Washing feathers

[Woodenlegs 0]

I know this isnt a swap but I need information.

Hows the best way to wash and dry s batch of turkey

wing feathers?

[flytire 0]

not sure there is a best way but....

 

dish soap and warm water. rinse. let dry on towel or paper towel

 

works with bucktail should be okay for feathers

[utyer 0]

Wash in warm water and dish soap. Do NOT wash in the kitchen sink. If you have a utility sink fine, or use a large bucket. Rince, and smothe the feathers into shape if needed. Lay out on newspapers or old towels to dry. While doing all that try to keep the lefts and right separated. Then pair up as best you can.

[mvendon 0]

I use Dawn dish detergent and warm water. You can use a big bowl to soak them in too. It doesn't take a long time to just get surface dirt, blood residue, etc. out either. Just soak them for a half hour or so, swishing them around a few times. If you don't have tons of feathers, you can use a blow dryer to help speed up the drying process. I use one after I've dyed or washed both feathers and dubbing.

 

Regards,

Mark

[fshng2 0]

For feathers I also use Dawn dish detergent and warm water like mvendon said.

Soak till all residue is gone.

Material with skin on I soak over night because I know everything will be gone.

Drying: hang to dry inside or outside or use a blow dryer.

I prefer to hang all my materials outside in the sun to dry as it requires less of my time.

If feathers are loose tie them together by the quills then hang.

 

I deboned and washed some whole turkey wings last year.

After hanging to dry and while skin was still pliable I tacked them skin side up to some plywood then covered any skin with borax.

When the skin was dry in 5 to 7 days I removed the borax and stored wings in a zip lock bag as I do all my materials.

[tidewaterfly 0]

As said, dish soap & warm water. Dawn is an excellent brand to use, as it will remove most excess oils and grease that may be present and certainly any other dirt. Follow the instructions others have said for drying & storage.

 

One thing I'll add, clean materials will help keep insects away. I store a lot of materials in zip lock bags in bins. I will add moth crystals to the bins, but also add the silica gel packs in the bags. I save them from other products, and they can be purchased. They aid in control of moisture, and all natural materials will have a certain amount of moisture in them. Insects that might destroy these materials also need moisture, so by adding the packs it lessens the probability of insect problems, even if you don't use moth balls or crystals. Just be sure to keep the bags or other storage containers sealed. Bags can sometimes get small holes in them, and limiting moisture & "dirt" on your materials helps keep out the bugs.

 

I learned this the hard way too. Many years ago, had a bag of materials I had purchased, that had staple holes where a header card was stapled to it, and moths got into the bag via that tiny hole and destroyed the contents. I take all precautions that I can now to prevent this and have never had it happen since.

[Bruce Derington 0]

Slot of the classic guys use 1-2 drops of woolite .

[tjm 0]

I just use borax.couple table spoons per gallon of warm water. I think detergent makes natural materials brittle.