I recently found out about the solubility of certain dyes for feathers after I had gotten a little wet while wading a while back. I was rummaging through my vest the next week and to my surprise the dye was coming off of my Uncle Walt's Jigs. The white feathers became dyed shades of red, black, and blue. has anyone experienced this before with other jigs? I've noticed that glo bug yarn in cherise also contains a dye that is water soluble. Just want to know if this is normal or not. I figured I could use this to my advantage with tying humpy lures involving white feathers. Would save me from having to purchase pink feathers.

It's pretty normal!

I always dry my jigs off before I put them back into my jig boxes.

Cowlitzfisherman

Another thing to keep in mind is that it is also dependent upon the quality of material!!!

Cheaper materials bleed easier.

A rinse cycle is required after dying to remove excess dye. Sometimes not enuf time or volume of water can cause residual dye to remain. Usually goes with first use however red and black are particularly difficult to rinse out.

Another problem may be that not enough "fixer" was used in the dying process that can result in a wash-out. This is more of a problem because your lmaterial will lose it's intended color and usually fade.

The net result in either case is anything nearby is subject to getting colored by the excess dye. Unfortunately there is no way to tell in advance if this is a problem so the best you can do is keep like-colored things together.

hope this helps.