Amsteel Line Bleed

**Alan Burd** · 08-18-2010, 10:13

Just a quick question on Amsteel bleeding on your hands. Has anyone tried soaking the line in an Alum solution to set the dye before handling the line to make their whoopies and soft shackles. When I was growing up, anytime my mother would dye something the dye packages all said to use alum to set the dye and slow fading and bleed.

**NCPatrick** · 08-18-2010, 10:18

Blue Amsteel will give you "smurf" hands.

I haven't heard of anyone treating their line to minimize this, but I wonder what effect the treatment has on the line itself.

**Running Feather** · 08-18-2010, 10:20

Originally Posted by NCPatrick

Blue Amsteel will give you "smurf" hands.

I haven't heard of anyone treating their line to minimize this, but I wonder what effect the treatment has on the line itself.

Mac, we need a chemist here!

**Nick the Splicer** · 08-18-2010, 11:06

An alternative would be to use a non-dyed rope with similar characteristics. Vectrus by Yale Cordage would be a good option. It won't change the colors of your hands, is crazy strong, and has that same no-stretch feeling that y'all dig so much.

http://www.yalecordage.com/oceanogra...s/vectrus.html

love
nick

**Knotty** · 08-18-2010, 14:00

The color in amsteel comes from a special Samthane coating. If soaking in alum could improve the coating my guess is they'd probably be doing it. But I'm no chemist.

**Jsaults** · 08-18-2010, 18:48

Although that doesn't stop me from playing Junior CHemist at times!

But I agree - subjecting a fiber that Samson has probably spent millions on in research seems like a bad idea. I bet the fiber is so dense that dye simply will not penetrate deeply.

Jim
owner of some pink stuff

**SmokeBait** · 08-18-2010, 19:06

I only got C's in chemistry class so don't know about the Alum theory. But like Knotty said, Amsteel Blue is a coated line. Which is different than a line dyed a particular color. My guess is there is no way around it. The darker colors are worse than lighter colors. But none are as bad as orange Dynaglide!

Originally Posted by Alan Burd

Just a quick question on Amsteel bleeding on your hands. Has anyone tried soaking the line in an Alum solution to set the dye before handling the line to make their whoopies and soft shackles. When I was growing up, anytime my mother would dye something the dye packages all said to use alum to set the dye and slow fading and bleed.

**MacEntyre** · 08-18-2010, 19:23

The Romans discovered how to use alum as a 'mordant' in dye processes... the hard aluminum salts act like teeth to help dyes stick to slippery fibers. Trouble is, it is abrasive. We used to wash our expensive towing lines with fresh water to remove abrasive salts after using them in seawater. The other problem is that alum is acidic. Combined with chloride it can become more acidic, and can produce hydrochloric acid, which is very strong. Amsteel has excellent chemical resistance as well as abrasion resistance; nonetheless, I wouldn't use an acidic abrasive like alum on it.

I order gray or silver Amsteel and haven't noticed anything on my hands. But then, my hands are usually covered with soot from messing with wood stoves... I should try washing them with alum.