Dying my grass...w/ photos

[Doug Hansen]

I bought some Cabelas Northern Flight Prairie Grass to try and form a grass base for my boat’s blind. I figured on adding some natural vegetation to it to help make the whole rig blend in a bit better. When I opened up the box of grass I saw I had some work to do. It was just too bright for the area that I hunt. Here’s the box:

Here’s the “too bright” grass out of the box:

I got a galvanized pail, some dark brown RIT dye, a stirring stick and a brick. I took the bundled grass out of the box and rolled it up so it would fit inside of the pail. I then filled the pail until the grass was covered with water. I light the BBQ’s side burner and placed the pail on top of it until it started to barely simmer. I then added one package of RIT dye. I pulled the grass after about twenty minutes and it was too dark. I added another rolled bundle of grass to the pail and let that go around fifteen minutes. It looks pretty good. The last batch in that pail full came out nearly perfect after ten minutes. So, only add one third of a package of dye per bucket and simmer the bucket for ten minutes. It should give a good almost universal tan to your grass. It’s just enough to tone it down a bit. Here are my results so far using one package and three pails of water.

Here’s a shot of the pail on the BBQ burner:

I hope and expect the too dark stuff to lighten as it weathers and also the light stuff to darken. If I mix up the different colored grass as I weave I hope to achieve a more even overall look. Time will tell.

I never used RIT dye before and it’s pretty easy. If you’re ever faced with dying something just have at it.



Doug

 

[Shermie]

I was in a hurry so i grabed a couple cans of spray paint and by the gods they smiled it worked ,lite and dark and shady here and there ,i used the same grass and i snap tie it on a black snow fence which is 4 feet high and 20 feet long..

 

[Tom Scholberg]

Doug, Be advised that that grass is like a sponge. I used some on my Poleboat last year and when it got wet it almost doubled the weight of the boat. I also just hit it with a spray can and tied it on with baling twine to get a mottled look. Out of the box it is almost what I need for color. Let us know how the dye holds up, I have some more that I might dye for later in the season next year. Thanks for the pics.

 

[Doug Hansen]

I felt how heavy it got. Thanks for the warning.

I started weaving it in the rain yesterday and it was going OK. Got a little done after work today while the grass was a bit drier. It's actually easier when the grass is wet. When it dries it shrinks a little and tightens up the weave a bit. If I can get back to it on Tuesday I'll be wetting it down to weave.

 

[Blake Wilson]

i dyed some of the same stuff earlier this year for my boat.rit dye is great.although the grass will readily obsorb water, it will dry just about as fast.point is, it soaks it up quick but once out of the water, it turns it loose very quickly.

 

[Rick Kyte]

I dyed a bunch three seasons ago and it's holding up just fine. Zip-tied it onto bungies and use it for a boat blind or ground blind as the need arises.

Rick

 

[Todd Painton]

Had the same problem but opposite. I got the "all terrain" package from Avery and it came with grass that was too dark for my main areas. I tried using beige spray paint and it worked okay but not so great. Now I know. I don't think dye would work. It's like trying to dye black hair red. Impossibly unless you bleach the black out first (so I am told).