Dye Tubes

Veniard Dye Instructions

First clean the feathers by soaking in any good detergent (Venpol for preference), or a quality soap powder for a few minutes.

Note: Waterfowl feathers must be soaked for considerably longer to allow penetration of the natural oil coating.
Rinse in cold water.

Dissolve approx. a quarter of a teaspoon of dye in approx. a litre of boiling water, and stir well until completely dissolved, then add one table spoon of Acetic (if available) or vinegar.

To fix the colour.

Black & all other dark shades should have a much stronger dye bath with more acid or vinegar

Put in the feathers to be dyed and return to simmer keeping the plumes moving all the time.

Most dyes are a mixture of three colours, so it is essential to allow time for all the colours to penetrate to obtain the correct / desired shade. They do not fix at the same rate so withdrawing feathers too soon could result in the wrong shade. You can get a good idea of final shade by watching the quill or by holding a single feather up to the light. Remember that the feather will look a lot darker when wet.

Remove all feathers from the dye bath and rinse well in cold water. Press the feathers between cloth or paper to remove most of the moisture. Allow to dry naturally.

To bring hackles back to their natural brilliance they should be partially dried and then placed in a cardboard lid, blown dry with a hair dryer, and shaken gently until dry.

Please note these Veniard Dye instructions also apply to furs & wools. Etc.