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For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Kim-Bee BearsI was just wondering if mohair can be bleached and then redyed another color? Does anyone know? Or will it make a goopy mess?
Delartful BearsI have no idea Kim, but I would imagine it would dry it out a lot...
Start with a white perhaps?? LOL Sounds easier !!
Danni
Donna's Duin BruinsKim,
I have not bleached mohair but I know of several artists that have. What is the effect you are going for with the bleach? If you are wanting to lighten the color in areas that is what you will get. If you are trying to take all the color out of a piece of mohair you might end up with a mess by the time you get it white. It really won't be that much different than bleaching your blue jeans. What about Rit color remover?
Donna
You have to be careful with bleach...as it can perish the fabric and literally the fabric rots and starts to fall apart. Especially that backing. I would try a dye remover. I don't know anything about Rit but I do know Dylon make one...it's probably the same thing.
If you do bleach it I would dilute the bleach a lot and do a small test piece first!!!
Jenny
Jare Hares & BearsKBonsall,
I don't recommed using bleach unless you are really careful with it. I mean as soon as you apply you need to be rinsing it off. I would recommend Rit Dye remover, again you need to be careful with it. If you let it sit too long it will burn the fabric just like bleach. I work with this all of the time when dyeing fabrics, it is easy to use.
I would start with a small piece just big enough to do one bear and then work up to doing bigger batches until you are familiar with how the mohair will react. If it "burns" the fabric you will be unable to use it at all. Just remember as with dyeing the fabric will shrink so remember to make an allowance for it.
Good Luck,
Jared
Back Road BearsYes, Kim, what is the effect you are after? I'm having a hard time visualizing!!
Bleach is a very harsh thing to use on mohair. I hope dye remover can work for you!
Daphne
Baird'sBears
Isn't there a fabric-safe bleach out there somewhere? I wish I'd paid more attention to the commercials! I'm wondering if there's any way to bleach just the tips? Probably better to paint, right?
I've used bleach on cotton to create a graduated range of browns and blacks for a quilt. It takes mere seconds. This was years ago. I've just had another look at my (yet unfinished) quilt, and I didn't find any damage to the cotton, even the pieces that were bleached the maximum number of seconds.
But I think the trick is to rinse the bleached fabric 10 times as long as you think you have to, then rinse again! If there's any bleach at all left in the fabric, it will eventually destroy the fibers and make the fabric brittle. Especially if it's been dried in the sun. I've lost several good pairs of drawers that way :whistle:
Even further back in time, when my baby sis was in her teens and I was old enough to know better, we decided to bleach our hair by applying lemon juice and sitting in the sun while it dried. She'd read about this in a magazine. Well, I'm here to tell you that it worked, but it turned our hair into shredded wheat! Super-crispy! :(
Eileen
Hi Kim
I did bleach some mohair a couple of years back - I'd ordered peppermint and when it arrived it was a horrible shade of lime green :o. I tried a test piece first and then dumped the whole piece into the weak household bleach solution and if I remember right - I let it soak until most of the colour was removed :redface:. I did rinse and rinse and rinse afterwards though as I was worried about the fabric rotting. I then put it into tea, and the colour took - albiet slightly green!.
I also tried it on a piece of royal blue mohair and bleached it out to powder blue. Both pieces were Schulte and a fairly sparse, feathered quality. The pile seemed to fade better than the backing but the quality of the pile didn't seem to be affected. I still have the bears, they're with my other "learning bears" and surprisingly they are still in one piece - I just checked on them.
To be honest, I'm not sure I'd recommend using bleach as shifting the bleach smell was virtually impossible. Then again if you don't like it as it is and think you won't use it, then it's probably worth a try.
Hope this helps.
Vicky
Posts: 8,574My concern with bleaching is what it would do to the cotton backing, it weakens cotton and over time the cotton can rot out on you.....since mohair is natural and since hair is natural had you thought of H202 ? It used to bleach out mom's hair......a little peroxide might be easier on the mair than bleach......just a thought.
I am feeling rather lazily this evening or I would try it myself......
Baird'sBears OOooooooooooooooh. Great idea (as usual), Dilu!
There are also products on the market that take the color out of your hair. I used one on my own daughter once, when she was determined to change her hair color from dark brown to bright purple. Don't ask. Anyway, this stuff turned her hair white. I think it was Clairol. My flesh creeps to think of it, but it certainly did work, and it didn't damage her hair.
