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For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
ToadBriarI have seen some very cool stuff done on cotton
with clorox bleach pens - using them to draw on
a teeshirt or jeans gives a cool batik effect. I thought
I might be able to get some nifty results by using bleach
to selectively remove color on a bear, but further research
says that chlorine bleach does Very Unpleasant Things to
protein fibers like wool, mohair, & silk. It'd probably work
fine on the cotton backing, but I'd want something that
would affect the hair AND the backing both. Or at least
just the mohair. Maybe hydrogen peroxide?
Has anyone tried anything like this, & if so, what were the
results? I know I could use light fabric paint but I am not
hugely thrilled with the effect that provides.
thanks!
-toadbriar kim, im mad scientist mode 
Back Road BearsKim,
I have, just for kicks, tried bleaching some mohair... in a very diluted solution. Within 3 minutes it turned the mohair to mush. Have you or anyone you know ever over processed their hair by coloring, perming, etc. It turns to brittle straw and when wet is like this matted mush. That's what the mohair was like. I don't think all the conditioner in the world could bring it back to life.
That is just my experience. Somone else can talk about the effects on protein fibers from a scientific aspect. I just know what it looked and felt like when I did it and it wasn't pretty!
My advice: try it on a piece of scrap mohiar. See what happens!!
Peroxide on it's own won't do much at all to mohair...or any kind of hair....you'd need to mix it with a bleach or colourant intended for hair. But keep it off the backing because that will rot the cotton over time...but will be fine on the mohair as long as you keep an eye on it. I recommend you use an anti-oxidant after you wash it off...some hair conditioners contain anti-oxidants...this will stop the bleaching process working..which is why you see folks going about with mushed up hair. The process has been allowed to go on too long and has effectively destroyed the hair.
Baird'sBears
I've been thinking of trying this, but so far I've been too chicken. 
I did use a name-brand hair bleach on my daughter's very curly dark brown locks before dying her hair purple (a whole other story!). I was sure her hair would either fall out or turn to Brillo, but this stuff did no damage at all.
Would it be possible to coat the backing with some kind of protective substance before applying the hair bleach to the fur, something that would wash out later?
Eileen
BEAR ME SHOOTKAJust today I bleached black German mohair.
I'm really pleased with the results. I was trying to achieve the well-used effect and grey hair..
The mohair itself wasn't damaged at all. The backing become more brownish rather then grey. But I like that even better. I'll post picture when I'm done..
I colored my mohair today and found some perfect matches I'm going to use in the future.
As for bleaching, I used "Ace". Do you have it in States? I left mohair in it for about 3-4 min.
I don't have a fat cut of that black mohair yet, just ordered it. I'll show "before and after" a bit later.
As for that little bleached piece, I'm satisffied.
Hugs, Julia
....before dying her hair purple (a whole other story!).
Eileen... inquiring minds want to know
Baird'sBears Well, since you asked . . . 
When middle daughter Caroline was 16, she decided that she couldn't live without purple hair, a nose ring, and a belly button ring. Mindful of the hassles my sisters & self had gone through when we wanted to look anything but 1940s maternal, I decided to help her to do it right. I also reasoned that a purple-haired daughter neatly pierced was better than a bald and mutilated daughter.
For the piercings (by now long gone, even holes) we went to a funky downtown piercing/tatoo parlor, where my very entrance raised the mean age by about 20 year--but these multi-colored, heavily perforated people did excellent, safe and hygenic work.
I took the color out of her hair myself, and helped her with the purple dye. I mean it was really, really purple. In the end she decided that the upkeep of her roots was too much trouble, and went back to her beautiful natural dark brown. I don't have a piccie of the purple hair, but I think there might be one in her high-school yearbook, wherever that is. Give me some time to scrounge . . .
Eileen
Matilda Huggington-beareWhat a way cool mum you are!!!!!!!! 
ToadBriarthanks for the info everyone!
I might have to duck into Sally's Beauty Supply
next time I am in civilization... I halfheartedly
tried the WHITE dye-na-flow, which does BUPKUS.
well at least I used up most of the useless stuff &
did absolutely no harm to my little guinea-pig experiment
bunny! sheesh lol
See, I knew that anything I thought of, for SURE there
would be people here who have thought of it, experimented,
found better solutions, & ended up with something more fabulous
than I could conceive of, lol. that's how this place works!
I am a little bummed that I can't draw spots on anyone with
my clorox gel bleach pen, though!
thanks again!
Back Road BearsSee, I knew that anything I thought of, for SURE there
would be people here who have thought of it, experimented,
found better solutions, & ended up with something more fabulous
than I could conceive of, lol. that's how this place works!thanks again!
Isn't is great???????
