Cleaning Feathers

[john fletch]

I process a lot of Goose and Turkey feathers for fletching and fly tying.  Mostly I cut them of the wing and separate lefts and rights into large ZipLoc bags after the wings have been spread to dry about a week.  I will put a small mothball into the bag to kill the vermin.  And after about a wekk in the shop I will put them in the freezer if there is any room and my wife does not chase me back to the shop with a rolling pin or fry pan!

Are there better ways to clean and cure feathers?  Can they be washed or dry-cleaned?

I accumulate several hundred each year and it would be a shame to lose some to the mites and vermin as has happened in the past.

[Henry Hammer]

Go to the sponsors list there is a sponsor called Custom feathers and they have a video of how to save your feathers.

[Eric Krewson]

Put them in a bag with a few table spoons of borax, shake the bag every so often to distribute the borax, no more vermin.

[bowmaster12]

at the taxidermy shop for mounts we wash feathers in water and everyday dish soap then put them in a tumbler with corn cob grit you can also us e agarbage bag with corn cob grit an dir put feathers in and shake (good arm work out too) then finish off dryin with hair dryer. This feathers have been stored in a freezer for awhile first before taken through this process

[jcar315]

The sponsor custom feathers has a very nice youtube video about this. Worth watching if you want to do your own.

[ishiwannabe]

I have heard some use a garden product called seven to kill anything on feathers.
Washing them(with soap) will remove the natural oils that repel water and keep the feathers in good shape.

[john fletch]

I was wondering about soap and water taking off oils.  Maybe the taxedermist is not worried about the feathers on a stuffed bird going back outside.  I will look for that stuff called 'seven'  Is it a pest killer  Oil based?

[trapperDave]

its a powder, you can get it in the garden section of about any store

[john fletch]

Thanks - Off to Home Depot for other stuff - will look for that at well.

[bowmaster12]

never thought about removing the oils yes the soap does do that and would take away the water proof of the feathers good thinking guys way to catch that. borax is a great way of killing bugs

[jcar315]

I have dyed real turkey feathers before and used the Rit dye and white vinegar and it worked great. I think the white vinegar "removed" the oils too but I am not an expert. Thanks