Another snow day today- no school. That is 5 so far this winter. Peter will end up going to school all the way through June!
Over the weekend I did some more tests with dyeing fur. I bought various types of human hair dye. I went to an outlet that sells “professional” beauty supplies- i.e., they don’t come in a pretty box, they don’t have much in the way of directions, they don’t include rubber gloves and they aren’t any cheaper. I also went to Walgreens and bought a variety of “home use” dyes. I bought some that were on sale (Clairol Ultress, under $3), one that was a color I liked (Clairol Hydrience 04, too much $) and 2 boxes of Clairol Balsam color($3 plus) that worked last time.
My results so far- The professional color, Blond, was a failure. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I ended up with nice white fur- no color at all. The Ultress was a Black dye (color 1N). It had too much grey cast to it, once it was dry. Next I tried the blond, Hydrience. That worked well and so did my second attempt with the Balsam color. In the picture is pearl lamb, a very short fur and the cashmere goat, long hair.
One dye package will dye at least 12 inches by 6 inches of the long haired fur, which is approx. 2 wigs.
I wonder if the one blond dye didn’t work because it was made on the premise that there was color in the hair to start out with (to lighten dark hair….bleaching….rather than coloring)…do you understand? or am I just in my own world (which is quite possible, you know)
I spoke to my friend the other night whose parents have the alpaca farm (not llama as was my original thought) and aside from the shearing coming up soon with promises to get me some, he recommended checking out http://www.earthguild.com. Hair dying is a very mystifying process if you want to get it natural looking. I know from experience with my own hair that unless I’m going for something dark, everything else turns it red! It’s ash blond to begin with, so go figure.
When you dye fur with hair color products do you wash off the dye in water? Does it damage the fur? Can you tell more about the process please?
Thanks.