Eileen
Peroxide won't lighten/bleach used on its own. It may take out light staining but on its own it will have little influence. People used to use it on their hair to lighten a bit like lemon juice and it just used make their hair go a bit more golden,( and dry and brittle)...ie bring out the red. Or they would use it to remove nicotine staining. It won't remove solid colour.
Hair bleach will lighten mohair used carefully....don't get it on the backing as it will rot it. We use hairspray or gel spray in the salon to make the hair stand up before applying it...that way it goes on the ends only. That method would work with mohair.
The hair-dye removers won't work on fabric dyes, they are designed to remove oxidised (peroxide based) colour ...and fabric dyes are stains. I haven't tried it but in theory they won't work.
Baird'sBears Thanks, Jenny!
There's nothing like advice from an expert :hug:
Eileen
DoodlebearsI thought I would find the answer to this very question when I saw the heading of this topic. I'm still rather concered about trying to remove the colour from the piece of mohair that I have. It is so gorgeous that I couldn't bare spoiling it. So what to do? The fabric is some of the most expensive on the market, it is a long pile white mohair but it has electric blue tips. Would this mohair dye well if I used a brown dye? What about fixing the colour and would it fix both the hair and the backing?
So many questions...sorry.
Jane.
Jane...what colour is your mohair?
DoodlebearsJenny.....it's white with blue tips, very long and luxurious.
(I wish I had the same discription as the mohair, unfortunatley I'm short and fat) 
Jane.
I remember!! You'd need to use a warm, reddish orangey brown...then the blue will go a mahogany /purpley shade....you could dye it orange first which would neutralise the blue...then do it brown. You'd have to be careful with the tan browns as they are yellow / gold based...and what does yellow and blue make?....A lovely shade of green/ khaki!!!!
ToadBriarbetter short & fat than white with blue tips!!! you'd be cyanotic (having blue
fingertips, toes, lips from lack of oxygen!)
so it sounds like you'd only need to bleach the blue out of the tips &
maybe could avoid getting the bleaching agent on the backing at all?
If you could work with a color other than white, you COULD
overdye it also. if you went with grey for instance, the white part could
come out a nice silvery color with steely blue-grey tips?
something like that. you could get a lovely effect, just avoid colors
with yellowish orangy tones so your blue doesn't turn green!
would it be heretical to consider snipping the blue tips away
if you were just not gonna use the fur otherwise??
whatever you do, you're sure to end up with something
completely unique & people will drive you mad asking where
to get that particular fur. lol
Jare Hares & BearsRIT DYE REMOVER - it is great for removing unwanted colour. You can get it at just about any hobby/craft store. And it isn't that expensive. Try it.
I would recommend Rit Dye remover, again you need to be careful with it. If you let it sit too long it will burn the fabric just like bleach. I work with this all of the time when dyeing fabrics, it is easy to use.
I would start with a small piece just big enough to do one bear and then work up to doing bigger batches until you are familiar with how the mohair will react. If it "burns" the fabric you will be unable to use it at all. Just remember as with dyeing the fabric will shrink so remember to make an allowance for it.
Matilda Huggington-beareAfter reading through all the posts. Very informative all of them!!!!!1 I would put the mohair away. In a couple of years you may like it. This has happened to me. I loathed the fabric my avatar kitty is made out of. I thought the gold threads were cheap and tacky. 2 years later, It was just perfect for this bear. It really suits her. 
So..... if ever in doubt, postpone....postpone.....postpone! :lol:
Matilda :dance:
Jare Hares & BearsMatilda,
Could you post a cloe of the bear's face, you can't see the gold threads all that well.
Would love to see it.
Jared
Matilda Huggington-beare
I took fresh pic just now. It was hard to see the gold thread in most of the pics. There ya go!!!
DoodlebearsKim (Toadbriar) said
better short & fat than white with blue tips!!! you'd be cyanotic (having blue
fingertips, toes, lips from lack of oxygen!)
You haven't seen the colour I go when my breathing gets bad...yep I do look rather white and my fingers and lips Do go blue.
Thank goodness for oxygen masks! :cry:
Thanks for all the tips about the mohair, I'm still not quite sure what I will do with it yet.
Jane
Jare Hares & BearsMatilda,
That is cool fabric. That would make a neat cat.
jared
