Name: Wael
Message: I have been trying unsucesfully to dye painting brush bristles. I want to cover the bristles with geometric patterns. Bristles are often made up of animal hair, such as pig's tail, horse's tail,... I have tried using several coloring technology but they all make the hair break after it dry. Which technology do you recommend? Does the thickness of the hair matters? It might be the case that these hair were chemically treated to stick together or to hold the color used in painting, do I need to clean them first? how?

I've never attempted to dye animal hair brushes, but I would certainly recommend using only acid dyes on any animal hair fiber. A high pH, such as in soda-ash-containing recipes for dyeing cotton, will damage animal hair, but mildly low-pH (acid) conditions are protective. Alternatively, you could use dyes intended for use on human hair, such as henna (a plant-based dye for proteins) or synthetic hair dyes.

Acid dyes require heat as part of the fixation process. Steaming is the usual form of heat-setting; dry heat such as baking is not suitable, as moisture is also required during the fixation step. I do not know what sorts of glues are used for attaching bristles in a brush, but it is possible that the heat-setting step may loosen the glue, so be cautious. PRO Chemical & Dye's instructions for multicolored dyeing with Lanaset dye call for wrapping the item in plastic wrap for steaming; the plastic wrap might do nicely for holding the bristles in place during this step. If the bristles are just clamped in the handle and not glued, your only problem will be avoiding rust.

There are several different types of different acid dyes that you can choose. The Lanaset dyes are my favorites for dyeing protein fibers, because the "rainbow" dyeing technique is particularly easy, requiring only thirty minutes of steaming, and the dyes are more washfast than other protein dyes. (In spite of their name, the Washfast Acid Dyes are less washfast than the Lanaset dyes.) In addition, the Lanaset black is the best of all blacks for protein fibers. Lanaset is also sold under the brand names Sabraset and Telana. However, any dye that is sold as an acid dye should be suitable for your purposes. See my list of dye suppliers around the world. Use a recipe for the dye you choose that includes an acid such as vinegar, diluted acetic acid, or citric acid. You can even use food coloring, either in liquid or paste form, or in the form of unsweetened artificially colored drink mixes, such as Kool-aid, as these are also acid dyes.

Interestingly, most nylon fibers are also easily dyed with the same dyes and procedures as wool and other animal fibers. Nylon-bristle brushes are quite common. If another synthetic, such as polyester, is used to make the bristles, they will not be dyeable, but nylon is chemically similar to animal hair and is dyed in the same way.

Chemical treatments of the bristles could be a real problem. I'm afraid I know nothing about whether these are actually used on brushes. On fabrics, permanent-press finishes and stain-resistant finishes can interfere badly with dyeing, but the treatment used to create Superwash machine-washable wool allows dyeing. Prewashing before dyeing is always a good idea, but a fiber treatment may require harsher conditions to remove it than your animal hair materials can endure. A good gentle detergent to use to wash animal fibers is Orvus Paste, sold online and in feed stores for washing live horses. For small quantities not worth a special mail-order or a trip to a feed store, you can use a mild shampoo.

I don't think that the thickness of the hair will make a difference in the dye or technique that you use. You may want to let the damp dyed items sit for a little while, to give the dye a chance to penetrate the fiber more, before steaming, for items with thicker bristles, but most likely the regular technique will suffice.



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