cleaning feathers

[canotstop24 0]

A friend of mine has been supplying me with furs of animals he trapped. I get these completely fleshed out and washed. He just gave me a spruce grouse wing and it has not been washed. Does anyone know a good way to wash the wing. I keep my wild furs and feathers seperated from the rest of my supplies because someone told me there could be bugs or other stuff that can ruin other materials I have. Is this true? Any help would be great, thanks.

[strmanglr 0]

i would recommend keeping all your feathers sealed in their own bags. i have seen what bugs do to feathers. if you do get bugs eating your feathers, nuke (microwave) your feather(s) for a very short time 5-10 seconds. this should kill em. if i had that happen i would then keep said feather(s) away from my other materials for a couple weeks at least to see if i got em all. as for washing and prepping the wild material i would call a taxidermist or ask your friend how he does it.

[Pastor Ron 0]

HHmmmm, there maybe some other / better advice come along but as for me, I've never "washed" anything that I've either killed or had given to me by another hunter. I've been keeping wild hides and skins for nearly 40 years and never had a problem. I stretch and flesh the hides and then treat them with a mixture of salt, water, bleach (powder form), and peroxide. I mix this into a paste form and rub it into the hide real good and then let it dry (preferably in the sun). Once it's good and dry I brush off the mixture as best as possible. I've used this on hides and bird shins, I've also used it on the stump ends of tails and wings. For storing my tails, wings, and skins I generally put them individually in to zip lock bags with a couple cloves and/or cedar chips and/or moth balls, then I date the bag and place the bags in specific containers of my chest of drawers. I have some rabbit hides that I treated this way nearly 20 years ago and they have held up fine. If you want the hides to stay soft and pliable then after the paste treatment is brushed off you can apply some tanners oil / leather softener / or hide paste (talk to a taxidermist). Thankfully in 40 years of tying I've never had a bug problem... but I am a little fanatical about zip lock bags, large plastic jars, cloves, moth balls, and cedar chips! Not saying that this is what everybody ought to do, just sharing my experience. YMMV

[tidewaterfly 0]

Although I can't argue with Pastor Ron's success, I've also been handling fur & feathers a long time, and I wash everything in warm soapy water, using a mild dish detergent. Dawn has worked very well for me, but others will also work. Bugs are attracted to the "dirt" that is on the material, and destroy it as they feed. In cold weather, depending on where you are, it is possible for eggs or larva to be present, but dormant for long periods of time, until exposed to warmer conditions. This is a good reason to keep such materials separated.

 

You can certainly keep unwashed materials for a long time if you take extra care & protect them from infestation to begin with, as Pastor Ron has said. However, cleaning will help remove the attraction, and then proper storage will assure that the material stays usable.

 

I've also got some fur & feathers that are 30 to 40 years old, and are as usable as the day I obtained them.

 

When I had fresh skins, I preferred to wash them while the skin was still wet, right after skinning, then dry them. Dried skins can also be washed after drying, and if done quickly, won't absorb much water into the skin. Do not soak them for any extended time, as this may damage the skin & cause them to mold or rot before they can dry out. A quick wash & rinse is best.

 

If you decide to wash them, do it gently, work the soapy water into the feathers (or fur) and rinse with cold water, "with the grain" so to speak. This way you won't be damaging the feathers. Then blot as dry as possible with paper or cloth towels (old, not the wife's best bath towels ) and place in a dry, but airy place to dry out.

 

I usually use news paper to place the washed material on, and check & turn it over often. Some materials, like hides I try to hang up so the air can get to both sides which will aid in drying more quickly, and prevent the possibility of mold from forming.

 

I'm fortunate to be able to store a lot of my tying materials in freezers. I have 3 of them, with just tying materials. I don't have to worry about using chemicals to prevent bugs from getting in, nor do I have to worry about rotting. The only drawback is it does add to my electric bill.

[longears 0]

there is some great info above in both posts. I too use Dawn to remove any blood or goobies before I process and "dry the feathers or hides with Borax, aluminum Sulfate or hide tanners. It really cleans the feathers good and doesn't seem to leave too much scent on them. I ALWAYS do this prior to dying any feathers as well so the dyes can penetrate.

[Pastor Ron 0]

Ah, now dying materials, yes... then I do wash them in a mild dish detergent.... otherwise the dye will not penetrate the materials as well or as evenly.

[INS 0]

Great info. :bugeyes:

[canotstop24 0]

Thanks everyone. A lot of great info. I guess I will get some more storage bins to keep my wild furs/feathers seperated. Just to be on the safe side. Plus when don't we need more storage room for supplies. Thanks again.

[FrequentTyer 0]

I use a litlle bit of boric acid crystals from the drug store as a preventative. This is a little more messy than moth balls, but it much less toxic and there is no smell. Several years ago I noticed some bugs in feathers that where given to me along with a bunch of other fur and feathers. I placed each item into a seperate ziploc bag, added a few tablespoons of boric acid crystals, and shook. I left them alone for about 2 weeks and when I opened the bags and shook the residual boric acid out of the feathers, there were many bug carcasses mixed in the crystals. These items have been kept in ziploc bags with a bit of boric acid crystals for about 7 years now and I have not seen another bug.

Mike.

[Pastor Ron 0]

To ad to what I posted earlier.....

 

Lots of Zip Lock bags and large plastic containers (the shoe box type and the large plastic jars that snack foods come in). I usually put every item in it's own separate zip lock bag if at all possible; i.e., each Pheasant hide or Grouse skin goes in a zip lock bag of it's own with either moth balls / cloves / cedar chips and then I put all the bags with pheasant skins in one plastic container and the grouse skins in another container and so on. I usually put things like squirrel tails etc together in one large plastic jar with the additives.

 

Oh, I also spray my tying area; floor, shelves, etc with a home safe insect spray, usually two times a year.

 

I've also heard that Basil leaves are a good insect deterrent. Also, google "homemade insect spray", you'll get a whole bunch of easy and safe concoctions.

 

 

I'm not saying that you don't need to or shouldn't wash your raw materials, just that I've never done that in the past.... it's probably a very good idea to do so and I would encourage others to take that step... there is too much money tied up in materials to take a chance on bug infestation. I can't imagine washing some of the hides I have....... I have four full deer hides, about 10 very large rabbit hides, and on and on and on....... My wife wouldn't like those things in the bathtub!!!!

[David Legg 0]

Steve Schweitzer, who is a Whiting Pro Staff Tyer and who used to work at Whiting Farms (also from Global Fly Fisher) recommends using a mild laundry detergent to clean feathers as needed. He did warn not to toss them in the dryer to dry, unless you only want to use them to stuff pillows afterwards. As for bugs, Whiting Farms keeps up intense scrutiny in case of any infestation, and freezes anything that is suspect, I believe Steve said for two weeks. Apparently that is enough to wipe out fur beetles, carpet beetles, museum beetles, their larva, their eggs, and anything else of that ilk that they have encountered. While I have not had problems here in Colorado personally, I did have a problem once with some materials that I got from the widow of a good friend after he had passed away when I lived in New Hampshire. Fur beetles ran through some of my materials and made a real mess. I ended up throwing a lot of stuff away. I don't hesitate to use the freezer to quarantine new materials, or to pop them into a plastic storage tub for a time with some moth balls. Both have served my well over the years. It has been a long time since I have had any kind of a problem, but unless you quit aquiring new materials, you always have the chance of introducing some new pest into your treasure trove. I received some infested materials through the mail about a year ago or so, and froze the stuff for about a month and then washed it with laundry detergent, and then stored it in a separate zip lock to make sure it was safe. No problem emerged after that.

Good luck!