# Spinning Dog Hair



## nittineedles

The hair I am currently working with is Keeshond. You can see from the first photo that they are very spin worthy.

#1) Brush the dog. You only spin the brushings and not any stiff guard hairs. The guard hairs should be removed, as found, from the brushings.

#2) To wash the brushings, place in a lingerie bag and soak in hot, soapy water in washing machine. DO NOT agitate or they will felt. Spin out the water and lay the brushings loosely spread out to dry. 

#3) Card the clean, dry brushings. At this stage you may want to card some wool with the dog hair to give it more elasticity. If you do add some wool, you should card the batts 1 or 2 more times to ensure the dog hair and wool are evenly distributed.

#4) Spin the batts. I prefer to ply 2 singles together to make the yarn stronger. Set the twist by again soaking in hot water in the washing machine. Again, NO agitation. Again, spin out the water. Then hang your skein to dry.

#5) Pet your angel fluff like dry yarn also known as Chiengora. After all, isn't that what you made it for?

#6) You can also knit something luscious with it. A hat or fingerless mitts are good choices.


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## Knitted by Nan

nittineedles said:


> The hair I am currently working with is Keeshond. You can see from the first photo that they are very spin worthy.
> 
> #1) Brush the dog. You only spin the brushings and not any stiff guard hairs. The guard hairs should be removed, as found, from the brushings.
> 
> #2) To wash the brushings, place in a lingerie bag and soak in hot, soapy water in washing machine. DO NOT agitate or they will felt. Spin out the water and lay the brushings loosely spread out to dry.
> 
> #3) Card the clean, dry brushings. At this stage you may want to card some wool with the dog hair to give it more elasticity. If you do add some wool, you should card the batts 1 or 2 more times to ensure the dog hair and wool are evenly distributed.
> 
> #4) Spin the batts. I prefer to ply 2 singles together to make the yarn stronger. Set the twist by again soaking in hot water in the washing machine. Again, NO agitation. Again, spin out the water. Then hang your skein to dry.
> 
> #5) Pet your angel fluff like dry yarn also known as Chiengora. After all, isn't that what you made it for?
> 
> #6) You can also knit something luscious with it. A hat or fingerless mitts are good choices.


We had two Keeshonds in Tassie and brought the female to West Australia with us. It really is too hot in Perth for Keeshonds. I spun and knitted their fur. I always did an initial wash in cold water rather than hot water because hot water can set any sell into the fibre. Fortunately, Keeshonds do not have a doggy smell. They were bred to live on the barges with their owners.

I would love to spin and knit Samoyed fur.


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## Goodshepfarm

Thank you for the details of the entire process. You are encouraging me to save my border collie combings.


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## mama879

I had a Heidi Many years ago. BS (before spinning lol) I have a dog now who is German Shepard great Dane and St Bernard and have been saving his oh so soft brushings I get so much from him I will be spinning up some of his coat into something one of these days. Thanks for the how to. I love your paw mitts. colors are wonderful. Your Keeshond is very pretty to.


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## mama879

Floyd is the one on the left I call him monster mutt or olf he is 100lbs of all lovin, the other is Sassy and is a pupperdoodle she is 2 and has more energy then anyone should ever have. Yes I have about three plastic bags full of Floyd's fuzz to wash card and spin. I'm sure I will add to it every day. He has a wonderful short coat so I would have to treat it like cotton when I spin it or add it to something else.


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## BirchPoint

Beautiful yarn from the fluffy dog! Your owl mittens are lovely. Did you blend wool, or are they knit with 100 % chiengora?


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## nittineedles

Knitted by Nan said:


> I always did an initial wash in cold water rather than hot water because hot water can set any sell into the fibre. Fortunately, Keeshonds do not have a doggy smell. They were bred to live on the barges with their owners.


What is sell?
The Keeshond dog hair I get stinks and is quite filthy with dusty dirt and bits of vm.


