What is the difference between using mohair as opposed to alpaca. Is it finer? Does it work just as well as or better? I’ve seen some ads saying alpaca will please the fussiest reborner. Has anyone used it? Would appreciate your incites.
— Begin quote from “otterbaby2”
What is the difference between using mohair as opposed to alpaca. Is it finer? Does it work just as well as or better? I’ve seen some ads saying alpaca will please the fussiest reborner. Has anyone used it? Would appreciate your incites.
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I think alpaca is finer and is straighter too. I have heard it is more of a challenge to root.
Good alpaca is beautifully silky and very fine = not that easy to root. I bought mine from Suri Hill
http://www.reborndollhair.com/sales.htm
But alpaca as any yarn will vary; it will range from as low as 13 microns to well over 30 microns. Mohair is 25–45 microns in diameter, and human hair is between 40-80. So as you can see there is an overlap = thick alpaca might not be as fine as the finest mohair. But according to alpaca producers, alpaca is stronger than mohair = it does not break as easily.
I loved the baby’s head I rooted with alpaca; the only thing I do not like about alpaca is that except the very pale blond the colours, beautiful as they are, do not look all that natural for human baby. Mine was the “Medium Blonde” and it was quite red. But it is dead straight, so for anybody who wants really straight hair that is the way to go.
Thank you very much, both of you.
Just finished rooting an oriental baby with suri alpaca (according to the alpaca owners I’ve talked to, there are a couple of types of alpaca and the suri is said to be the one most suited for what we do). But I was almost cross eyed and crazy out of my mind before I finished. Of course that was mostly my own fault as I wanted it rooted fairly thickly and with such a fine fiber it took a long time to get the job done. It’s very fine and very straight, but it looks lovely once finished. I didn’t have any trouble rooting it, it just was frustrating because it took sooooo long to cover the head. I’d used it on a Rosebud kit before doing this one and it was a breeze to do with such a small head and more sparse rooting. Alpaca has a beautiful sheen, lays on the head perfectly, and feels (to me at least) more like baby hair than the nicest mohair I’ve used. The way it feels is what has stolen my heart, it’s so soft and feels just like baby hair. The black I used is a natural color too so I don’t have to worry about any dyes not being stable. And I think alpacas have more color varieties than the goats we get mohair from so it doesn’t always have to be dyed…to me, that’s a plus! I would think it could be dyed if needed, but it’s nice to be able to find natural colors that I don’t have to wonder about whether or not the dye might damage my painting. It’s my understanding that suri alpaca is always straight and there’s always at least a bit of curl with mohair. I’d been looking for straight black mohair and decided to try the suri alpaca and was really impressed. It’s just my opinion, but I’ve fallen in love with alpaca and think it’s awesome!
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Thanks for the info 2layz. I think I’ll give alpaca a trial run.
You are welcome otterbaby2, I hope you love it as much as I do! Would love to know what you think after you try it a time or two.
i to adore alpaca…for an aa baby you can use fiber from the other alpaca it starts with an h
— Begin quote from “sage brush nursery”
i to adore alpaca…for an aa baby you can use fiber from the other alpaca it starts with an h
— End quote
Would not the huacaya alpaca fiber be somewhat woolly?
I’m still in the middle of rooting Scarlet with alpaca and I love it and may never go back to mohair! I am using black also for a NA baby look and it is so straight that it is fantastic. I root thickly but I’ve had no problem at all with rooting this. Going just as easily and fast as mohair but I am using a 40g crown needle since I do want it thick. Still only getting a few hairs per hole. If I were rooting less thickly, I would recommend a smaller needle however. Can’t be compared to mohair for straightness and softness and the color is fantastic. I got this from Suri Hill (http://www.reborndollhair.com) but am going to check out the prices at the alpaca farm we visited a few miles from here. 130 beautiful alpacas to chose from! I promise to post photos of Scarlet as soon as I find out what Cait did with the adapter for the chip!
I need info as how to dye the Alpaca. A friend of my sister-in-law’s gave me some, just sheared from the Alpaca. I washed it and let it dry. It is too white and has a slight wave to it, but I have never tried dying it or preparing for rooting. Any suggestions?
I have bought a bag of un processed alpaca and I am dying it using Jacquard Acid Dyes from
, but there are other brands acid dyes. I got 3 colours brown, chestnut and Aztec Gold. I thought just a tiny bit of the Aztec will give the white fiber nice warm colour, well literally pinhead amount of the dye put in several litres of water gave me sunflower yellow! I find the “635 Brown” the most useful, just a pinhead drop in huge pot giving me pale ash blond, and bit more makes nice baby brown. But each time the result is different.
Get only the smallest jar (1/2oz.); I have no idea what I am going to do with the 8oz. of chestnut I bought.
Couple of links you might find useful (and links in that topic)
http://forum.bountifulbaby.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=40060
http://forum.bountifulbaby.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=56616&p=433194&hilit=alpaca#p433194
I got my alpaca from MacPherson’s today. It is natural fawn color which is a light blond. It feels very silky. I can’t wait to try it out, but need to deal with selling my stock of babies from the artisan/craft store first. My livingroom is filled with babies, no room to put them anywhere else.
Since my last post here, I got several lots form Suri Hill; I got blonde Color # 710 & # 810, and the black. I am rooting 2 babies with these colours in this moment and the blond looks very good. I as worried about the black, as it has brown tips, and I expected I will have to trim that, but once rooted it looks very black, cannot see any brown on the head. But it is a slow operation using 42g and 43g needles; wish I still had some thicker ones.
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I recently used Alpaca. Oh my gosh, it is soooo soft and shiny. I don’t know if I want to use the usual mohair any more. It’s soooo soft! Using a very small 1 barb needle. The hair looks so beautiful and soft.
I got some from Delta Dawn and I love the look. It was harder to root and took more hair but it is beautiful and so soft. I wish I could find more.
Looks great and it doesn’t get fussy like mohair
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What do you mean you wish you could find more? She is constantly putting mohair for sale. You have to get on her list and you will get notified.
delta dawn
Just click on the subscribe link
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