I showed a color test and ended the topic with this:
"So my question is...was it the thick, leave-in conditioner that caused
the mohair to bleed, or was it that the mohair was dyed using human hair
color dyes instead of mohair acid dyes?
Human hair color dyes bleed as well as fade in the sun.
Only acid dyes and teas should be used to color quality mohair to be used for dolls.
Now I am curious what would happen if I placed the other sellers lock
and one of my own in the sun for a time. I think I will do just that
and share the results in a few weeks. "
I set the said locks in the nursery window which gets full sun right now for most of the day. I covered the upper half of the locks with paper towels to prevent the sun radiating down on them so that we could see if there was a difference. (I have a doll that I made a LONG time ago with human hair-dye dyed hair. She was in a place where she got sunlight. The front side of her hair faded but not the back where she was lying on it, preventing the suns penetration, so I suspected this would work the same way in my test.)
Here are the results:
(Click on the pictures for full size)
The locks on the left are my acid dyed hair and the locks on the right are another sellers hair. I had suspected that the hair was dyed with Human Hair Dye since in the color test, color bled from the hair onto a paper towel (see link of original story above).
But, after spending 4 weeks in the sun, there is NO difference in either locks of hair. The locks on the outer side of each color are original locks that did not set in the sun. The inside locks are the locks that spent time in the sun.
So my conclusion is that the other sellers hair was colored with acid dyes and that the heavy conditioner that was left in the hair caused the bleeding when I washed it. It appears to be fully steadfast now and I would not suspect that color to have bled into the vinyl of the doll or to stain the dolls clothing. It would bleed onto the clothing but not stain. (It could be washed out.)
There was a post on a forum just the other day questioning where to buy good quality mohair that looks the same months after rooting as it does the day they rooted. The complaint was that the hair that has been purchased, from many sellers, was so glossy and silky when first rooted but became dull and coarse over time.
The answer is in finding mohair that is not doused with leave in conditioners so that you can see and feel the true characteristics of the mohair from the start. Does it photograph as well this way? No, it does not. It is much easier to take pictures of mohair when it is wet or laden with conditioners but it is also very deceiving.
I take my pictures of the mohair in it's "raw" dyed, dry state.
I never add leave in conditioners to it and rarely use leave in conditioners on my own dolls that I used my hair with.
If I want to retain a certain style on one of my dolls, especially if I am traveling with the doll and it might pass through lot of hands, I might use a little to give the hair more weight but like I said, it is very rare. Water is my key ingredient to styling :)
Have a great Wednesday!!
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