BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Spinning Spinning with Dog Fur

If you pre-wash your dog hair before spinning, be very, very careful not to felt it. I've never tried to pre-wash but have seen several attempts by others (experienced spinners who know how to wash fibers) that have become felted and therefore not usable. Apparently dog hair, the soft undercoat anyway, is very prone to felting. I helped a friend this summer run a bunch of dog hair through my picker. We only saved about half of what she had.

Check out the latest issue of Spin Off. They have a feature on spinning dog fur with pictures of each breed. It was really neat!

I have blended samoya and kid mohair together. I made my daughter a scarf when she was in college. It was very soft and fluffy. She really liked it and kept her warm going to classes.

nancy

I have spun with various dog hair and i always pre wash adding lemon juice or vinegar to the water to get any strong smell out.Then you can spin it using a little more twist than wool and ply it tightly.Its certainly a lot easier to spin if you blend it with wool though.I spent a lot of time picking out guard hair from some breeds though. so i prefer to have the brushings of the undercoat from my own dog or others like her they can be soft as cashmere.