Black Velvet

I decided to try dyeing my show heifers this year. Two of them have a red-ish tint to them and usually it seems like the dark, shiny black ones place a little better. I went to MFA this morning and they had 5 bottles of it left so I bought it all.

I have been searching old topics on steer planet to try to find some tips on dyeing. This answered some of my questions but I have a few more if anyone can help me. There was a website listed on the black of the bottle I noticed that was supposed to have dyeing tips but I couldn't get it to load.

My fair is in a month so I have a little bit of time.

- On the black of the bottle it said that you do not have to use Kleen Sheen. I was just wondering if you can and does it help? From the way it sounds on the instructions, Black Velvet can dry the calf's hair out pretty bad.

- I have 3 heifers weighing between about 600-850 lbs each. Do you think that 5 bottles will be enough for all three? Will adding Kleen Sheen dilute it down a little and make it go further? If nothing else, I could just dye the two with the worst red tints to them. The one heifer has pretty dark hair.

- All 3 of my heifers have white on them. All of them have white bellies, 2 have white faces, one has a white tail and white topline, and one has a white streak in her switch. I read on an old topic that Vasoline would keep white spots safe. Is this true? How much would I have to cake on there (seems like it would be hard to wash out)?

- Do you usually dye before or after clipping. I thought I would clip them about 2 weeks before the hair, not use any soap on them for about a week, then dye them a week before the fair. I thought I could use Revive and vinegar on them like crazy to keep them from drying out. Does this sound right?

Sorry about all the questions; I've never dyed anything before and I'm a little nervous! I just want them to look their best. I think they are the best looking group I've ever had and I don't want them being placed low because they aren't super shiny black like a lot of the others probably will be.

Any other tips would be appreciated as well! Thanks in advance!!  ;D

We use black velvet at love it. We mix Kleen sheen with it, and almost never have a problem with burning them or drying out the hair. We fill a spray bottle about half full of Kleen sheen (like a Sullivan bottle) and add one dye kit. Depending on the size of the animal, we usually use one to two bottles per heifer. The hair should be good at wet where ever you want to dye when you are done. We put either final bloom or pink oil on the white to prevent the dye from staining, but we are not dealing with a lot of white. Usually we are worried about the udder, where most of the white is with our Simm cows (pairs). We leave it on for several hours (sometimes dye in the morning and rinse in the afternoon).
Hope that helps! Wear gloves, and clothes you do not mind staining because no matter how hard to try to stay clean, you will get splattered!

Thank you so much!  That information will help me a lot.

You may think I am crazy but we save a lot of money by using the cheap $2.50 black hair dye from Walmart.  I believe it is Loreal brand.  A 600 lb calf takes about 3 bottles but you need to leave it in a long time.  We have never had dry hair but we use kleen sheen daily and in the winter we use a lot of Double dip and Rag oil.  Just a thought for you to save money.

Thank you, mainecattlemother! I'll look into finding that kind for when I run out of Black Velvet. 

  The instructions say not to shampoo or scrub the skin for five days prior to dying. Anyone know what would happen if I shampooed then then dyed? 

If you preliminary clip before colouring, you don't wasted product on areas that will be clipped short.
If you want the colour to last as long as possible, don't shampoo beforehand (follow the instruction) and don't use conditioner beforehand.  Therefore, if your only going to shows within the next few days; other than proper coverage and timing, how you dyed won't make much difference to your level of satisfaction.  Shampoo dries out the hair strand (harden).  Dye works best on hair with the natural oil on it.  Natural oil soften the hair and allows the dye to penetrate.  Conditioner is a coating on the hair, so it repels material.

My question to those with long show seasons:  If you dye animals this early, are you committed to do so for the duration of the season?  I would suspect as each dye schedule fades there is new growth near the skin a different tone. And without more dye, this difference would be highlighted with the clipping pattern.