# Yarn for string silencers



## Homey88 (Dec 10, 2013)

What style yarn is best for making string silencers? Would acrylic yarn work ok? Thanks


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## Stub (Aug 13, 2013)

I only used 100% wool yarn. If you were like me and had a hard time finding a place that sells 100% wool. There's always Ebay  I literally drove everywhere trying to find 100%. No one had it, bit surprising..

As far as Acrylic - I really have no idea. I would assume it would work. (?)


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## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

I use wool. Luckily, I seem to find wool yarn everywhere I turn. I'm certain acrylic will work just fine.

Make sure you buy the color you want to use for the rest of your life, because that's how long that first roll of yarn is gonna last ya! I wrap it around a credit card about 12 times, slide it off, slip it through the string, tighten, and then snip the loops. Have a hanky handy for the first few shots, for when that wooly-bully first flaps to start forming the round puffball, you're gonna get a snout full of sneezy fibers!


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## chewie146 (Nov 17, 2010)

I've used cheapo walmart yarn in a pinch, but it hates being wet. That should be fairly obvious. I stick with cat whiskers nowadays and have no problems.


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## Homey88 (Dec 10, 2013)

Thanks I am struggling to find wool yarn.


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## Stub (Aug 13, 2013)

Homey88 said:


> Thanks I am struggling to find wool yarn.


haha sorry, I feel your pain man. I couldn't believe Walmart or hobby lobby didn't have any 100% wool! Hobby Lobby is a good 1 hr drive from here. I should of called them first -.-


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## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

I don't know what stores are in your town. Sewing store, craft store, many supermarkets with a craft and sewing section sell it, Target/Walmart-type stores. 

You may hit the phone book and make some calls to save yourself time and gas. Pennsylvania gets cold, and I'll bet there are a lot of folk that knit with wool yarn in those parts.

You could go online at JoAnn Fabrics to order some. I just looked at their site and they have a lot of wool yarn. 

Good luck.


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## Homey88 (Dec 10, 2013)

Thanks everyone.


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## MGF (Oct 27, 2012)

I've used wool and synthetic. It all seems to work ok. The wool might handle water better but it'll eventually soak through too. The few times I've sat out in the rain with them, I never got a shooting opportunity anyway...that and I can't see once my glasses get rained on anyway. LOL


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## sidekick (Feb 10, 2006)

Acrylic works fine, don't waste time and gas trying to find wool. Thin Man is right though, choose color wisely, if such a thing is important to you, it'll be a lifetime decision. I went black.


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## jasboj (Feb 7, 2011)

Any yarn will do the trick


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## rock74 (Jan 8, 2012)

Before I went to whisker type I used yarn, 10 wraps around three fingers worth, tied on the string and cut the loops. Very quick and easy no need for any measurements. I used camo yarn green, brown and black.


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## kegan (Aug 28, 2006)

I've got acrylic on mine (cheap). Didn't seem to mind shooting in the rain the other day, but I haven't tried a lot of other yarn materials?


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## Rick Barbee (Jan 16, 2013)

I use acrylic yarn.
Shot in the rain all day on Sunday at a 3D shoot.
My feathers all matted down, but my silencers stayed nice & perky. 

Rick


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## Homey88 (Dec 10, 2013)

Do you just tie them on the string or do you separate the string to put them on the string?


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## rock74 (Jan 8, 2012)

Homey88 said:


> Do you just tie them on the string or do you separate the string to put them on the string?


I tie mine to the string but some people separate the string and put them through.


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## Thin Man (Feb 18, 2012)

With the bow strung, I measure where I want the yarn to go and fold masking tape on either side of the spot. 

I take the string off the bow and separate the two bundles in the measured area enough to fit the yarn through. Tug the string a bit to hold the yarn in place, readjust to taste, string the bow, and then snip the loops (as I described above). 

Super easy to do. You can trim the yarn to whatever length you desire - on some of my more quiet bows I'll reduce the puff to a mere wisp - no more than needs to get the job done. If the puff-ball looks unruly, you can give it a haircut to make it appear well-groomed (Vitalis optional!).


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## sidekick (Feb 10, 2006)

It takes one of age to appreciate Thin Man's reference to 'Vitalis'.


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## GEREP (May 6, 2003)

I personally don't see the need for wool. I've used both and don't see any difference whatsoever. 

Acrylic yarn is a petroleum product (plastic) and is *100% waterproof* to start with. It has no pores so it cannot absorb water. It can only hold water between the fibers or strands of the "puff"...just like wool.

Wool yarn, on the other hand, *sometimes* contains lanolin, which is an oily/waxy substance that the sheep produces, kind of like the oil from your scalp. It's the sheep's way of helping to protect it's skin from the climate, but it doesn't make it's wool *"waterproof."* When the wool is processed, washed, and dyed to make it into yarn, the lanolin is removed and has to be reintroduced back into the yarn ("lanolized" yarn).

Long story short, unless you are spinning yarn directly from the wool of the sheep, without washing or dying it, almost all of the natural lanolin will have been removed. The lanolin is sometimes added back in, making it somewhat *"water repellent". *Acrylic on the other hand is, and always will be 100% *"waterproof"*...it's plastic. 

Now, we can argue all day long about which one might be "quieter" when used as a string silencer, but I'll leave that up to the folks that sell them and therefore need to hype it.

:wink:

KPC


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## Homey88 (Dec 10, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice!


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## mattgirard (Dec 5, 2013)

I found camo sock yarn and it was 80%wool works good so far


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## chewie146 (Nov 17, 2010)

Heck, maybe it was just the junk I had on there. It may not have even been Wal-Mart. I may try again with yarn if it seems to work for others. My wife recently got into crochet(sp?), so I'm sure there's some black around here. I don't think I'll go with pink.


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## scout4 (May 18, 2010)

I have also used hemp 1/8" diameter cord for this purpose. I think it does cost a bit more but it really works well. Takes more time to fray out but works maybe even a little better than yarn.
scout4


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