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Are we overlooking a viable product?


IronHorse
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In my ongoing quest to better utilize the natural materials that surround us I got to thinking, as I combed out Jazmine the other day.

The thought came to me as I was sitting in a big pile of fluffy merly fur, " Wow this stuff has to be good for something besides blowing off with the wind".

This thought prompted me to begin researching information on uses for dog hair.

I came across this site which some of you might want to check out

http://smartdogs.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/...er-of-dog-hair/

 

Are we overlooking a viable product that could be put to eco-friendly uses?

I would really appreciate some dialog on this, perhaps as a group we could come up with some ideas that would benefit not only ourselves, but also the larger community.

Is anyone utilizing dog hair as a product?

Anybody got some more in depth knowledge on this?

I can't help thinking about the tonnage of fine quality dog hair that is going to waste.

 

A Collie Hair Scarf

(impressed me)

 

Colliehairscarf.jpg

 

A Deerhound Throw

(I want a merle Border Collie one)

Deerhoundhairthrow.jpg

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Lots of handspinners spin dog and cat. It is supposed to incredibly warm and lightweight. Part of me says "eww - wet dog" but the other part is a bit interested in it. I mean, the other animals the wool/hair is commonly harvested from are just as dirty/smelly at one time as the dogs (or maybe more so) and I don't hesitate to use that fiber...

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Flaw=unsolved problem

I am only begining to research this by-product, but I certainly would not view the 'wet-dog-smell' as a fatal flaw that would nullify the potential of the possibilities of this resource.

 

Is anyone associated with a dog-grooming business?

If so do you know what they are currently doing with the clippings that they accumulate on an average day?

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Hmmm, that's pretty interesting stuff. A scarf might be nice because it doesn't have to washed and if it rains, you can take it off and stow it away.

 

I'm not in the dog-grooming buisness, but I do groom my own Schnauzers. Thankfully, they don't have a ton hair to be shaved/scissored off, but what they do produce I put in the bird feeder and the multitude of songbirds around here use it to line their nests.

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One of my friends has been saving her long-haired cat's fur for years and we all thought she was completely nuts, including her fiance who has been trying to throw it away. It's soft and a nice orangey color too. I asked her seriously today, and there are apparently booths at the knitting conventions she goes to, companies who you can pay to have any fur washed and spun.

 

Now I'm looking at this a different way, I am sad I didn't make something out of my best cat Mesto's fur (94'-07'). After he was gone I missed sleeping with him so much, it would have been really nice to have a little throw or something to touch. But, while it was jet black, very soft, and would have made a very decorative throw :rolleyes: , I don't know if his fur was long enough anyway.

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Ooky,

this woman explains the what,where,when,who and hows of the pocess fairly well.

 

http://www.bbkirk.com/Dog%20Hair%20Yarn.htm

appears to me that anyone who is familiar with processing sheep wool into yarn would have no problem dealing with this.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry to resurrect this, but Julie and I were at a FarmFest this past weekend and it made me think of this thread. This one booth had bags and bags of roving. One of the bags had the title "Poodle" on it. I could seriously smell dog from several feet away. I don't mean yummy smelling live dog, I mean vacuum cleaner bag dog hair dog. I asked, and it was indeedy poodle fur in the bag, and it was not something I'd want to spin or wear on my head. Or any other body part for that matter. Ew.

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I groom dogs (and cats) and I would hate to wear what I throw away. No matter how clean you got it, the thing is, it is dog/cat, and even really clean, it smells like it. Sheep smells like sheep, alpaca smells like alpaca and angora rabbit smells like rabbit. Those scents are pretty innocuous, and I actually love sheep-scent.

 

The best use for dog clippings is in the garden, to ward off those animals who are afraid of dog, and even that is debatable. I would wonder why a collie or another full coated dog would be wanting to give us it's coat for someone to spin into yarn, unless it's just the fuzzy undercoat they use. If we used every ounce of wool produced for processing into useful rovings and yarn, I would guess it would be an enormous amount. So many folks I know just toss it, burn it, or use it for erosion control. THAT"S an eco-shame.

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OH...I gotta add, one of the coolest things I've seen is finding birdnests that have blown down, lined with fluff or horse hairs, I find them all over my place, what a miracle.

 

Let that fluff blow!

I love this, too. For many years, I had a little bird's nest lined with the soft undercoat from our Nubian dairy goats. After it collected dust for years, I finally consigned it back to the great out-of-doors, but it still brings a smile to my face to remember it.

 

Bird's nests are an annual record of what livestock, pets, and (sometimes, sadly) trash you have at home. Every little one I come across, I check out for signs of one or more of our animals in the lining.

 

Thanks for mentioning that!

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