Feather Dying????

[Weekend Warrior]

Info ON
How To dye feathers with Kool Aid or Rit

[bbassi]

done RIT. It's easy. Don't believe what they say about using plastic. I did Red and black and left them in Tupperware. still as good as the day I made it.

As for how to, you can either chop first or do full length. Get the solution semi hot, about like warm cup of tea. Dip the feathers and count to 10, remove. If the color isn't dark enough, re-dunk. When your satisfied, lay them on an old window screen or hang the with a paper clip with the feather pointed up to drain and dry. Keeping the solution at the right temp is the key, too hot and you can curl the feather. Too cool and the dye doesn't absorb well.

one other thing. I found that fletch tape didn't want to stick well to RIT dyed feathers. Not sure why. The last time i did it I dunked the feathers using tweezers so I could keep the quill out of the dye, tape worked fine on those.

[ishiwannabe]

GN feather dye is easy and cheap too. One of my arrows stayed out all winter under about two feet of snow... Feathers were just as bright as the others when I found it in the spring...

[pseman]

I've tried both RIT and KoolAid and had better results with the KoolAid. I might add though that I have only tried the RIT once.

The KoolAid gave me brighter colors and was very easy, and cheap! I simply take zip-loc bags and pour the KoolAid packs in and dilute with water and just a splash of white vinegar. The more concentrated you make it the darker the colors. I usually use two packs of KoolAid and dilute with just enough water to immerse the feathers. Once the feathers are in put the bag in the microwave(don't seal it all the way though) and warm it up to about coffee temperature. Remove and place feathers on strainer or window screen to dry.

There are lots of flavors/colors to choose from and you can mix and match until you get the color you want.

I haven't had any problem with colors bleeding or fading.