In regards to dyeing bucktails, they do need to be as clean as possible. One hint is to get some dish detergent and wash them with that after cleaning them. This will remove any oils from the hair and give you an even color throughout the tail. Rit-Dye is what I use mostly, cheap and easy to use. I typically dye a bucktail or two with some white hackle or other material to have mathced colors thoughout my materials. A word of warning....different materials have different characteristics, they accept dyes in different ways and colors may vary from piece to piece. experiment fisrt before dropping in 3 hundered dollars worth of materials into a bubbling bath a color!