transmitted light

[doobrysnatcher]

i recently bought 3 capes of a supplier and always believed when i hold them up to the light should contain a strong shiny vibrant colour not a washed out whitish pale hue . does this sound right or should i complain

[sightbob]

Originally Posted by doobrysnatcher

i recently bought 3 capes of a supplier and always believed when i hold them up to the light should contain a strong shiny vibrant colour not a washed out whitish pale hue . does this sound right or should i complain

Hi doobrysnatcher
It really depends what you actually bought.
John

[doobrysnatcher]

hello john it was 3 different capes from a specialist dyer
and the colours dissapointed me a friend told me it was all 3rd bath stuff????

[Chris Reeves]

Having just learned to dye (and I am no expert), there are several things that can happen.

1) Dye bath is too weak, all the colour soaks into the feathers before desired end result is obtained.

2) Feathers are not properly cleaned and dye does not penetrate because of the natural oils and grease on the feathers

3) The dye used is not suitable

4) The dye was not properly fixed and a lot of colour is lost on rinsing.

That said any of those problems should be noticed before sale. I still buy dyed product from Christine at Chevron Hackles who produces the strongest and deepest colours I have found anywhere. Christine often dyes one colour and then overdyes with a second colour. This gives a deepness and richness that single dying doesn't. I have several capes from Chevron that appear black but when held up to the light the real colours, Claret, Olive green and Firey brown become apparent and it is this effect your looking for in the flies you tie.

I think I'm right in saying that Christine will dye your feathers for you ( at a cost of course) and is an expert at shade matching.

It isn't likely that your capes are a 3rd bath batch as most specialist dyers do not do bulk batches.

Regards

[stormfry]

if you want me to sort them or dye some capes send me a pm.