First try dying turkey feathers with Kool Aid

[SEMO_HUNTER]

This is way too easy.    

I reduced the recipe from the one I had read cause I only had about 25-30 feathers left and wanted some red barred ones. Here's my solution.

1 1/2 cups water 2/3 cup white vinegar (probably could have done with less vinegar?)

Heat in microwave for 4 minutes, then stir in 1 packet of Cherry Kool aid. Put back in micrwave for 1 more minute while feathers have been floating in the kitchen sink in warm water and a couple drops of dawn dish liquid.

Removed from microwave, stir again and drop feathers in. No need to rinse them, I just shook the excess water off and into the Kool aid/vinegar solution. I left mine in there for about 15 minutes cause I wanted them nice and dark!    

Here's the results.
The 3 solid ones on the right were bright yellow and I just threw those in to see what they would turn out like......bright red was the result.

 

[JohnnyWayne]

Wow those came out pretty darn good    

[tracker1]

Good stuff I will have to give that a try.  I was wondering if you could use a high lighter for florencent yellow?

[Mike Vines]

I'm impressed.  Magnus has been telling me to try it for a while, now I guess I just might have to.

[Rusty Snuffers]

That's pretty darn kool.

Couldn't pass it up.  Sorry.

[JJB2]

How much, if any, do they bleed when they get wet again?

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Thanks guys, I was really happy with the color. I was expecting a light red or dark pink at best. I left them in as long as I could stand to so I would get the darkest red possible and I'm not the least disappointed in the results.

JJB2- I doubt they would do much bleeding cause Kool aid stains everything it touches and normally you have to use bleach or comet to scrub it off?
I dunno, I don't hunt in the rain so it shouldn't be a problem for me, but I'm sure Magnus or one of the other guys who use this method could shed some light on that question.

[deaddoc4444]

I Used to buy extras  and save them at Easter time.   The sets for dyeing Easter Eggs IM talkng about.    Add vinegar to them and they work well for  Feather dyeing also

[kadbow]

Wow, impressive.  They probably taste better too.

[ber643]

That does look pretty darned nice.

[wv lungbuster]

Food coloring works great to. I just did some white 5" shields with green and left about 1' white for a easy splice.    

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Yeah, if it weren't for the vinegar they smelled like cherry lolipops.  

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Originally posted by ber643:
That does look pretty darned nice.

Thanks Bernie, I been wonderin about ya. I hadn't seen you around these parts much lately. Glad to see your still here and posting. Hope things are going well for ya buddy.

[don s]

quote:Originally posted by SEMO_HUNTER:
Yeah, if it weren't for the vinegar they smelled like cherry lolipops.      don

[twitchstick]

They turned out great! But you might want to check your game laws that might be considered baiting.  

[Bud B.]

Thanks for posting.

I tried red once but got a light red and not the nice deep fire engine red I had hoped for...

Yours certainly look better than mine.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Thanks Bud, try a little more vinegar or less water and do a smaller batch. Or add another pack of cherry kool aid and let em sit about 15-20 min. and that should darken them up more.

Or it's possible you didn't degrease the feathers enough before dying? Let em sit in the soapy water longer to remove more of the oil, cause if they are too oily they won't soak up any of the dye.

[Oregon Okie]

Do you guys put anything back on after to add the effect of the oils?? One of those water proofing agents or something. Or just let 'em dry and they are ready to go.
Looks good by the way.

[snag]

Semo did you weigh the feathers down to get them submerged or just let the float around? I have done this before and they did seem to dry out alot. I put some flyfishing dope on them to help waterproof them and that seemed to help a little in making them more pliable.

[Bud B.]

Yeah, I soaked them but not long enough. I think and my mixture wasn't quite like yours.

Will give it another go in the future.

Ever try lemon koolaid?