Earlier this year I decided to start processing my own mohair. I got some lovely raw mohair, and ordinary dull brown acid dye, and dyed few lots; some came out fine, others not so much. Recently, I decided to buy more dyes, and so I ordered every dull brow or pale blond dye I could find, and today I did some test dyeing. The results were quite astonishing. See if you can match the dye to the mohair, and remember that every single of these dyes, despite their names, was listed with chip that as a colour, which would look good as doll hair:
Olive Brown
Sand Dune
Tobacco Leaf
Golden Straw
Ecru
Olive
The top one is the natural undyed mohair, and just to help the #1 is lot more green than it shows here but the others look pretty much as they are
OK
- Olive
- Golden Straw
- Ecru
- Olive Brown
- Sand Dune
- Tobacco Leaf
How did I do?
Sorry, not a single one ! 
Just to help, or maybe confuse more, here is what the dyes look like - there is one jar that I did not use to make a sample, and the Ecru is not there. The ecru dye is exactly what you would expect = beige blond.
Wow! That must have been rather a surprise! I actually like three, four and five (unless 4 is more purple - hard to tell from the small sample) I’m not so keen on one and two (the first one looks like what happens when blonde people swim in chlorinated water), and I’m on the fence about 6 (it kind of looks like a cherry brown, which might be pretty in smaller doses).
You’re a brave woman to try this Ludmilla!
Well, I paid $50 for 3lbs of this lovely mohair, so there is a lot of it.
There are all beautiful colours, some are just not so good for baby hair. I think #4 will be great if I use only tiny bit, as will #3,and the #5 is just stunning for redhead baby, but wait when you see what they are called LOL
Yes, the #6 has cherry red undertones, or you could say mahogany.
I love plying with dyes, but I have so much to do now, several dolls need rooting, another several need painting, so I thought I take a little break and just dye one lot; that was 6 hours ago…
Neat! Thanks for sharing.
Are these acid dyes? I have some that I am dying to try but have not had time- I have dyed different animal fibers but not mohair yet. I have some lovely blonde mohair straight off the goat that I need to process but it is superfine kid and I might go insane rooting with it- I will probably save for preemies. I use real henna and indigo on my own hair so I know red hair can come from green powder! I use the henna and then use the indigo a few days after the henna oxidizes (that is just my preference) - It is black with cherry red hints. The downfall is I smell like spoiled hay for a bit but it helps me to keep my personal space.
And the answer is:
All these dyes are acid dyes, Some are Jacquard and some are Dharma.
http://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dyes-for-dyeing-silk-wool-nylon.html?lnav=dyes.html
I dye the mohair in about 1oz lots in a large stainless steel pot (gallon +) and it takes only tiny bit of dye. I did my testing in small pot on these individual bundles and the amount of dye was literally just a pin head size. I think when I use such an amount of Sand Dune in the large pot, I will probably get nice light brown. The Ecru powder was so pale beige that it did not change the colour of the water at all, so I put in bit more, I suspect if I left it I would have pretty nice light blond. Never mind, if I mix the red dyes with the green, I should get some brown, and if that does not work too well, I have black, which reliably covers all mistakes LOL
I hope this info helps anybody who are looking into trying to dye their own mohair. Just one advice, get the little jars 
And I never again complain about the price some people charge for their mohair.
LOL! After your experience, I think you’ve convinced me NOT to try dying my own! I’ve got some really light mohair that I’d love to have a darker color but now probably won’t even try to do it myself. I really wish that I believed that using human hair dye won’t last. I got some nice colors when I dyed my cousin’s llama hair with them back when I first started. So tempted to try it on what I have that was just too light to even call blond… As it is, you’ve reminded me to call the lady with the alpacas back. My back has been really bad and I haven’t gotten out there yet.
Those olives must have been the ripe, purple kind LOL! The more I see it, the more I like that colour.
All I have is that little strand that I dyed as a test. I have got heaps of the raw mohair, but it takes lot of time to brush and wash. The bit I have ready I am trying to get nice dull light brown, which is the colour I need for couple of dolls that are here waiting to be rooted. When the time comes that I have enough of the colours I want, I might dye some and sell it 