Salon Dyes

Hair salon dyes, made for human hair, can also be used on horsehair. Horsehair does not react the same way as human hair, so you'll have to play around with this method to achieve the results you're looking for. Some of the products used in hair salons yield some interesting results with horsehair.

If you would like to lighten hair you can use Peroxide.

	I've used a product made by Clairol Professional called Pure White 40. It is basically peroxide. It is a very strong solution for human hair and can bleach human hair to white in a few minutes. Horsehair on the other hand is much more resistant to bleaches.
	If you want to lighten darker horsehair pulls you can try this method
	Submerge the horsehair pulls in a mixture of 50% water 50% peroxide (Pure White 40).
	Leave them in this solution over night, to get a slight lightening of color.
	Rinse the pulls under warm water until the water runs clear. To make sure the horsehair is completely rinsed leave the pulls in clean standing water for 10 minutes.
	Lay your pulls out on a towel or hang them with plastic clips to dry.
	You can store the peroxide-water mixture for future use.

If you would like to make your horsehair have a human hair color you can try one of the Clairol products. These salon products are sold at salon wholesalers as well as most drug stores.

One of the tough colors to achieve is flaxen blond. This color can be created using a commercial hair salon dye. In the example shown I used Clairol Professional - Second Nature - No Lift Color #142 G Med. Golden Blonde

This product comes in a small 2 fl.oz. bottle and is available in a wide variety of colors.

You prepare the horsehair pulls by soaking them in a mixture of 25% Peroxide and 75% water for 30 min. ( You can save this mixture for future use )

Rinse the pulls in water and then lay them on a sheet of wax paper. You may want to put newspaper underneath because this can get messy.

Pour the hair dye into a small glass bowl and apply the dye with a small 1/2 inch paint brush. Brush the dye over the entire length of the pulls.

Allow the dye to set for approximately 30 min. ( you can test a few pulls first before you do the whole batch, to make sure your getting the right color)

Rinse the pulls under warm water until the water runs clear. To make sure the horsehair is completely rinsed leave the pulls in clean standing water for 10 minutes. If the water is clear after that time the hair is fully rinsed. With some darker colors you might need to do this step several times. If your pulls are not rinsed properly the colors can bleed later.

Lay your pulls out on a towel or hang them with plastic clips to dry

	One of the tough colors to achieve is flaxen blond. This color can be created using a commercial hair salon dye. In the example shown I used Clairol Professional - Second Nature - No Lift Color #142 G Med. Golden Blonde
	This product comes in a small 2 fl.oz. bottle and is available in a wide variety of colors.
	You prepare the horsehair pulls by soaking them in a mixture of 25% Peroxide and 75% water for 30 min. ( You can save this mixture for future use )
	Rinse the pulls in water and then lay them on a sheet of wax paper. You may want to put newspaper underneath because this can get messy.
	Pour the hair dye into a small glass bowl and apply the dye with a small 1/2 inch paint brush. Brush the dye over the entire length of the pulls.
	Allow the dye to set for approximately 30 min. ( you can test a few pulls first before you do the whole batch, to make sure your getting the right color)
	Rinse the pulls under warm water until the water runs clear. To make sure the horsehair is completely rinsed leave the pulls in clean standing water for 10 minutes. If the water is clear after that time the hair is fully rinsed. With some darker colors you might need to do this step several times. If your pulls are not rinsed properly the colors can bleed later.
	Lay your pulls out on a towel or hang them with plastic clips to dry