Cleaning feathers

[Josiah]

I do the same as who me...BUT...when I'm all done cleaning and drying...I usually run an iron over my feathers. that flattens them and then allows me to straighten them out. If i'm working with plumes...put baby powder on them. I know it sounds weird, but it causes them to poof up and look 2x's their size before. Look in my gallery...you'll see all the plumes I cleaned and worked with. Big difference.

I also use Woolite
And a Hair Straightiner
It works Great
And fluffs them back out

[myles]

whats up lilbigwomen how are you

[lilbigwoman]

I do the same as who me...BUT...when I'm all done cleaning and drying...I usually run an iron over my feathers. that flattens them and then allows me to straighten them out. If i'm working with plumes...put baby powder on them. I know it sounds weird, but it causes them to poof up and look 2x's their size before. Look in my gallery...you'll see all the plumes I cleaned and worked with. Big difference.

[sookout sh'nob]

I use the same method as Kinew, but with the addition of Whome's blowdryer :)

[WhoMe]

I wash mine in woolite and blow dry them.

The blow dryer expands the quills and makes them easy to smooth out.

[Tibiki Kinew]

This is a subject that I absolutely adore!!! Thank you for a great question that has a sweet answer.

Here goes, palmolive dish soap, take a palm full of it, the pull the feather from the quill end to the tip, covering it evenly with this soap. Then work it repeatedly from quill to tip, always with the grain of the individual feather sections. If there is blood or meat stuck to it like the times i pick up road side pizza, I do the very same but with a pail of water and soap on the floor. This soap will form a barrier between the feather and any grit grime or meat. Now hold the feather by the tip of the quill and hold it under a tap of warm water, let the water frun down the quill and do this until the soap is off and the water runs clear.

The next step is easy, take paper towels and lay them on a tray, lay the feathers side by side and do not touch them with anything, cover it gently with another towel and let dry overnight.

Next day take the feather and gently fluff the segments and rework the whole feather gently, again from tip of the quill down wards to the tip.

Here you can see with a wee bit of body fluff just how incredible this works, you can virtually restore a lot of feathers that you would normally ignore or replace.

Trust me on this one, I have picked up owl and hawks where others have refused to touch any part of a piza due to the grossness of the vision on the highway. I have rescued several thousand feathers from this pittyful ending and given them a long extended life. I even managed to separate the talons and save them on a lot of these poor victims!

So do not toss, wash them well with a thick soap like palmolive!!! Not a thin runny soap, that does work!!!!

[owlsong]

I was gifted two feathers that had been in a smokers home and the feathers have yellowed through time. I tried washing a practice feather with water and mild soap but the webbing would not go back together even with careful preening. Any suggestions?