Mohair is probably our most problematic product. Quality mohair is *very* hard to produce on a consistent basis, without occasionally having dye bleed problems, or frizzy hair problems, or the like.
Dye bleed problems most often occurs with darker mohairs-- such as Black and Dark Brown (we've never seen dye bleed problems with Blondes). For example, we've seen the problem several times with Pearl Moon Black mohair, which is one of the reasons why we chose to discontinue that color of Pearl Moon mohair (incidentally, we have not been able to get any more Pearl Moon mohair at all since April 2009, and likely won't be able to get any more).
And that is why we recommend that for darker mohair colors, you *always* test the mohair with hot tap water, to see if it bleeds, before using it, regardless of where you buy it from.
Hot tap water is fine for testing the mohair. Do not use boiling water.
Our Ruby Red NuBorn Mohair is made by the Ruby Red Galleria, and imported from China. Although not the highest quality mohair we've ever seen, it is much better than roving mohair. And, the price has been reasonable. Never-the-less, here is an email we recently received concerning it (email posted by permission of the author):
I'm really sorry to say this, but I've had a problem with the nu-born mohair staining my doll's head. I was doing Shyann after waiting for 2 months to get her and it was a custom order. I noticed that the scalp looked darker, but I thought it was because I was having to put so many holes in trying to catch the mohair.... I put the E6000 glue into shyann and the next day I started looking closer at her and she was stained all over her neck and cheeks...
With the darker mohair colors, we have seen this "bleeding" problem with every mohair brand that we have ever had. It's a relatively rare problem. But, it *does* come up. Again and again.
Consequently, our advice toalwaystest your darker mohairs with hot tap water before you use it. Always. And do it regardless of where you get your mohair from. Test a part of your mohair to see if it bleeds. Most of the time you will probably find that you are safe. But occasionally you will be glad you tested it before using it.
If you get mohair (from any source) that has a dye bleed problem, you can rinse it in hot tap water until it quits bleeding dye, and that will fix it.