many years now. It's like dyeing Easter eggs!

I've used the Jacquard dyes quite a bit, but have been using some of the Dharma Trading Co's house dyes. Better prices for more quantity & although with some colors there is a difference, for my purposes not enough to worry about.

Good stuff!

I bought some of the DTC house dye to dye some Mallard and grizzly hackle for my Rickard's Nymphs.

[s fontinalis]

Originally Posted by Diver Dan

I notice it takes more time with bucktail than feathers this way also. How did the leather part come out?

Leather part came out nice and dark, like the feathers.
The color of the deer hair is the color i was actually shooting for on everything.

[Pocono]

Great post, Eunan.

Very instructive and a clear demonstration that all of the older patterns can be tied to original recipes, can be successfully modified, and that new patterns can be developed; if you're willing to take the time to create the starting materials.

I think you're clearly on a path to your own category of fly tying expertise; and that's a very good thing.

Nice job!

Pocono