Spinning Dog Hair

Dog hair is different with every breed of dog, each of which has unique colours and textures. The better the quality of the dog hair you send me the more luxurious the end product will be. Any hair from medium to long coated breeds that have soft and silky hair will spin well. Your dog's hair can be collected naturally and easily during grooming as a result of brushing. I blend all the colours of fur together to make a single uniform colour yarn as this avoids random horizontal stripes. The hair from short/smooth haired breeds can be difficult to spin and it may not be possible to spin even with other fibres added to it. I prefer to only spin 100% dog hair and not blend it with any other fibres, as this creates the best results as a more luxurious angora halo effect. If in doubt contact me first.

Stages of spinning dog hair

Carding raw dog hair - Carding is the process of preparing raw fibre to be spun; it makes the fibres lay the same way and you can blend the colours together.

Rolags - once carded the fibre is rolled into rolags ready for spinning.

Spinning - Firstly it is spun into a single thread. Then two single threads are spun in an opposite direction to create a two ply yarn, which is balanced and very durable.

Skeining - After the yarn is plied it is made into a skein. The skein is washed and hung to dry with weights. The weights set the yarn.

What you have to do

Brush your dog when it is not wet and muddy. Collect the hair from the brush and store it in a paper bag. A bag with handles is ideal as you can hang it up and the dog hair will not compress. You can also store your dog hair in a cardboard box or a pillow case. Try to store it in a light airy place. Do not store your dog hair in plastic bags as it needs to breath otherwise it will 'felt'. When mailing your dog's hair it is OK to place it in a plastic bag as it will only be for a short period of time. Lightly compress the dog hair in the bag if necessary.

Ideas of how to weigh and store your fur until you have enough. Any kitchen scales can be used. Use kitchen paper or freezer/sandwich bags (anything light weight.)