Mohair processing tutorial

Welcome to my mohair processing tutorial! Ready to get your hands dirty??

This is a box of "raw" curly, 2nd clip angora mohair that I hand selected from the farm. Come with me on a journey to take this mangled mess through the process to create luscious locks for your reborn dolls.

The first step to processing mohair is to sort out the locks. This box full of hair is about 4 pounds of locks but I won't get that weight in completed hair.

From that wad of hair, I hand select locks, sorting them into similar lengths and curl or wave. Then I band the sorted locks together at the cut end of the lock. I usually put 2-3 locks together, depending on the thickness of the locks.

Now it is time to wash the locks. Fill a sink with hot water and Dawn Dish soap. Dawn is important to cut the lanolin/grease from the hair.

Taking one lock at a time, wash the lock by manipulating the water and soap through the hair. Rinse in a clean basin of hot water.

Allow the locks to air dry. When they are dry, comb out the locks, protecting yourself and the floor with a large sheet to catch the debris that falls out during combing.

While the hair is being combed out, I have my acid dye bath on the stove bringing it up to temperature. I keep a bottle of spray cleaner handy to wipe up any spills that might happen.
I get my acid dyes from these two places:

~Mohair Wig.com~

~Mohair by Debbie (Not ME Debbie, another Debbie, LOL)~

I always have problems with the ordering process from MohairWig.com so if you do too, just email them.

I am not going to go over the processes of actually getting the dyes ready and using them as they all differ by company so just read the instructions that come with the dyes.

I've fixed up brown/black dye by combining colors:

Once all the hair is washed and the dye bath is ready, It is time to cook! The dye I am using here takes about 40 minutes to process. You see in the picture above that the water actually was very dark and here, after I've cooked it and added vinegar at the proper time, the water has turned clear and the dye is now soaked into the hair.

I let the dye and hair cool in the pot. When it is cool, it is hand washed again in a hot, Dawn dish soap bath, rinsed, and then conditioned. I used to use Downy Fabric Softener to condition but now am using human hair conditioner. The brand does not matter as long as it is a moisture conditioning formula. The last product I bought was the Kirkland brand from Costco. The conditioner helps to comb the hair out without added loss.

Here the locks are soaking in conditioner waiting to be combed and for the bands to be removed.

Comb the locks again with the conditioner on them. Again you will lose a lot of hair during this process. Rinse and then remove the bands with a small scissors. I cut the whole top of the lock off to the band, leaving just a small section of the light "band" area on the lock so that it is easy to verify that this is the cut end of the lock.

Place the hair on racks and allow to air dry.

Whew....that was a lot of work! Yes, processing mohair IS a lot of work. But doing it right makes it worth it in the end.

Happy mohair processing!