My most popular handspun yarn is dog hair. Many of my customers ask what it takes to have their favorite pet spun up. The following answers most questions.

What breeds are best? The best breeds to spin leave the soft under-coat such as huskies, chows, ruff collies, samoyeds etc. If the hair does not fall out naturally, it is usually too slippery to work with.

How much hair do I need to make a project? One to two ounces will make a scarf. Four to six ounces will make a pillow. I blend dog hair with non-itch wool in a 50/50 mix. If used by itself, the dog hair will either ‘shed out’ or felt and lose it’s size and shape. Blending the dog hair makes the finished piece last longer. Since I blend it with wool, it will also felt as easily commercial wool yarn. I keep several colored fleeces around if you want the wool to match the color of the dog hair.

How do I prepare the dog hair to be spun? Dog hair should be combed or brushed from the dog. It should be relatively free of grass burs and other large vegetable matter. Matted hair (usually around the neck, back of the ears and belly) should not be included. Anything shorter than 3/4 inch should also be discarded. You may wash and dry the dog before harvesting the hair, but do not wash the hair once it is off the dog. That will felt the hair and make it impossible to use. The harvested hair can be placed in a paper or plastic sack. Paper sacks breath better and the dog hair retains less of it’s odor.

Will it smell when it is finished? All natural fibers such as wool, silk and alpaca have a distinct odor especially when heated or wet. However, I run all dog hair yarn through a final rinse of OdoBan which leaves your yarn smelling a little flowery and removes the doggy odor when dry.

What about color? Dog hair can be dyed but does not come out as intense as a wool or mohair. If I try to dye it a darker color, the finished yarn may look a little frosty because the dog hair does not take the color the same as the wool. If you want it to be left ‘a naturale’, please bear in mind that a white dog is not really white – there are shades of white even in a samoyed. A black dog’s undercoat will be more of a charcoal gray. A red chow’s undercoat will be at least 3 or 4 shades lighter than the guard hairs.

What can I make out of dog hair yarn? My finished dog hair yarn has the properties of wool with a little bit of loft or fuzz. Dog hair scarves and hats are very popular. A pillow may also be made from dog hair using the dog’s tag as an embellishment like a button or charm.

Will I get my own dog’s hair back? When a custom spinning order is received, I take the hair out of the box/bag in small batches, process it and return it to the exact same box. I am the only one working on yarn so I can guarantee quality control and origin of the yarn. The yarn will be measured, weighed and tagged before it is sent back to you.

If you have more specific questions such as turn-around times, please feel free to contact me.