For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Hello everyone- I have several pieces of kid mohair that seem to be limp and do not look fluffy.Is there something that I can do to give it some life?I know so many of you love kid mohair but I am disappointed with it.I have seen some lovely bears made with it from many of you but I can't make my mohair look like yours.What am I doing wrong?Thanks in advance. Sincerely Jane D.
Jane have you tied washing it ? I washed some with a hair conditioner , fluffed it with a brush then dried it on the clothesline or dryer on low temp. It may change the finish a bit (ie: relax the curl if it is curly/wavy) but it sure fluffs up nicely. Or, you could just brush it with a pet brush and it should fluf a bit.
Good luck !
It's probably a matted finish or something of the sort. Maybe a sparse kid mohair? Anyway, I've played around with washing moahir before, just as Tammy suggested. I've used a bit of fabric softener and had nice results too. I generally wash with conditioner or fabric softener, put it in the dryer on a low setting until it's just damp. Then I brush it in one direction with a wire cat grooming brush. I let it dry, maybe brush again. One caveat... if you use warm/hot water and/or a dryer... you might find that the over all size of the piece has shrunk just a touch. Not necessarily a bad thing, as I think that it just tightens up the weave of the backing a bit, which I like! Just play around with it a bit and see if you can make it more too your liking!
Kim Basta
One of the benefits of using hot water to rinse your mohair in... it seems to "burst" the fibers a bit so they are fluffier in my opinion.
Although I've never had to use conditioner on kid mohair... I do use it on regular mohair... it then gets as soft as kid! I use Mane and Tail conditioner as it is designed to resist dirt. (even though I do rinse it out)
Yes, it was originally designed for horses.... but many people use it now too and it can be found at Walmart and Walgreens now too!
Thank you everyone for the tips. I amgoing to wash my mohair today with conditioner and brush it.It should dry nicely outside - a nice breeze blowing! Kim you are right-it is a sparse matted kid mohair.I have a dusty blue and a stone.I am going to make a panda.Too bad I can't figure out how to shrink my pictures or I would post one when finished.Sincerely Jane D.