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## nittineedles

BirchPoint said:


> Beautiful yarn from the fluffy dog! Your owl mittens are lovely. Did you blend wool, or are they knit with 100 % chiengora?


Thank you. I spun a 100% dog hair single and plied it with a finer 100% wool single. My educated guess is 70% Chiengora and 30% wool.


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## Knitted by Nan

nittineedles said:


> What is sell?
> The Keeshond dog hair I get stinks and is quite filthy with dusty dirt and bits of vm.


Sorry, a typo that my tired old eyes did not pick up. I meant to type smell. Hot water can set the smell into a fleece or dog fur, that is why I always do a cold wash first. I soak the fur or fibre in cold water with fibre wash, hair shampoo or even dishwashing liquid if it is very dirty, then rinse it in cold water then wash in hot water to remove grease and dirt.

I am now standing in the corner and saying "I am a stupid old goat and I promise to try harder in the future".

It is not really me who is making the mistakes, it is this stupid iPad. I type 'cold water' and the iPad displays 'old water'. This thing is definitely a male iPad because it is going out of its way to annoy me.

If you think Keeshond fur stinks you should smell the Fibre from an Angora goat during rutting season or the wool from a ram when he has been runnning with the ewes.


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## nittineedles

I have had only 2 people tell me they can smell a bit of dog in the yarn and although I think they imagined it, as they knew it was dog hair before they sniffed, I will start with a cold wash in future.
I didn't think goats smelled that good to begin with.lol


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## GrannyMo

I’m in love with your dogs! Are the mitts ar all itchy?


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## Mevbb

mama879 said:


> Floyd is the one on the left I call him monster mutt or olf he is 100lbs of all lovin, the other is Sassy and is a pupperdoodle she is 2 and has more energy then anyone should ever have. Yes I have about three plastic bags full of Floyd's fuzz to wash card and spin. I'm sure I will add to it every day. He has a wonderful short coat so I would have to treat it like cotton when I spin it or add it to something else.


I love their expressions.


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## Teardrop

I am spinning cat hair at the moment, actually I have been at it for 2 years. It is hard to do it for any length of time due to it being so light it starts to fly into my face and itch. However at my last Mill Fest a gentleman came to me asking if I could spin his German Shepards brushings. After he and his wife argued over weather it should be done or not I agreed. Of course he, just like the lady with the cat fiber, had it in his car. The info given her by you, nittineedles, will be very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to list all you do.


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## nittineedles

GrannyMo said:


> I'm in love with your dogs! Are the mitts ar all itchy?


Dog hair feels similar to alpaca. Very, very soft.


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## sockyarn

Makes lovely yarn and dyes so well.


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## nittineedles

nittineedles said:


> Dog hair feels similar to alpaca. Very, very soft.


Good to hear as that will be my next step.


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## fibermcgivver

The fiber looks so soft and fluffy! I bet it is extremely warm! I have spun golden retriever and wool and that is nice too... beautiful work!


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## desireeross

Beautiful start to finish


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## spinninggill

Beautiful. I recently spun some Samoyed/ Shetland for a customer, who then made a hat from it.


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## Tutleymutley

I also spin pet fur - and Keeshond has been one of my favourite breeds of dog to spin. Currently spinning Ragdoll cat and that's very lovely (and easy to spin with a nice long staple) too. 
I didn't know that about hot water setting the 'smell' though?! If the dog hair is very dirty I used washing up liquid (or dish soap) and rinse gently. I've not noticed a particularly doggy smell - but some friends with sensitive noses reckon they do.


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## Violet.C

Thank you so much for this thread! I'm going to give spinning a go in the new year and I have a couple of friends with huskies who have offered me bin bags full of fluff for maybe some mittens in return. This seems to have covered all the bases for me, I'm excited now!


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## ptober

Good info on spinning pet hair. I have a long haired cat that has fur that feels like silk. I might try with that just for fun.


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