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Posts: 3,540Hi all, sorry I haven't posted in yonks. My bears are in hibernation just now...
I was curious, as I played around with Kool Aide dying my mohair back in March. I made my swap bear for Tammy in Canada, and I also did a second bear shortly afterwards...hey I was on a roll :dance: Now this second bear, Clancey, I put in a seated position in my Northern window and he's been there since mid March. Long about May, I thought his green colour might be fading, but couldn't tell...maybe it was just a trick of my eyes? However, the other day, I did pick him up and his tushy is still green, but the fur on the rest of him is more tannish (I dyed a tan coloured mohair)....so the dye is definitely fading.
Now, he is NOT EVER exposed to direct sunlight...ever. This is a northern windowsill that he sits on, so its normal diffused sunlight, much as if he would sit in an enclosed room with the overhead lights on....so this fading is not from sunlight, not that I can tell at least.
Is there some critical step that I missed in 'locking in' the dye??? Now I'm worried that my dear little Ridley bear that I gave Tammy might fade away in time too... 
I don't want that to happen, I want my bears to be able to sit out and be enjoyed.
If nothing else, Clancey still smells yummy from the Kool Aide dye!!!
Rest assured Debbie that Riley is just as greenand adorable as the day he arrived !!! He sits in a little chair in my living room under a table so he is never in direct or really much indirect light though. Sorry to hear that your bear isn't as green- odd. Here I just took a picutre for you. 
Posts: 3,540Awwwwhhhhh! Thanks Tammy!!! :hug:
Yep, Ridley's still as green as ever...thank goodness! Maybe even if its indirect, the natural sunlight in my room's too much for Clancey????
Does anyone else have a Kool Aide bear that faded? Or is it just me and Clancey???
Hi, Debbie, I don't work with mohair but I did take a class with my daughter when she was younger where we learned how to hand spin and weave wool. We used Kool-aide to dye the wool first. I definitely remember that the instuctor said that Kool-aide was not a permanent dye (that it would fade with time)...which was why they used it to teach children how to dye.
Actually that was a few years ago and I don't think that the wool we dyed has faded but it has also been stored in a box.
~Kathy
Posts: 3,540Thanks for that Kathy! I'm just so new at this whole mohair/dying thing :doh: I'm usually into my real furs, so it was quite the learning experience for me.
Hmmm..... I'll have to figure someplace new to park Clancey then. I don't want him to fade more than he all ready is. 
Matilda Huggington-beareIs there anyway you can touch him up . Say with kool aid and a paint brush and hairdryer maybe?............
Cause Rileys adorable. It would be a shame for Clancey to have to go on in the world all faded.
Wendy 
Posts: 3,540I thought about doing exactly that ....but then worried that the dye wouldn't be even and he'd end up blotched! So I haven't touched him up.
